On Friday, Aug. 4, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Jim Crow-era provision of the Mississippi Constitution that permanently disenfranchised Mississippians with certain felony convictions. The opinion held that the provision violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision was authored by Judge James Dennis, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. Dennis was joined by Judge Carolyn King, a former President Jimmy Carter appointee, while Judge Edith Jones, a former President Ronald Reagan appointee, dissented.
I wonder if the Supreme Court woul take this up in appeal.
That would be interesting. I think this case was well decided, and most Americans would consider the outcome sound.
I dunno about you, but I don’t trust the current SCOTUS with anything like this.
I certainly don’t, but I think the only way forward is reform, and the most likely motivator for that is when their behavior undermines faith.
I hope that they give good rulings, but I think this is another one of those issues where it would be at least a relief to see Thomas write an opinion about how voting is a luxury that should be afforded to the select few who earn it or something and then watch the law reviews write more articles trying to make sense of their recent discovery that these are – contrary to what they were told in school – not actually neutral actors but politicians in robes, and the law in America is in big, big, big fucking trouble.
Why?
The opinion held that the provision violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
