Suffrage; restore to Shirley Wilson of Smith County.
Summary
House Bill 1994 is a private suffrage bill that restores the right to vote to Shirley Wilson of Smith County, Mississippi. The bill identifies her prior disqualification as an elector stemming from a 1995 grand larceny conviction in Smith County, for which she received a 48-month supervised probation sentence and was discharged from probation in 1998. It further states that the Legislature has been informed she has since lived as a law-abiding and honorable citizen.
The measure is narrowly tailored to one individual and does not create a general change to election law or criminal law. If enacted, it would remove the voting disability associated with Wilson’s felony conviction and immediately restore her suffrage rights upon passage.
Impact
HB1994 would amend the legal status of a single named individual by restoring her right of suffrage, overriding the voting disqualification that resulted from her felony conviction. It does not revise the broader statutory framework governing felon disenfranchisement, voter eligibility, or rights restoration procedures in Mississippi; instead, it operates as a special act of the Legislature effective upon passage.
Sentiment
The available text and context suggest a routine, individualized restoration of voting rights, with no recorded committee debate or vote history indicating opposition or controversy. The bill’s language is affirmative and rehabilitative, emphasizing that the individual has been law-abiding since completing probation. In the absence of transcripts or recorded votes, the overall sentiment appears neutral to favorable.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The only potentially sensitive issue is the use of a private suffrage bill to restore voting rights to a single person based on a past felony conviction, which may raise general policy questions about individualized legislative relief versus broader restoration mechanisms. However, no member objections, amendments, or opposing arguments are included in the record provided.