Cass County Clerk Jeff Fletcher v. Herschel Young

Summary

The Court affirmed the judgment declaring Young ineligible to be a candidate for elective public office and to appear on the primary-election ballot. It held that the governing statute disqualifies anyone who has pleaded guilty to a felony, and that a gubernatorial pardon removes the conviction but does not erase the guilty plea or underlying guilt. The Court also held that Young failed to preserve his equal-protection claim and stated that the claim would fail on the merits under rational-basis review even if preserved.