Amicus briefs and other case materials

Federal

  • Benedict v. McMahan, E.D.P.A. (Effect of expungement order in civil proceeding)
  • United States v. Nesbeth, E.D.N.Y. (Collateral consequences and sentencing)
  • Guerrero v. California Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 9th Cir. (Judicial deference to EEOC guidance on Title VII and employment background checks)
    • Amicus brief of NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, et al. (April 27, 2016)
  • Doe v. Kerry, N.D. Cal. (International Meghan’s Law; Passport identifier)
  • Gillette v. Uber, N.D. Cal. (Criminal background checks/FCRA)

Georgia

Illinois

New York

  • Boone v. NYC Dept. of Education, N.Y. Sup. Ct., NY County (Criminal record-based employment discrimination)

 Pennsylvania 

  • Peake v. Pennsylvania, Pa. Commw. Ct. (Healthcare employment bars)

Related blog posts:

  • Update on federal firearms restoration program (11/4/2025) - Last spring, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its intention to revive a long-dormant program to remove federal restrictions on firearm possession, including for those with a criminal record.  In July DOJ published for comment a proposed rule that would, when finalized, accomplish this for people who are determined to pose no public safety risk. See 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). See Trump’s Justice Department aims to restore gun rights for nonviolent offenders. The comment period closed on October 20, and it is therefore possible that a final rule will be published at any time to launch the revived program. This...
  • North Carolina court restores the vote to 56,000 (8/24/2021) - Update: This decision was stayed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 3, 2021. As a result, the decision will not go into effect either until the appeal is resolved or further order of the court. A three-judge state court in North Carolina has ruled that state’s felony disenfranchisement law unconstitutional as applied to individuals under supervision in the community, immediately restoring the vote to some 56,000 individuals. The decision means that in 24 states and the District of Columbia individuals convicted of felonies and serving a sentence in the community may vote.  North Carolina is the first...
  • Updated: “Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey” (11/23/2020) - We are pleased to publish an update of our 50-state report on how unpaid court debt blocks restoration of voting rights lost as a result of a felony conviction: Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey This report examines the extent to which state reenfranchisement laws consider payment of legal financial obligations (LFOs), including fines, fees, and restitution, in determining whether and when to restore voting rights to people disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. (Our national survey discusses and ranks each state’s general approach to loss and restoration of voting rights based on conviction.) We first...
  • “The Many Roads to Reintegration”: A 50-state report on laws restoring rights and opportunities (9/8/2020) - We are pleased to release a new report describing the present landscape of laws in the United States aimed at restoring rights and opportunities after an arrest or conviction. This report, titled The Many Roads to Reintegration, is an update and refresh of our previous national survey, last revised in 2018. The report covers voting and firearms rights, an array of record relief remedies such as expungement and pardon, and consideration of criminal record in employment and occupational licensing. In each section of the report we assign a grade to each state for each type of relief. We collate these grades...
  • CCRC research featured in Florida felony voting case briefs (8/11/2020) - Last week, we published our amicus brief in an appeal about the constitutionality of Florida’s system for restoring the vote to people with felony convictions.  We urged the Eleventh Circuit to affirm a district court decision that Florida’s “pay-to-vote” system is unconstitutional, relying on our research report showing that few states have as restrictive a scheme as Florida’s.  Other groups also weighed in, including 19 states and D.C. and several organizations that draw on CCRC’s research to argue in favor of the decision below.  CCRC board members Jack Chin and Nora Demleitner joined a group of 93 law professors who also...
  • CCRC urges 11th Circuit to uphold Florida felony voting decision (8/4/2020) - Yesterday, we filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in a case about the constitutionality of Florida’s system for restoring the vote to people with felony convictions.  We urge the court to affirm the lower court decision’s that declared Florida’s “pay-to-vote” system unconstitutional.  The brief draws on our new 50-state research report to show that Florida’s approach to this issue is an outlier among the states. We were ably represented by Andrew L. Frey, Scott A. Chesin, and Luc W. M. Mitchell of Mayer Brown and very much appreciate their work. Our brief...
  • Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey (7/29/2020) - We are pleased to publish a new 50-state report on how unpaid court debt blocks restoration of voting rights lost as a result of conviction: Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey This report examines the extent to which state reenfranchisement laws consider payment of legal financial obligations (LFOs), including fines, fees, and restitution, in determining whether and when to restore voting rights to people disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. This issue has come to the fore as a result of the high-stakes federal litigation in Florida over that state’s 2018 ballot initiative, which many expected...
  • SBA throws in the towel and Congress extends the PPP deadline (7/7/2020) - After Congress authorized hundreds of billions of dollars for small business relief during COVID-19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) by rule and by policy imposed restrictions on applicants with an arrest or conviction history.  As we have documented, these SBA barriers, neither required nor contemplated by Congress, unlawfully impeded access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.  Over many weeks, the Administration stubbornly defended those barriers.  Finally, facing a bipartisan chorus of criticism including from members of Congress, and lawsuits in federal court, the Administration threw in the towel. On June 12, shortly...
  • New efforts to channel federal relief to small business owners with a record (5/20/2020) - *UPDATE (7/7/20):  “SBA throws in the towel and Congress extends the PPP deadline” After Congress authorized hundreds of billions of dollars in funds for small business relief during COVID-19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) imposed restrictions on applicants with an arrest or conviction history.  These barriers, neither required nor contemplated by Congress, impede access to the two major relief programs for small businesses, nonprofits, and independent contractors during the COVID-19 crisis.  The two programs are the newly created Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the ramped-up Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Three developments within the past week signal major pushback...
  • 11th Circuit declines to rehear decision upholding felony voting rights (4/1/2020) - Yesterday, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied Florida’s petition to rehear en banc a decision from a three-judge panel, which held on Feb. 19 that Florida may not deny the vote to people with felony convictions who have otherwise served their sentences, but may have outstanding court debt that they are unable to pay. The panel decision concerns Florida’s 2018 ballot initiative Amendment 4, which restored the vote to state residents with felony convictions who have completed the terms of their sentence (murder and sex offense convictions are excluded).  The Florida Supreme Court held earlier...