Jackson City NAACP Celebrates Appeals Court Ruling on Lifetime Felony Voting Ban

August 4, 2022 - Jackson, MS - Jackson City NAACP applauds the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Mississippi’s lifetime felony voting ban violates the U.S. Constitution. 

Mississippi’s lifetime felony voting ban has disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Mississippians since it was put in the 1890 state Constitution. Rooted in Jim Crow-era racist policies in an effort to keep Black Mississippians from exercising their right to vote after completing their sentence, this ban has created massive reentry barriers for more than 235,000 returning citizens and stripped families of their ability to raise their voices at the ballot box.

For years, Jackson City NAACP alongside its civic engagement roundtable partners have worked diligently to educate and raise public awareness about the harms of felon disenfranchisement. In addition, we have worked with legislators to submit suffrage requests for countless Mississippians. Because no true criteria or suffrage process exists in the Mississippi State Legislature, many of our efforts have fallen on deaf ears as we work to restore those men and women who have lost their voting rights, forcing us to deliver disappointing news when the body fails to pass those bills. 

This ruling not only helps to restore the fundamental promise of freedom in this country, but also restores full citizenship. It will, no doubt, have promising positive impacts as a person's ability to participate in democratic processes directly correlates to their rate of recidivism.

The Court’s ruling returns justice to the criminal legal system.

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