The Mississippi Supreme Court’s chief justice will not be able to appoint four unelected state court judges to preside over Hinds County, the home of the majority-Black capital City of Jackson, after a federal judge temporarily blocked him from doing so on Tuesday.
Three Jackson residents are suing to stop House Bill 1020, saying the new law violates the Mississippi Constitution and dilutes local voting power with unelected, state-appointed judges.
The NAACP is suing to stop two new laws designed to give the State of Mississippi more control over the City of Jackson and alleging they amount to race-based discrimination in a 52-page lawsuit the organization filed in federal court Saturday.
Funds for improving infrastructure in Jackson’s capitol district will be spread thin if Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signs House Bill 1020 into law, Capitol Complex Improvement District Project Advisory Committee Chairperson Rebekah Staples said at Thursday’s quarterly meeting.
Mississippi election officials will be able to purge names from voter rolls more easily if Gov. Tate Reeves signs House Bill 1310 into law.
Christian minister Jason Coker, a native of Shaw, Miss., is looking for other white religious leaders to break their silence and stand up against House Bill 1020 and the revised Capital City Improvement District. “Stand with me and ask our elected officials to pass policy that creates a better future for all Mississippians,” he writes.
Jackson residents who commit local misdemeanor offenses could soon appear before an unelected, Mississippi Supreme Court-appointed municipal judge from any part of the State after the Mississippi Legislature sent the final version of House Bill 1020 to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk. If signed, the bill would take some authority away from elected judges and prosecutors over the 83% Black city’s capitol district.
“Because Mississippi’s future prosperity depends on the success of Jackson, we encourage state leaders to put aside racial, class and partisan bias, seek solutions emerging from all Jacksonians—especially the most vulnerable citizens—while putting your respective faith traditions and moral principles into action,” interfaith leaders write.
Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson celebrated the passage of new voting restrictions on March 14, 2023, saying that banning “ballot harvesting” is necessary “to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat” in Mississippi elections.
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