AP Analysis: Lawsuits pending on Miss. felons’ voting
Rep. Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, is one of the more vocal legislators on the issue.
In a blog earlier this year in The Clarion-Ledger, Snowden said he supports disenfranchising every convicted felon, no matter the crime, while he or she remains a ward of the corrections system.
“However, I am in favor of restoring most felons’ right to vote within a reasonable period of time after they serve their sentence and have otherwise fully paid the societal debt they owe for the crime they committed,” Snowden wrote.
“This trade-off is reasonable, it makes sense, and I think it is politically doable. Most Democrats and most Republicans easily can get on the same page here,” he said.
Two lawsuits attempt to address the questions about felons’ voting.
One, pending in Hinds County Chancery Court since October 2006, challenges the state’s denial of voting rights to people convicted of felonies that include shoplifting, timber larceny and extortion, which were among those added in 2004.
AP
Nov. 29, 2009
Magnolia Tribune
