US Supreme Court maintains Mississippi ban on felon voting

The U.S. Supreme Court recently made a decision not to hear a challenge to Mississippi's lifetime ban on voting by people convicted of a wide range of felonies.

The policy has been criticized as one of the toughest in the nation and was adopted back in 1890 during the Jim Crow era.

The Supreme Court turned away an appeal of a lower court's decision rejecting a lawsuit that claimed the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection and the 8th Amendment promise of freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

The class action suit was brought about back in 2018 by six Mississippi men. The men had "lost the right to vote even though they had completed their sentences for various felonies, including grand larceny and receiving stolen property."

According to Newsmax, the six men's attorneys were claiming that the law was invalid because it does not take into account the relative seriousness of the felonies involved.

Per the source, "the range of crimes include murder, rape, bribery, theft, forgery and arson, but lawyers for the plaintiffs have said it applies regardless of the seriousness of the felony, even 'writing a bad check for $100 or stealing $250 worth of timber.'"

The law has also been criticized for impacting Black people more than white people. More than 58% of disenfranchised Mississippians who have completed their sentences are Black.