JACKSON, Miss. — Despite objections from the NAACP, a federal judge reportedly ruled on Sunday that officials in Mississippi can proceed with creating a court within the majority-Black city of Jackson that would be controlled by the state.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by attorneys for the NAACP on behalf of several complainants who live in Jackson. Opponents say the new court diminishes local voting power because its judges and prosecutors would be decided at the state level.
The new Capitol Complex Improvement District Court was created by the Mississippi Legislature, which is comprised of mostly white Republicans. The new court’s jurisdiction will includes state government buildings and several residential areas in part of Jackson.
The new court will come become official on Jan. 1 under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in April in response to an alleged jump in crime within Jackson that expands the jurisdiction of the capitol. Jackson, which has a population of nearly 150,000, recorded more than 100 murders last year — similar to the previous two years.
Critics have called the legislation racially-divisive and say it singles out Jackson, a majority-Black run city controlled by Democrats.
In the ruling released on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate, who is Black, dismissed requests to block the new court.
“None of the Plaintiffs has alleged that he or she is in actual or imminent danger of experiencing any concrete and particularized injury resulting from the establishment of the CCID Court or the challenged appointment of a judge or prosecutors for that court,” Wingate wrote, according to The Associated Press.
More on the NAACP lawsuit and the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court.
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