Supreme Court Asked to Overturn Mississippi Voting Ban

Attorneys for disenfranchised individuals in Mississippi have filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the state's lifetime disenfranchisement laws for certain felonies, arguing they violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The appeal highlights that Mississippi's policy, a remnant of Jim Crow-era laws, is increasingly seen as an outlier, as most states have moved away from such practices over recent decades. Currently, nearly 55,000 residents are disenfranchised, with a significant number being Black individuals, and restoration of voting rights remains a complicated and rarely successful process. This marks the third significant legal challenge to Mississippi's disenfranchisement laws since the late 19th century, with previous attempts rejected by the courts. The appeal seeks to overturn a ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which maintained that changes to the disenfranchisement laws should be made by state legislators rather than the judiciary. The case underscores ongoing debates about voting rights and systemic inequalities in the U.S.