Mississippi
Mississippi Ban on Felons Voting Upheld Despite Racist History
A provision of the Mississippi Structure prohibiting sure felons from voting, which was initially adopted particularly to disenfranchise Blacks, doesn’t violate the US Structure, the en banc Fifth Circuit mentioned.
Reenactments of the supply in 1950 and 1968 erased the invidious racist taint, the per curiam opinion mentioned Wednesday.
When adopted in 1890, the supply denied the correct to vote to any individual convicted of bribery, housebreaking, theft, arson, acquiring cash or items below false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, and bigamy. On the time, these have been thought-about Black crimes—crimes that have been primarily dedicated by Blacks.
The 1950 modification eliminated housebreaking, …