Allowing House Bill 1020 to stand “would constitute a tremendous transfer of power from the voters of Mississippi, who have for over 100 years elected our circuit judges, to the Legislature,” attorney Cliff Johnson told eight members of the Mississippi Supreme Court during hearings Thursday.
The white chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court will remain blocked from appointing four unelected circuit court judges to serve Hinds County, the majority-Black home of the capital City of Jackson, after a federal judge extended a temporary restraining order against House Bill 1020 on Monday.
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.
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