Can Mississippi strip felons, including tree thieves, of voting rights? Federal judges hear the case
apnews.com
More than a dozen federal appellate judges have heard arguments on whether Mississippi can continue to permanently strip voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies.

Under the Mississippi Constitution, people convicted of 10 specific felonies, including bribery, theft and arson, lose the right to vote. Under a previous state attorney general, the list was expanded to 22 crimes, including timber larceny — felling and stealing trees from someone else’s property — and carjacking.

To have their voting rights restored, people convicted of any of the crimes must get a pardon from the governor or persuade lawmakers to pass individual bills just for them with two-thirds approval. Lawmakers in recent years have passed few of those bills, and they passed none in 2023.