A court ruling striking down Mississippi's practice of permanently stripping voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies should be reconsidered and reversed, the state said Friday as it asked for new hearing by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Enforcement of the voting ban, which is part of the state's constitution, was blocked by in a 2-1 decision by a panel of 5th Circuit judges on Aug. 4. Mississippi attorneys, led by state Attorney General Lynn Fitch, asked the full New Orleans-based court, with 16 active members, to reconsider the case, saying the earlier ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and rulings in other circuit courts.
