ST PAUL, Minn — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overruled a Mille Lacs County judge who had worked to stop felons from voting, despite a new state law aimed at encouraging exactly that.
"Welcome to all who are planning to vote," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office intervened in the matter on behalf of two individuals who had been sentenced to probation by Mille Lacs County District Court Judge Matthew M. Quinn.
The law, which passed in the last session and took effect in July, allows convicted felons to vote once they've completed incarceration, even if they're still serving probation.
Quinn sentenced people convicted of felonies to probation and declared that they were not allowed to vote, claiming Minnesota's "Restore the Vote" law was unconstitutional.
Two of the people who were sentenced by Quinn filed "writs of prohibition" at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, alleging the judge exceeded his authority.
Those writs were granted and the appellate court concluded that "the district court had no authority to declare a statute unconstitutional."
In his orders, Judge Quinn said the Legislature’s passage of the law did not constitute the kind of “affirmative act” he said was needed to properly restore a felon’s civil rights. So, he said, he had a duty going forward to “independently evaluate the voting capacity” of felons when they complete probation.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
