Federal appeals court upholds Jim Crow-era Mississippi law restricting voting rights for felons

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a Mississippi law restricting voting rights for certain convicted felons that was first crafted during the Jim Crow era.

In a 10-7 decision, the court ruled that though Section 241 of the Mississippi state constitution was originally written for racist reasons in 1890, it is no longer racist in effect.

“It is uncontroverted that the state constitutional convention was steeped in racism and that ‘the state was motivated by a desire to discriminate against blacks’ when the 1890 constitution was adopted,” reads the majority opinion.

However, it adds, the “plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of showing that the current version of Section 241 was motivated by discriminatory intent. In addition, Mississippi has conclusively shown that any taint associated with Section 241 has been cured.”

The provision in question in Mississippi’s state constitution prevents people convicted of certain felonies, including forgery, rape and murder, among others, from voting. It has been amended multiple times since the constitution was first adopted in 1890.

The court made its decision in response to a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Center for Justice on behalf of two Black men in Mississippi who lost their right to vote after they were convicted of felonies included in Section 241.

The lawsuit argued that the law violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and that because it was originally crafted with racist intent, restricting people’s voting rights under the provision based on convictions for the eight felonies included in the 1890 version should be ruled to be unconstitutional.

Rape and murder, the other two felonies included in the current version of the law, were added to Section 241 in a 1968 amendment.

“This provision was a part of the 1890 plan to take the vote away from Black people who had attained it in the wake of the civil war,” said Rob McDuff, Impact Litigation Project director at the Mississippi Center for Justice, in a statement responding to the ruling.

“Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals is allowing it to remain in place despite its racist origins.”

McDuff claimed that the organization will challenge the decision at the level of the U.S. Supreme Court.