澳彩开奖

WASHINGTON 鈥� Today the 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖) and signed an Amicus Brief on behalf of tens of thousands of Mississippians urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could restore their voting rights. The case, , challenges Mississippi鈥檚 practice of removing voting rights for individuals with certain felony convictions on the basis that it violates individuals鈥� right to equal protection.

Harness vs. Watson was brought by the Mississippi Center for Justice and cooperating law firms, who are petitioning for the case to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. 澳彩开奖 and Simpson Thacher have filed a different challenge to Mississippi鈥檚 disenfranchisement and re-enfranchisement system, Hopkins vs. Hosemann, which remains pending before the Fifth Circuit.

The amicus brief is available HERE

鈥淢ississippi currently strips the freedom to vote from tens of thousands of its residents in a system that was designed to deny a fair voice to the Black community,鈥� said Ahmed Soussi, staff attorney for voting rights with the 澳彩开奖. 鈥淭hat system cannot be allowed to stand. We ask the Supreme Court to take up this case and defend the fundamental right to vote for Mississippians.鈥�

鈥淭he right to participate in the democratic process is the bedrock of our society. Mississippi unfortunately has a racially discriminatory, unconstitutional system of criminal disenfranchisement, which has persisted for more than 130 years,鈥� said Jonathan K. Youngwood, Co-Chair of the Litigation Department at Simpson Thacher. 鈥淟ike the plaintiffs in Harness, the Hopkins plaintiffs have a strong personal interest in seeing this scheme dismantled and we will also continue to pursue the meritorious and constitutional challenges to Mississippi鈥檚 criminal disenfranchisement scheme in the Hopkins class action litigation.鈥�

Background:

In 1890, Mississippi adopted a state constitution specifically intended to prevent formerly enslaved people and their descendants from gaining political influence, in part by blocking their access to the ballot box. The lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions established by that constitution is still in effect. Mississippi鈥檚 lifetime voting ban permanently strips residents of their right to vote if convicted of disqualifying offenses such as writing a bad check or petty larceny.

Once lost, Mississippians have only two ways to regain their right to vote: at the behest of the governor or through a suffrage bill passed by the state legislature. The majority of Mississippians who are banned from voting have completed their sentences. In recent decades, Black voting-age Mississippians have been disenfranchised at more than twice the rate of white voting-age Mississippians.