Thousands of criminals in Mississippi cannot lose their ability to vote after serving their sentences, a federal appeals court with a divided opinion declared on Friday. The court referred to this as a “cruel and unusual punishment” that disproportionately harmed Black people.
A clause of Mississippi’s state constitution that requires perpetual disenfranchisement for those convicted of a list of crimes including murder, rape, and theft was criticized by a 2-1 panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
James Dennis of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the state’s approach violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. He was siding with a group of prisoners who sued in 2018 to restore their ability to vote.
Section 241 of the state constitution, according to him, was created in 1890, following the American Civil War, to “ensure the political supremacy of the white race,” but it serves no valid purpose and assures that ex-offenders are never entirely rehabilitated.
The clause’s list of prohibited offenses, which had been altered twice over the years, continued to be effective in achieving its “racially discriminatory aim,” according to Dennis. According to him, 58% of the almost 29,000 Mississippians with completed terms for disenfranchisement offenses between 1994 and 2017 were Black.
He noted that Washington, D.C., 35 states, and Mississippi were “bucking a clear and consistent movement in our Nation against permanent disenfranchisement,” he added.
Judge Carolyn Dineen King of the US Court of Appeals concurred with Dennis in overturning the decision of a lower court judge. Both members of the court with a conservative bent are appointments made by Democratic presidents.
According to Jonathan Youngwood, an attorney for the class-action lawsuit’s plaintiffs, “This is a significant victory for Mississippians who have served their sentences and deserve to take fully part in our political process.”
Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, announced via a spokesperson that she would appeal the ruling because “the Supreme Court has indicated that felon disenfranchisement is not punishment.”
U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, a Ronald Reagan appointee, and former Republican president, emphasized in a dissenting decision that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in 1974 that state legislation permanently depriving felons of voting rights did not violate their rights to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution’s 4th Amendment.
In order to achieve its desired result, today’s decision disregards the text, prior precedent, and common sense, according to Jones.