Mississippi voting rights case is argued at US appeals court
3 years, 3 months ago

Mississippi voting rights case is argued at US appeals court

Associated Press  

— The authors of Mississippi’s 1890 constitution had racist intent when they stripped voting rights from people convicted of some felonies because they chose crimes they thought were more likely to be committed by Black people, an attorney argued Wednesday in a federal appeals court. The Mississippi Constitution strips voting rights from people convicted of 10 felonies, including forgery, arson and bigamy. To regain voting rights in Mississippi now, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or must win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. Federal lawsuits were filed in Mississippi in 2017 and 2018 seeking automatic restoration of voting rights for people who had finished serving sentences for disenfranchising crimes.

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History of this topic

Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual
1 month ago

Attorneys want the US Supreme Court to say Mississippi’s felony voting ban is cruel and unusual

Associated Press  

— The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers. “Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. …

‘Trapped in the past:’ How some US states restrict voting after felonies
4 months, 3 weeks ago

‘Trapped in the past:’ How some US states restrict voting after felonies

Al Jazeera  

Fort Worth, Texas – There’s an elephant in the room when Crystal Mason talks about her seemingly never-ending legal case. In the last quarter-century, approximately 26 states, plus Washington, DC, have restored the right to vote for most people with felony convictions, with some exceptions for severe crimes like murder and sexual assault. In other states, like Texas, the automatic …

Lawsuit filed over Alabama law that blocks more people with felony convictions from voting
5 months ago

Lawsuit filed over Alabama law that blocks more people with felony convictions from voting

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A voting rights group says a new Alabama law that expanded the list of felonies that cause a person to lose their right to vote is “out of step” with what is happening in most of the nation on voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. The Campaign Legal Center filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Montgomery Circuit Court …

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys
5 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys

Hindustan Times  

— Mississippi should work quickly to fulfill the court-ordered redrawing of some legislative districts to ensure more equitable representation for Black residents, attorneys for voting rights groups said in a new court filing Friday. Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys The attorneys also said it's important to hold special elections in the reconfigured state …

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys
5 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys

Associated Press  

— Mississippi should work quickly to fulfill the court-ordered redrawing of some legislative districts to ensure more equitable representation for Black residents, attorneys for voting rights groups said in a new court filing Friday. The attorneys also said it’s important to hold special elections in the reconfigured state House and Senate districts on Nov. 5 — the same day as …

Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts
5 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts

Associated Press  

— Redrawing some Mississippi legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots, state officials say in new court papers. Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday in response to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi House and Senate to reconfigure …

Trump’s case casts a spotlight on movement to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Trump’s case casts a spotlight on movement to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Republican-led states have historically made it difficult for those convicted of a felony to vote or barred it altogether. Those who advocate for the rights of people convicted of felonies say they hope Trump’s case convinces the public of the need to make regaining voting rights simple and straightforward. Some conservative states have restored voting rights for people …

Mississippi lawmakers move toward restoring voting rights to 32 felons as broader suffrage bill dies
8 months ago

Mississippi lawmakers move toward restoring voting rights to 32 felons as broader suffrage bill dies

Associated Press  

— Mississippi legislators advanced bills Monday to give voting rights back to 32 people convicted of felonies, weeks after a Senate leader killed a broader bill that would have restored suffrage to many more people with criminal records. The move is necessary due to Mississippi’s piecemeal approach to restoring voting rights to people convicted of felony offenses who have paid …

Mississippi legislators won’t smooth the path this year to restore voting rights after some felonies
8 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi legislators won’t smooth the path this year to restore voting rights after some felonies

Associated Press  

— Kenneth Almons says he began a sentence in a Mississippi prison just two weeks after graduating from high school, and one of his felony convictions — for armed robbery — stripped away voting rights that he still has not regained decades later. “Because when you don’t have a voice, you’re nobody.” Mississippi is among the 26 states that remove …

