Dolister Sanders hasn’t seen her grandson in over 1,000 days. Since 2022, she and her daughter, Kenetra, have been fighting to regain custody of the 11-year-old at the Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson, Mississippi.
Though they’ve repeatedly expressed concerns and tried sharing new evidence with the court, they say their efforts have been stonewalled by the judge assigned to their case.
“There is no way we will ever get a fair hearing in Crystal Wise (Martin’s) courtroom,” said Sanders, a Hinds County resident who also spoke on her daughter’s behalf. “We have evidence that she refuses to take into consideration. We have witnesses that she will not allow to speak. We have filed complaints on her and nothing has been done.”
Sanders made the remarks during a Sept. 10 press conference in Jackson, where speakers called for greater transparency and accountability from the chancery court and the state’s broader judiciary. Without adequate oversight or scrutiny, they argued, judges have been free to let filed motions collect dust on their desks or arbitrarily dismiss evidence presented in their courtrooms.
The Mississippi Free Press is not able to review court documents on specific custody cases because files on custody cases are sealed to protect the identity of minors.
Speakers at the Sept. 10 press conference included North Carolina-based civil rights activist John C. Barnett and Fred Chambliss, a local activist and creator of the Whistleblower Project.
“We are tired of the judges who wear the robe but do not honor the oath. Crystal Wise Martin, you were trusted with the responsibility to serve the people, but instead your courtroom has become a place … where justice is denied,” Chambliss alleged at the press conference.
When reached for comment, a Mississippi Judiciary spokesperson told the Mississippi Free Press that state regulations prevent Judge Crystal Wise Martin from responding to the statements made at the press conference.
“The Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from commenting on any matter ‘pending or impending in any court,’” Beverly Kraft, public information officer at the Administrative Office of Courts, wrote in a Sept. 11 email.
Chambliss and Barnett described their allegations as part of a broader pattern across Mississippi’s criminal justice system. Earlier this summer, Barnett hosted a press conference in Jackson to demand justice for Kadarius Smith, a Black teenager who died last year after a Leland, Mississippi, police officer struck him with a police vehicle. The officer has not been charged with a crime.
In Martin’s case, Barnett told reporters that he has received “well over 10” complaints from parents in Mississippi and other states accusing the judge of mishandling their custody cases. Among them is Rodrick Aiken, a Clinton, Mississippi, resident who said he’s faced repeated court summons for money owed with no explanation of where the balances came from. He hasn’t seen his son since January, and he says his attempts at getting answers from the court have been met with silence.
“I am a parent who simply wants to be a part of my child’s life,” Aiken said at the press conference. “My hope is that by speaking publicly, I … can not only reunite with my son, but also shine a light on how others in similar situations may be struggling in silence. No parent should have to fight this hard to simply be present for their child.”
The lone elected official at the Sept. 10 event was Mississippi House Rep. Fabian Nelson, who highlighted the importance of using his platform to denounce bias and mismanagement within the state’s judicial system. He also called on Martin and her peers to make fair and expeditious rulings in custody cases, warning that messy, drawn-out court proceedings can be catastrophic for children and families.
“When you’re sitting in chancery court … you should have a fire underneath you to make sure that you’re moving that docket. That’s the most important thing,” Nelson explained. “When you have children and you’re constantly traumatizing them, this is something (they’ll) never recover from.”
“Judge Crystal Wise Martin, I’m pleading with you today to open your heart up, to look at these cases, (and) give these cases a fair chance to get the right ruling,” he added.
Nelson, Chambliss and other event attendees called for increased supervision and scrutiny of custody rulings made by judges in Hinds County and elsewhere in the state. In 2023, the latest year for which data is available, the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance received 481 new complaints against judges across the state. Of those, the commission investigated 217 accusations and initiated formal proceedings in nine instances, according to the latest annual report.
Barnett said he and other activists will continue holding public events in Mississippi until judges are held accountable. He traveled to Jackson from North Carolina nine times leading up to the Rankin County “Goon Squad” police sentencing hearings last year, and he says he’s willing to do the same for Sanders and her daughter.
“I’ve understood from a hook from Jay-Z … that pressure bust pipes,” he said. “There’s going to be more demonstrations and more sit-ins if we don’t get any justice on this.”