Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 27, 1987: AGO 000008032 (August 27, 1987)

AGO 000008032.

Dear Representative Doxey:

Attorney General Edwin Lloyd Pittman has received your request for an opinion from this office and has assigned it to the undersigned for research and reply. in your letter, a copy of which is attached, you ask the following:

(1) In light of the deletion in the Election Code of 1986 of burglary from the statutory list of those crimes for which one loses his right to vote, does a conviction of burglary prior to the effective date of his change (January 1, 1987) result in a loss of suffrage? It is my assumption that a conviction of burglary after January 1, 1987, does not result in a loss of suffrage.

(2) May the Mississippi State Legislature restore suffrage to individuals who either committed the disqualifying crime in another state and are now residing in Mississippi or committed the crime in Mississippi and are now residing in another state?

(3) Is the Mississippi Legislature permitted to pass a suffrage bill for an individual who has not been convicted of one of the disqualifying crimes listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890? Members of the Legislature are sometimes requested to sponsor such bills, e.g., for a constituent who was convicted of a violation of the controlled substance law.

(4) Does a suffrage bill restore any civil rights other than the right to vote?

(5) May the Governor of Mississippi restore suffrage to an individual by means of a gubernatorial pardon?

In response to your first question, we attach a copy of an opinion issued to Wallace Gray, Jr. dated February 26, 1987, which states that burglary is no longer a disqualifying crime. See, Miss. Code Ann. 23-15-11 and -19 (Supp. 1986, Special Pamphlet). For those exercising their right to vote after January 1, 1987 a burglary conviction would not be a disqualifying crime.

In response to your second question, only convictions of disqualifying crimes committed under the jurisdiction of the State affect one's right to vote. See, Muirhead v. State Board of Election Commissioners, 259 So.2d 698 (Miss. 1972).

In response to your third question, disqualifying crimes are enumerated in Miss. Const. 241. Conviction of any other crime does not disqualify one from voting.

In response to your fourth question, by opinion issued to Honorable Jerry Horton dated October 24, 1985, a copy of which is attached, this office stated with reference to Miss. Const. 253 (1890):

The legislature may, by a two-thirds vote of both houses, of all members elected, restore the right of suffrage to any person disqualified by reason of crime; but the reasons therefor shall be spread upon the journals, and the vote shall be by yeas and nays.

However, this has never been construed to act in the same manner as a pardon. Therefore, the remaining disabilities inherent to a felony conviction would remain. If he has been pardoned by the Governor, as set forth above, all of the disabilities would be removed.

In response to your fifth question, a pardon granted by the Governor pursuant to Miss. Const. 124 (1890) absolves the party from all legal consequences of crime and conviction, both direct and collateral. See, Ex Parte Crisler, 159 Miss. 247, 132 So. 103 (1931).

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely yours,

EDWIN LLOYD PITTMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY Catherine Walker Underwood Assistant Attorney General

CWU:mfd Enclosures