Conservative Appeals Judges Question Felon Voting Ban Claims (3)

Conservatives on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit seemed skeptical of ruling for convicted felons seeking to declare a lifetime voting ban in Mississippi cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution.

Republican appointees on the New Orleans-based court at the en banc argument on Tuesday raised the implications of finding that permanent disenfranchisement of the right to vote is cruel and unusual, and how it could create issues in other contexts.

And some judges suggested that the issue is one for legislators, not the court.

Judge Kyle Duncan, a Donald Trump appointee, said that if the ...