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5th Circuit upholds Jim Crow-era law to keep Black Mississippians from voting

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5th Circuit upholds Jim Crow-era law written to keep Black Mississippians from voting

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic language.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling allowing a provision of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution designed to keep African Americans from to remain in place.

The provision places a lifetime ban on voting in most instances on people convicted of certain felonies โ€” crimes that the framers of the 1890 state Constitution said Black Mississippians were more prone to commit.

The framers did not disenfranchise people convicted of murder or rape, for instance, but did strip voting rights of people convicted of several โ€œlesser crimes,โ€ which the writers of the Constitution falsely believed would be committed by African Americans.

The โ€œper curiamโ€ or unsigned opinion of the 5th Circuit said because of actions taken by the in the 1950s and 1960s allowing voters a chance to amend the constitutional provision, among other things adding murder and rape as disenfranchising crimes, the provision no longer has a racist taint.

โ€œPlaintiffs have not demonstrated that Section 241 as it currently stands was motivated by discriminatory intent or that any other approach to demonstrating the provision’s unconstitutionality is viable,โ€ the majority said.

The majority opinion also cited the Legislature taking up the issue in the 1980s and opting not to change it.

The provision was defended on behalf of the state by the office of Attorney General Lynn Fitch.

The Mississippi Center for Justice among other groups brought the lawsuit on behalf of two Black Mississippians who had lost the right to vote: Roy Harness and Kamal Karriem, convicted of forgery and embezzlement, respectively.

โ€œThis 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,โ€ said Rob McDuff, director of the Impact Litigation Project at the Mississippi Center for Justice. โ€œUnfortunately, the Court of Appeals is allowing it to remain in place despite its racist origins. Despite this setback, we will continue this battle and seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court.โ€

The case was considered by 17 members of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, considered one of the most conservative judiciaries in the nation. Oral arguments were held in the case in September 2021 in New Orleans.

In a statement, Fitch’s office said, “We are pleased with the court’s .ย  As the court noted, ‘Plaintiffs’ proposal that a state constitutional amendment must be voted on word for word to avoid any vestigial racial taint is radically prescriptiveโ€ฆ. No subsequent case law supports plaintiffs’ novel, judicially crafted political theory of public consent.'”

โ€Seven of the 17 members dissented with the majority opinion. Circuit Judge James Graves Jr., previously a member of the , wrote a lengthy dissent detailing the state’s sordid racist past, from the 1960s when the Legislature allowed the electorate to vote on the constitutional provision. That vote allowed murder and rape to be added as disenfranchising crimes, but did not give the electorate the opportunity to vote on whether other changes needed to be made to the provision or whether the entire Jim Crow provision should be stricken from the Constitution.

As part of Graves’ history of the state’s racial past, he cited progress that led to the election of Black โ€” including him as a judge โ€” and led to the replacement of the old Mississippi state that contained the Confederate battle emblem as part of its design.

Citing that the state had not been allowed to vote on the provision, Graves wrote: โ€œMississippians have simply not been given the chance to right the wrongs of its racist origins. And this court โ€ฆ deprives Mississippians of this opportunity by upholding an unconstitutional law enacted for the purpose of discriminating against Black Mississippians on the basis of race.โ€

In his opening, Graves quoted segregationist former Mississippi Gov. James K. Vardaman.

โ€œThere is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter โ€ฆ Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the nigger from โ€ฆ In Mississippi we have in our Constitution legislated against the racial peculiarities of the Negro โ€ฆ When that device fails, we will resort to something else.โ€

In Mississippi, people with felony convictions must petition the Legislature to get a bill passed by a two-thirds majority of both chambers to regain voting rights. Normally only a handful (less than five) of such bills are successful each session. There is also the option of the governor granting a pardon to restore voting rights, but no governor has granted pardons since Haley Barbour in 2012.

For a subset of those who lose their rights, the courts can expunge their record. In some instances that expungement includes the restoration of voting rights, while for others it does not. That outcome depends on the preference of the judge granting the expungement.

Those crimes placed in the Constitution where conviction costs a person the right to vote are bribery, , arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, bigamy and burglary.

Under the original language of the Constitution, a person could be convicted of cattle rustling and lose the right to vote, but those convicted of murder or rape would still be able to vote โ€” even while incarcerated.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi News

Dollar General vehicle theft leads to two arrests in Tupelo

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www.wcbi.com – Aundrea Self – 2024-11-04 16:10:00

SUMMARY: In , Mississippi, 19-year-old Joshua James and a juvenile face charges related to a pursuit and the of a police car. James is charged with Directing a Felony to Be Committed by a Person Under Seventeen, Grand Larceny, and Felony Fleeing, with a bond set at $100,000. The incident began on November 1 when police responded to a of a stolen vehicle. After a chase that ended when the stolen truck crashed south of Verona, James was apprehended, while his juvenile passenger fled in a police car, which was later found wrecked. The juvenile’s case will be handled in Youth Court.

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Categories: Crime, Local News


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Mississippi News

Lowndes Co. Supervisors talk storm safety for certain areas

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www.wcbi.com – Marcus Hunter – 2024-11-04 15:59:00

SUMMARY: The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors has secured to construct storm shelters in Crawford, Artesia, and Plum Grove, lacking local shelter during severe weather. Each community will four FEMA-funded shelters, accommodating up to 20 people each, on property at a total cost of $103,692, with FEMA contributing $93,000. The supervisors anticipate these shelters will significantly enhance safety for during storms. Vice President Jeff Smith highlighted their importance, expressing relief for community members who have long awaited a secure refuge. While installation timelines remain unclear, the is expected to proceed soon.

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News anchor dropped after social media post telling Trump-haters supporting Harris: ‘Stay home, donโ€™t vote’

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www.foxnews.com – – 2024-11-04 11:51:00

SUMMARY: David “Dave” Elliott, a anchor for in for nearly 40 years, was fired after expressing political views on social . He revealed on Facebook that his termination was due to his political opinions, specifically mentioning a where he advised people not to vote out of hatred for Donald Trump. Elliott characterized his social media posts as satire, distinguishing them from his professional work. He noted that the discussion with his station’s general about his dismissal was brief, and the topic of social media was raised. WLOX’s management declined to comment on the matter.

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