US Supreme Court rejects challenge to Mississippi lifetime ban on voting by felons
USA-COURT/MISSISSIPPI-VOTE (PIX):US Supreme Court rejects challenge to Mississippi lifetime ban on voting by felons
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Former felons seek the right to vote in Mississippi
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State constitutional provision imposes lifetime voting ban
By Andrew Chung
Jan 27 - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to Mississippi's lifetime ban on voting by people convicted of a wide range of felonies, a policy dating back to the Jim Crow era that stands as one of the toughest such restrictions in the nation.
The justices turned away an appeal of a lower court's decision rejecting a lawsuit that claimed that the ban - a provision of the state constitution that applies even after a sentence has been completed - violates the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection and Eighth Amendment bar on cruel and unusual punishments.
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, including grand larceny and receiving stolen property.
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, but 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."
Section 241 was adopted by a state constitutional convention in 1890 with the racist intent to undermine the electoral power of Black people after they gained the right to vote following the 1861-1865 U.S. Civil War that ended slavery in states including Mississippi. The provision removed crimes thought to be "white crimes" and added those thought to be "black crimes," according to court papers.
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