Mississippi's lifetime voting ban for people with disqualifying felony convictions has been struck down in a new decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The court's 2-1 decision will restore the right to vote for tens of thousands of Mississippians, according to the plaintiff's council Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. The court argued that the ban, – Section 241 of Article XII in the Mississippi Constitution – "serves no protective function to society" and is thus "a cruel and unusual punishment."