A federal judge is set to hear arguments Dec. 19 over the new Capitol Complex Improvement District Court, which is scheduled to be created Jan. 1.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The constitutional right of equal treatment under the law is at the center of a monthslong legal fight over a state-run court in part of Mississippi’s majority-Black capital
Opponents of the changes said Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and the Republican-controlled and majority-white Legislature were usurping local autonomy in Jackson and Hinds County, which are both majority-Black and governed by Democrats.
Justice Department officials wrote that creating a new municipal-level court with a state-appointed judge and prosecutors unconstitutionally treats Jackson residents differently from other Mississippi residents.
Frank Figgers, a lifelong Jackson resident who is Black and describes himself as a community activist and NAACP member, wrote in a Nov. 13 court filing that the chief justice and the attorney general “are not accountable to me as a voter.”
Chief Justice Mike Randolph is elected from a district that does not include Jackson. Fitch won a second term during the Nov. 7 statewide election, but she trailed her Democratic challenger in Hinds County.
“In light of the long history of racism in Mississippi, my vote is the best means I have to ensure that public officials will treat me and my community fairly and equally,” Figgers wrote, adding that Fitch and Randolph “don’t need my vote, and as far as I can tell, they have made no attempt to understand my community.”
Mark Nelson, an attorney representing Randolph, responded in a Nov. 16 filing, asking Wingate to strike “disgraceful” statements by Figgers and other NAACP members from court records.
“Accusations of racism unsupported by facts or evidence are harassment and scandalous,” Nelson wrote.
In September, the state Supreme Court struck down the part of the same law dealing with appointed circuit court judges to handle felony cases and civil lawsuits. Justices noted that Mississippi law allows the chief justice to appoint judges for specific reasons, such as dealing with a backlog of cases. But they wrote that they saw “nothing special or unique” about the four appointed circuit judges in the law this year. Randolph recused himself from that case.
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