U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Voter Disenfranchisement Case

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Red background of someone standing behind bars and some of the background ripped away with a blue-toned ballot underneath.

Last month, the United States Supreme Court said it will not consider whether a Mississippi law banning people convicted of certain felonies from voting should be overturned. Mississippi’s law stands as one of the toughest such restrictions in the nation.

The Jim Crow-era practice extends to people convicted of nonviolent crimes, including perjury and forgery. A group of disenfranchised Mississippians asked the justices to determine whether it amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment,” which is barred under federal law.

SECTION 241 MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION

The case centers on Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution, which denies people who have been convicted of a range of felonies the right to vote for life. The range of crimes include murder, rape, bribery, theft, forgery and arson.
The practice was codified in the state’s 1890 constitution as part of early Jim Crow provisions attempting to limit the rights of Black residents. The disenfranchised plaintiffs’ attorneys said about 58 percent of those convicted of disenfranchising offenses between 1994 and 2017, who have completed their sentences, are Black. Mississippi and Virginia are the only two states that continue to permanently disenfranchise first-time offenders who were convicted of non-violent and non-voting-related felonies. Black people make up 38% of the state’s population, according to U.S. census statistics, opens new tab.
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
The class action suit was brought in 2018 by six Mississippi men – including white and Black plaintiffs – who lost the right to vote even though they have completed their sentences for various felonies. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said it applies regardless of the seriousness of the felony, even “writing a bad check for $100 or stealing $250 worth of timber.” Attorneys for the disenfranchised voters called the state’s “harsh and unforgiving” practice, which is enshrined in its constitution, a “national outlier.”

The 2023 appeal, which the Supreme Court rejected, contended that those who authored Mississippi’s constitution showed racist intent when selecting the felonies that would cause people to lose the right to vote. A lower court found Mississippi remedied the underlying discrimination by later altering which crimes are disenfranchising.

In the latest appeal, the justices were asked to reverse the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel on the appeals court deemed the provision illegal, but the full court reinstated it.

Last term, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Mississippi, in 2023 ruled 2-1 in favor of the claim by the plaintiffs that the ban violates the Eighth Amendment.

My opinion? Being convicted of a felony is obviously a terrible thing. Fortunately, your right to vote can be restored as long as you are not currently serving a DOC sentence of total confinement in prison.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.