Felony voting ban in Mississippi perpetuates racism: Lawrence

In voting ban, authors of Mississippi's constitution purposely selected offenses for which Black citizens were disproportionately targeted. — Image credit: Envato

In July 2024, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Mississippi’s lifetime felon disenfranchisement law, which dates back to the Jim Crow era. This law disenfranchises tens of thousands of Mississippi residents under a provision in the Mississippi Constitution that revokes voting rights for those convicted of specific felonies, including theft, arson and bigamy.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence argues that the authors of Mississippi’s Constitution deliberately selected offenses for which Black citizens were disproportionately targeted. Lawrence cautions that, with the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, Jim Crow-era tactics are still “alive and well in Mississippi.”

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

According to the court, striking down racist laws dating back to 1890 isn’t the job of the judiciary, but of the legislature.

You know, we’re repeatedly told about the pivotal nature of this presidential election coming up, yet the harshest felon disenfranchisement law in the nation is going to block some 240,000 people, primarily Black, from heading to the polls in November, and the courts will allow it to stand. That injustice not only impacts Mississippi, but it reverberates across the nation.

You know, Mississippi’s practice of selectively stripping individuals from the right to vote is not just cruel and unusual punishment, but a calculated perpetration of the racism that’s kept the state red. And with the courts unwilling to intervene, nothing is going to change.

“Do the hard work of persuading your fellow citizens that the law should change.” That’s what the court’s majority wrote when it left Mississippi’s racist law in place. Talk about audacious, to tell disenfranchised people to “rally the privileged” in hopes of getting justice is nothing short of injustice. It’s patent from the history of the state’s constitution that it was intended to be that way.

Things seem to be looking up for voters in Mississippi, particularly black voters. Earlier this month, three federal judges told the state to redraw some of its legislative districts because the current ones dilute the power of black voters in at least three areas in the state. That long fought victory was just overshadowed by a ruling from the exact same court. The Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reinstated Mississippi’s lifetime felon disenfranchisement law from the Jim Crow era mind you, preventing 10s of 1000s of citizens from voting primarily black. According to the court striking down racist laws dating back to 1890 Isn’t the job of the judiciary, but of the legislature. You know, we’re repeatedly told about the pivotal nature of this presidential election coming up. Yet the harshest felon disenfranchisement law in the nation is going to block some 240,000 people primarily black from heading to the polls in November, and the courts will allow it to stand that injustice not only impacts Mississippi, but it reverberates across the nation. You know, Mississippi’s practice a selectively stripping individuals from the right to vote is not just cruel and unusual punishment but a calculated perpetration of the racism that’s kept the state red. And with the courts unwilling to intervene, nothing is going to change. Do the hard work of persuading your fellow citizens that the law should change? That’s what the courts majority wrote when it left Mississippi’s racist law in place. Talk about audacious to tell disenfranchised people to rally the privileged in hopes of getting justice is nothing short of injustice. It’s patent from the history of the state’s constitution that it was intended to be that way. The 22 categories of disenfranchising Crimes include non violent offenses like shoplifting, bigamy, timber larceny, that’s stealing trees from someone else’s property. Losing your voting rights for these crimes is not just harsh, but the crimes were strategically selected to be disproportionately doled out. The authors of the Mississippi constitution specifically chose offenses for which black citizens were over policed and targeted. Although the law was enacted some what 134 years ago, the racially disparate impact remains today. nearly 60% of those in Mississippi who are disenfranchised due to the felon disenfranchisement law are black, even though Black people in Mississippi make up only about 38% of the state population. How is it not cruel and unusual to strip someone of their right to participate in selecting their leaders because they wrote a bad check? How is it acceptable the banned 16% of your black residents from voting based on laws adopted when it was illegal for them to buy vanilla ice cream, except on July 4, the Court of Appeals got it wrong here. You cannot expect the people to vote in lawmakers to change a law when the people can’t vote. The majority knows that the courts disenfranchisement law puts it so that the courts are the place of last resort for those people. The court also knows that and the cycle continues. Jim Crow is alive and well in Mississippi and unless the court step up, in putting it down, it’s going to stay up and it’s going to hold us down