Cruel and unusual? Supreme Court declines to review Mississippi voting ban for convicted felons
USA TodayJan 28
Supreme Court Won't Review Mississippi's Felon Voting Ban
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Above: The US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Mandel Ngan/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Monday declined to review Mississippi's lifetime voting ban for felons, leaving in place restrictions that permanently prevent people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes, from voting.
This decision lets stand a ruling by the full 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected claims from Mississippi residents, who have finished serving their time, that permanent loss of voting rights amounts to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
The ban originated in the state's 1890 constitution when delegates deliberately targeted crimes they believed Black people were more likely to commit, making it part of Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement efforts.
The Spin
Left narrative
A lifetime voting ban imposes an exceptionally severe penalty that denies the democratic core of American citizenship — especially for those who have completed their sentences and returned to society as productive citizens. The ban perpetuates racial discrimination from the Jim Crow era and stands as a national outlier in its severity.
Right narrative
The state has the constitutional authority to determine who can vote, even if it denies voting rights to people convicted of felonies. This ban is meant to determine, at the state level, who's qualified to vote and not to punish anyone. Reversing the ban should be left to state legislators and citizens rather than federal courts.
