Landmark Decision: Mississippi's Felony Voting Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has invalidated Mississippi's lifetime voting prohibition for individuals with disqualifying felony convictions in a new 2-1 decision. This ruling is anticipated to reinstate voting rights for tens of thousands of Mississippi residents, as highlighted by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, the plaintiff's counsel. The court's decision in the Hopkins v. Hosemann case argues that this lifelong ban subjects former offenders to a punishment extending "beyond the term their culpability requires" and deems it "cruel and unusual." The court further maintains that the ban, a remnant of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution aimed at disenfranchising Black individuals, serves no societal protective function. According to a Sentencing Project study, this policy rendered 10.55% of adults in Mississippi, equivalent to 235,152 people, ineligible to vote due to felony convictions, disproportionately affecting Black Mississippians at 15.96%. The court ruled the ban unconstitutional and enjoined the Mississippi Secretary of State from enforcing it, but Secretary Michael Watson has yet to respond to the decision.

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