One amendment that was defeated would require the appointed judges to come from Hinds County. Lamar said by allowing the judges to come from areas other than Hinds County would ensure “the best and brightest” could serve. Black legislators said the comment implied that he judges and other court staff could not be found within the Black majority population of Hinds County.
Another stay blocks law to create separate court in Jackson
5th Circuit Greenlights Unelected Court in Mississippi's Majority-Black Capital - Democracy Docket
5th Circuit Greenlights Unelected Court in Mississippi's Majority-Black Capital.
Posted: Mon, 08 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
A Florida man was sentenced yesterday to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for committing two federal hate crimes by attacking two Black women with... Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work to uphold and protect the voting rights of all Americans is available on the Justice Department’s website at /crt/voting-section. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – After nearly three hours of debate on Tuesday, March 7, an amended House Bill 1020 passed in the Senate.
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Stewart, the attorney for the state, told the justices to think about the consequences of their ruling, which could mean that the chief justice can’t make any appointments and that past ones could be ruled invalid. Kitchens asked whether municipal courts currently operate like the CCID court, including having the power to send people charged with misdemeanors to the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. State constitution places limits on inferior courts created by the Legislature, including requirements that the court be supervised by another and they have the ability to appeal, which the appellants argue is not the case for the CCID court. A “far reaching” implication for siding with the state would be taking power away from Hinds County voters and giving it to the Legislature, Johnson said, and he wondered what precedent would be set for its ability to approve appointed judges in other circumstances. The Senate proposal would continue to allow judges appointed by Chief Justice Michael Randolph to hear cases in Hinds County through the end of 2026. But in 2026, a new judge would be elected and the appointed judges would be removed.
Bill Text: MS HB1020 2023 Regular Session Enrolled
The legislation gives a state police force primary jurisdiction within the Capitol Complex and secondary jurisdiction throughout the city. The legislation would create a separate judicial and law enforcement district within the Capital Complex Improvement District. Four judges would be appointed by Chief Justice Michael Randolph, who is white and from Hattiesburg. Hinds County, which has a total Black population of 70%, includes the City of Jackson, which has a total Black population of over 79.5%.
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That is a move that some, like Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, have compared to Jim Crow and apartheid. (1) The Attorney General shall designate two (2) attorneys to serve as prosecutingattorneys for any cause of action within the jurisdiction of the Capitol ComplexImprovement District (CCID) inferior court. The prosecuting attorneys may beemployees of the Office of the Attorney General or contracted by the Attorney Generalfor such purposes. (2) The Chief Justiceof the Mississippi Supreme Court shall appoint the CCID inferior court judgeauthorized by this section.
Mississippi House Bill 1020 (Prior Session Legislation)
"It's demeaning. I think it's an insult to elected judges in Hinds County who are working plenty hard to deal with their caseloads." In response to statements made by the state in its court filings, prepared by the attorney general's office, that Jackson faces a number of local crises, including high levels of crime, Johnson said that cannot be a reason to violate the state constitution. “Here is the issue – lawmakers from majority white districts are proposing legislation that would significantly impact the majority Black population of Jackson, without consulting their representatives. This is a direct threat to the freedom of the Capital City and a parallel to Jim Crow era political schemes.
Will state’s justices sign off on challenge to separate Jackson court district?
While Nelson has been adamant throughout the proceedings that his client cannot take a position on the constitutionality of HB 1020, Randolph did speak to the effectiveness of the judges he has appointed to the Hinds County Court in the past. District Judge Henry Wingate earlier this month, but attorneys for the NAACP asked Wingate for clarification Thursday, and Mark Nelson, an attorney for Randolph, asked the judge to declare his earlier decision a final order. Nelson said he was shocked to see the plaintiffs motion for clarification, adding that it is really an attempt to challenge Wingate's earlier decision.
Mississippi Senate OKs bill allowing expanded role for state police, appointed judges in majority-Black city
One of those shootings proved fatal, resulting in the death of 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis. She said she has not heard anything from Capitol Police regarding her son's death, not even a notification that it had happened. The origin of this discrepancy, Lowery said, is that Owens' office is funded by the state while Lowery's is funded by the county. Lawyers from the state countered Johnson's arguments, including Rex Shannon, special assistant attorney general and deputy director of the office's civil litigation division. Shannon argued that Johnson's request for an injunction should be denied "for two overarching reasons." JACKSON, Miss. – Tuesday night, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed House Bill 1020, a plan that increases policing, strips voting and political power away from the majority Black citizens of Jackson, and diverts tax dollars away from communities in need.
Mississippi House passes controversial House Bill 1020, sends to Gov. as session nears end
“We look forward to working with the Senate through the conference process, which I do believe the bill will end up in conference and hopefully soon, within the next week or two. We have met, and the governor is, like I think most everybody here, including Republicans and Democrats, regardless or in spite of what the national news is portraying, are in lockstep that we’d like to see a safer capital city,” said Lamar. “I just know I believe in the right to vote and elect judges as stated in the constitution,” she said after the oral arguments.
Regardless, the reason for the law doesn’t matter because the circumstances don’t justify the actions the Legislature is taking – even in an emergency situation. “This simply boils down to policy disagreement,” said Solicitor General Scott Stewart, who is representing the attorney general and governor. The author of the original House version is House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, a Repubnlican from Senatobia. The effort is being undertaken, Republican leaders say, to help deal with crime and a backlog of criminal cases in Hinds County.
Wingate later gave the chief justice the opportunity to clarify what he meant by that statement, to which Randolph said it was solely targeted at the legal arguments made by the NAACP attorneys. A separate challenge to HB 1020, based in state law, will soon appear before Randolph's court, with a hearing scheduled for July 6. A request for Randolph to recuse himself has been filed, and the chief justice said his legal team is working on its response.
The bills would also expand the jurisdiction of Capitol Police, a state police agency managed by the Department of Public Safety and its appointed agency head who is white. Every other municipality in the state has a local police force with main jurisdiction. HB 1020 directs Randolph to appoint four judges to a Capitol Complex Improvement District court within the Hinds County circuit court.
Legislation that would create a separate judicial district within Jackson, the state’s capital and largest city, was signed into law Friday by Gov. Tate Reeves. The court ruled that while the Mississippi Legislature is allowed to create separate inferior courts, such as the Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID) court, the appointment of judges violates the Mississippi Constitution. Its passage comes as a major victory for members of the legislature's Republican supermajority, who have fought against accusations of racism and unconstitutionality from many of Jackson's residents and nearly all of its elected representatives. It would also provide state funding for new public defenders and assistant district attorneys, moves that many in Jackson have called for, but that does little to sway the view that they have on the overall bill. Mississippi’s capital city is 80% Black and home to a higher percentage of Black residents than any major American city.
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