A U.S. appeals court on Thursday upheld Mississippi's lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of certain felonies, saying the policy was not a cruel and unusual punishment.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals on a 13-6 vote upheld, opens new tab a provision of Republican-backed Mississippi state constitution that dates back to the Jim Crow era that today disenfranchises people convicted of a set of crimes, including murder, rape and theft.
An 2-1 panel dominated by judges appointed by Democratic presidents in August had sided with a group of former convicts who sued in 2018 to regain their right to vote, finding the ban violated the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and usual punishment.
The conservative-leaning court later voted to have the full 5th Circuit reconsider the matter, resulting in Thursday's ruling, in which all but one of the 13 judges in the majority were appointed by Republican presidents.
U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, writing for the majority, said the U.S. Supreme Court had already in 1974 held states could enact laws disenfranchising felons.
U.S. Circuit Judge James Dennis, in a dissenting opinion joined by five fellow appointees of Democratic presidents, said Mississippi is today among a minority of 11 states that still permanently disenfranchise felons for offenses other than election-related ones.
"Denying released offenders the right to vote takes away their full dignity as citizens, separates them from the rest of their community, and reduces them to 'other' status," Dennis wrote.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/court-validates-mississippis-lifetime-ban-felons-voting-2024-07-18/
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