(USNewsBreak.com) – In the United States, most Americans have the right to vote but must meet specific criteria. If a court has convicted a person of certain felonies, they may lose the opportunity to make their voices heard. Ten states, including Mississippi, have enacted permanent voting bans for convicts of specific crimes. A recent challenge to the state’s constitution failed.
In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Mississippi residents who had lost the right to vote. Hopkins v. Hosemann wound its way through the courts for years. On Thursday, July 18, the full panel of the US Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit ruled after a 13 to 6 decision that it is constitutional for the Magnolia State to strip voters’ rights if courts have convicted them of certain crimes.
Writing for the court’s majority, Circuit Judge Edith Jones said it was a matter that the state legislature should address rather than a court. She urged the plaintiffs to “Do the hard work of persuading your fellow citizens that the law should change.”
Section 241 of the state’s constitution outlines 10 specific felonies that bar convicts from voting, including arson, murder, and bribery. The decision was a blow to the plaintiffs, who had scored a win last August when a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit court ruled that the provision violated the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment regarding “cruel and unusual punishment.” Yet, the full appellate panel said it would spark a dangerous precedent of allowing courts’ involvement in state legislation.
In most states, individuals automatically regain the right to vote after completing their sentences or probation. The other states that have enacted laws stripping felony convicts of their voting rights include Alabama, Wyoming, Arizona, Virginia, Tennessee, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, and Florida. Conversely, convicts in Washington, DC, Vermont, and Maine can still cast their ballots, even while incarcerated.
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