Mississippi should restore the voting rights of formerly incarcerated people, Democratic candidate for Mississippi attorney general Greta Kemp Martin said in a joint press conference with Democratic candidate for secretary of state Ty Pinkins in Greenville, Miss., on Sept. 14.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 4 that Mississippi’s lifetime voting ban for people charged with certain crimes is “unconstitutional” because it does not follow the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.” The State prohibits people convicted of any of 21 listed crimes from voting, including murder, rape, arson and robbery.
“This ruling is aimed to remove punitive obstacles for those who are trying to re-enter their communities from correctional facilities,” Martin said on Sept. 14. “This would rectify historical injustice initially designed to suppress Black voters and still disproportionately affecting Black Mississippians today.”
Mississippi implemented the voting ban for currently and formerly incarcerated people when it adopted the new state constitution in 1890 as a way to “exclude Black citizens from participation in the electoral process,” the ruling noted.
“Although the delegates were explicit about their goal of white political control, they were careful to avoid provisions overtly violating the Fifteenth Amendment’s ban on restricting voting based on race,” it says.
Fitch Files Appeal
Incumbent Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed an appeal against the court’s ruling on Aug. 18, writing that Mississippians “have overwhelmingly disagreed” with allowing formerly incarcerated people to vote.
“Each listed crime is serious, probative of dishonesty or poor civic virtue, a common-law crime whose gravity has long been recognized, a crime that has commonly triggered disenfranchisement—or a combination of these features,” the brief says. “Indefinitely denying the vote on those grounds is reasonable and enjoys a long tradition.”
Click on the preview image to read Fitch’s Aug. 18, 2023, filing.
A spokesperson for Fitch did not offer any comments on the attorney general’s decision but sent a quote from the brief instead.
“The panel decision conflicts with binding precedent. The panel ruled that it could invalidate a category of felon disenfranchisement, that Mississippi’s disenfranchisement law imposes ‘punishment’ under
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