Democratic lawmakers ask Justice Department to probe Tennessee’s voting rights restoration changes
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Democratic lawmakers ask Justice Department to probe Tennessee’s voting rights restoration changes

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A group of Democratic Tennessee lawmakers is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate how the state has further restricted the process for people with felony records to get their voting rights back. According to the letter, 22 Democratic lawmakers argue Tennessee’s elections office has stepped beyond what state law allows in requiring that people get …

Felons must get gun rights back if they want voting rights restored, Tennessee officials say
11 months ago

Felons must get gun rights back if they want voting rights restored, Tennessee officials say

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state’s toughened voting rights restoration policy requires people convicted of a felony to get their gun rights restored before they can become eligible to cast a ballot again, Tennessee’s elections office said Tuesday, confirming a mandate that officials had been debating internally. Last summer, election officials interpreted a state Supreme Court ruling as requiring that all …

Can Mississippi strip felons, including tree thieves, of voting rights? Federal judges hear the case
11 months ago

Can Mississippi strip felons, including tree thieves, of voting rights? Federal judges hear the case

Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS — Whether permanently stripping voting rights from some Mississippi felons amounts to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment is being weighed by 19 federal appellate judges, some of whom said during a hearing Tuesday that it should be decided by lawmakers, not a court. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was Mississippi’s prohibition on voting for those convicted …

Judge rejects conservative challenge to new Minnesota law restoring felons’ voting rights
1 year ago

Judge rejects conservative challenge to new Minnesota law restoring felons’ voting rights

Associated Press  

MINNEAPOLIS — A judge has dismissed a conservative group’s lawsuit challenging a new Minnesota law that restores voting rights for felons once they’ve completed their prison time. Anoka County Judge Thomas Lehmann ruled Wednesday that the Minnesota Voters Alliance lacked the legal standing to sue and failed to prove that the Legislature overstepped its authority when it voted in February …

Opinion: The outlandish ruling that could eviscerate what’s left of the landmark Voting Rights Act
1 year ago

Opinion: The outlandish ruling that could eviscerate what’s left of the landmark Voting Rights Act

LA Times  

If a decision handed down by a conservative federal appeals court last week is allowed to stand, it will gut what remains of one of the most important federal laws enacted in my lifetime, the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits state and local election practices and systems from discriminating against voters of color. This …

Mississippi has a history of voter suppression. Many see signs of change as Black voters reengage
1 year, 1 month ago

Mississippi has a history of voter suppression. Many see signs of change as Black voters reengage

Associated Press  

— A few years ago, Tiffany Wilburn just didn’t see the point in voting any longer. So you shut down.” Recent interviews with Black voters, voting rights groups, candidates and researchers show that the voter fatigue felt by Wilburn has been widely shared in a state where nearly 40% of the overall population is Black. Voting rights advocates hope the …

Minnesota appeals court protects felon voting rights after finding a lower court judge overstepped
1 year, 1 month ago

Minnesota appeals court protects felon voting rights after finding a lower court judge overstepped

Associated Press  

A Minnesota appeals court on Thursday stepped in to protect voting rights recently granted to felons under a new law, undoing a judge’s effort to strip two convicts of their right to vote. The Minnesota Court of Appeals found Mille Lacs County District Judge Matthew Quinn had no authority to find the new law unconstitutional. In his orders, Quinn concluded …

Minnesota leaders to fight court ruling that restoring voting rights for felons was unconstitutional
1 year, 2 months ago

Minnesota leaders to fight court ruling that restoring voting rights for felons was unconstitutional

Associated Press  

MINNEAPOLIS — A pro-Trump Minnesota judge declared a new state law restoring voting rights for convicted felons unconstitutional, drawing a sharp rebuke from Minnesota’s attorney general and secretary of state who said he overstepped his authority and urged residents to vote anyway. Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a joint statement that Quinn’s orders …

Court blocks Mississippi ban on voting after some crimes, but GOP official will appeal ruling
1 year, 4 months ago

