Hopkins v. Watson:
Challenging Lifetime
Voting Bans

In August of 2023, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit ruled that Mississippi’s lifetime voting ban violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The full Fifth Circuit has agreed to rehear the case, with oral arguments expected on January 23rd, 2024. You can read more about the court’s ruling here.

In response, UUSJ joined an amicus brief from a diverse coalition of faith groups—speaking to how such a harsh punishment contradicts values shared by all major faiths like forgiveness, mercy, redemption, and compassion. You can read the amicus brief here.

Join UUSJ for a briefing by Patrick Berry, Counsel, Voting Rights, Brennan Center for Justice, and one of the attorneys who prepared the amicus. Berry will explain what the case means for voting rights work, what occurred during oral arguments, and how Unitarian Universalists can act to lift such lifetime bans.

Patrick Berry is counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, focusing on restoring voting rights and promoting fair, diverse, and impartial courts. During law school, he was a law clerk at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Open Primaries. Berry received his BA from the University of Central Florida and his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he participated in the legislative clinic and was an executive editor for the Journal of Law & Public Affairs.