Long after he served his sentence for a crime committed more than 20
years ago, Dennis Hopkins said he still felt like a "branded
man."
friend,
Long after he served his sentence for a crime committed more than 20
years ago, Dennis Hopkins said he still felt like a "branded
man."
In 1890, Mississippi adopted a state constitution that was
specifically intended to prevent formerly enslaved people and their
descendants from voting
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. In modern times, a provision of that constitution - a lifetime
voting ban for anyone convicted of certain crimes - is still
having its intended effect: Between 1994 and 2017, nearly 50,000
Mississippians
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, including Hopkins, were banned for life from voting due to
conviction of a disqualifying offense.
So, we sued.
In 2018, the SPLC and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP, filed a
lawsuit
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claiming that Mississippi's lifetime voting ban arbitrarily
grants or deprives citizens who reside in Mississippi of the right to
vote and was intended to discriminate on the basis of race. Last week,
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that
Mississippi's lifetime voting ban for people with disqualifying
felony convictions who have completed their sentences is cruel and
unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.
Now, for the first time since his conviction, Hopkins, a foster
parent, business owner and community volunteer, will be able to
exercise his right to vote in Mississippi.
In recent decades, Black voting-age Mississippians have been
disenfranchised at over twice the rate of white voting-age
Mississippians. In a state where Black voters have been historically
barred from voting through complex, intentional and targeted
restrictions
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, this victory is deeply impactful.
"This is a tremendous victory for the state of
Mississippi," said?SPLC Mississippi State Office Director
Waikinya Clanton. "People have paid their debt to society and
have been oppressed from exercising their voting rights for far too
long. This is a huge win in the fight to restore dignity and respect
to the voice of the disenfranchised voter in Mississippi."
Sincerly,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond,
working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.
Friend, will you make a gift to help the SPLC fight for
justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy?
Donate
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