Court blocks Mississippi ban on voting after some crimes, but GOP official will appeal ruling

Associated Press  

— 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, a federal appeals court panel ruled in a split decision Friday. Mississippi Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch expects to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the panel’s 2-1 ruling, her spokesperson, Debbee Hancock, said Friday. …

An appeals court blocks Mississippi's permanent ban on voting after certain felonies
1 year, 4 months ago

An appeals court blocks Mississippi's permanent ban on voting after certain felonies

NPR  

An appeals court blocks Mississippi's permanent ban on voting after certain felonies Enlarge this image toggle caption Rogelio V. Solis/AP Rogelio V. Solis/AP JACKSON, Miss. — 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, a federal appeals court panel ruled in a split decision Friday. …

Mississippi can't restrict absentee voting assistance this year, US judge says as he blocks law
1 year, 4 months ago

Mississippi can't restrict absentee voting assistance this year, US judge says as he blocks law

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A federal judge blocked a …

Virginia NAACP demands to see governor’s criteria for restoring voting rights to felons
1 year, 5 months ago

Virginia NAACP demands to see governor’s criteria for restoring voting rights to felons

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia NAACP on Tuesday called on Gov. The governor’s “painfully slow opaque process is sure to have a discriminatory impact on Black Virginias and other Virginians of color, as well as communities where they live and work,” Robert Barnette Jr., president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, said during a news conference Tuesday. In a letter …

Virginia says governor weighs circumstances of crimes in deciding on restoring felons’ voting rights
1 year, 5 months ago

Virginia says governor weighs circumstances of crimes in deciding on restoring felons’ voting rights

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — As Virginia Gov. The Republican governor is “less likely to quickly restore the voting rights of anyone who used a firearm in the commission of a crime,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Kay Coles James wrote to Robert Barnette Jr., president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference. Youngkin will also “generally speaking, but not always” work to restore …

Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era ban on voting after some felonies
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era ban on voting after some felonies

Associated Press  

— The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will not stop Mississippi from removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies — a practice that originated in the Jim Crow era with the intent of stopping Black men from influencing elections. In a dissent Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the authors of the Mississippi Constitution in …

Conservative law firm challenges new Minnesota law restoring voting rights to felons
1 year, 5 months ago

Conservative law firm challenges new Minnesota law restoring voting rights to felons

Raw Story  

A conservative law firm is challenging the constitutionality of a new Minnesota law restoring voting rights to felons once they’re released. On behalf of a conservative outfit, Minnesota Voters Alliance, the Upper Midwest Law Center filed a lawsuit challenging the law, which went into effect in June. The Upper Midwest Law Center said in a press release that the Supreme …

Court: Mississippi can continue blocking felons from voting
2 years, 4 months ago

Court: Mississippi can continue blocking felons from voting

Associated Press  

— People convicted of certain felonies in Mississippi still won’t be able to vote, as a lawsuit that sought to automatically reinstate their voting rights was struck down by a federal appeals court Wednesday. The attorneys said in written arguments that those changes “cured any discriminatory taint on the original provision.” A majority of the appeals court agreed with the …

Suit: Mississippi high court districts dilute Black voting
2 years, 7 months ago

Suit: Mississippi high court districts dilute Black voting

Associated Press  

— Mississippi needs to update its state Supreme Court districts to ensure Black voters have a chance to elect a candidate of their choice in a state with a history of racially polarized voting, Black plaintiffs said in a lawsuit filed Monday. Mississippi’s three Supreme Court districts are all majority-white, and they were last updated in 1987 over the objection …

NC appeals court stops for now voting restoration for felons
3 years, 3 months ago

NC appeals court stops for now voting restoration for felons

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals court on Friday blocked an order that had allowed tens of thousands of felony offenders who aren’t serving prison or jail time to immediately register to vote and cast ballots. The state Court of Appeals agreed to halt last week’s decision by trial judges to expand when North Carolina residents convicted of felonies …

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