A federal appeals court upheld a law in Mississippi that bars certain convicted felons from voting in the state.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 10–7 decision on Aug. 24 to uphold the law after the Mississippi Center for Justice sued on behalf of two black men in the state.
The attorney for the men argued that Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution, which lays out the prerequisites to be eligible to vote in the state, violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
The black men—Roy Harness and Kamal Karriem—had lost their right to vote after they were convicted of two of the eight felonies that were included in Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution when it was first created in 1890, which restricts voting based on such felonies. Harness was convicted of forgery, and Karriem was convicted of embezzlement….