Mississippi is violating the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of some felonies.
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."