[The mostly white group of Mississippi lawmakers who backed the
law argued that the new court system would quell crime in
majority-Black Jackson. Opponents say it is an example of state
lawmakers attempting to dilute the power of Black voters.]
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STATE-RUN COURT BLOCKED IN JACKSON AS NAACP APPEALS H.B. 1020 CASE  
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Shaunicy Muhammad
January 2, 2024
Mississippi Free Press
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_ The mostly white group of Mississippi lawmakers who backed the
law argued that the new court system would quell crime in
majority-Black Jackson. Opponents say it is an example of state
lawmakers attempting to dilute the power of Black voters. _

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a temporary stay on
Dec. 31, 2023, blocking the implementation of the state-run and
state-appointed court system to oversee the Capitol Complex
Improvement District, (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

 

The creation of a state-run municipal court system in Jackson, Miss.,
is temporarily blocked after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals issued a New Year’s Eve order
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House Bill 1020’s implementation.

The news came hours after U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate
rejected a request from the NAACP
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delay the establishment of the court to oversee the Capitol Complex
Improvement District that had been set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Under the law, the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice would make
the appointments.

“None of the Plaintiffs has alleged that he or she is in actual or
imminent danger of experiencing any concrete and particularized injury
resulting from the establishment of the CCID Court or the challenged
appointment of a judge or prosecutors for that court,” Wingate wrote
in his decision on Dec. 31, the Associated Press reported the same
day
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The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a temporary block of the
start of the Capitol Complex Improvement District’s state-run court
system on Dec. 31, 2023.

But the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NAACP’s request to
delay the start of the new court system, allowing for a temporary stay
until Jan. 5, and ordered Wingate to “issue a final appealable
order” by noon Wednesday.

Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1020 into law in April 2023 to
establish 
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new courts. The NAACP, representing Jackson residents, filed a
complaint on April 21, 2023
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arguing that the creation of a separate court system was
unconstitutional. The U.S. Department of Justice followed suit in a
July 12, 2023, motion to intervene
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saying “the Mississippi Legislature has shortchanged Hinds
County’s criminal justice system” for decades.

The mostly white group of Mississippi lawmakers who backed the
law argued that the new court system would quell crime
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majority-Black Jackson and make residents safer. However, opponents of
the law say it is another example of state lawmakers attempting to
dilute the power of Black voters to elect their own judges in the
capital city.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled
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H. B. 1020 in a separate case on Sept. 21, 2023, saying that the
creation of the state-run municipal court system was legal but
striking down part of it that would have allowed Chief Justice
Michael K. Randolph to also make temporary appointments to the Hinds
County Circuit Court.
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Wingate now has until noon on Jan. 3 to issue a final order on the
NAACP’s request to block the CCID courts.

_Capital City reporter Shaunicy Muhammad has an enduring interest in
social-justice issues, class inequality, Africana studies and cultural
storytelling. Her educational background includes a journalism degree
from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. Her time as an undergraduate
student culminated with the production of the senior research project
“Black Unrest, Riots and How Newspapers Frame the Narrative of
African American Social Protest,” which analyzed patterns in the
narratives reporters used when explaining the social unrest and
uprisings after the deaths of Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin and Michael
Brown._

_The Mississippi Free Press is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3)
focused on telling stories that center all Mississippians.With your
gift, we can do even more important stories like this one. Give Today
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* Jackson Mississippi
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* white supremacists
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* Judicial system
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