The Mississippi state flag (bottom) waves in front of town skyline in Jackson, Mississippi on June 28, 2020.
Rory Doyle | AFP | Getty Images
The Mississippi House has approved the creation of a latest court system by which judges and prosecutors can be appointed by state officials — who all occur to be white — for the capital of Jackson, which has the second-highest percentage of Black residents amongst U.S. cities.
The bill proposing the brand new court, which needs approval from the state Senate and governor to change into law, was overwhelmingly passed Tuesday by a supermajority of white Republican legislators after intense opposition by Black Democratic legislators, news outlets reported.
The change can be a break from the remainder of the state, where judges and prosecutors are elected by voters.
If approved by the state Senate and governor, the court system and its judges would preside over a so-called improvement district spanning Jackson’s downtown and shopping and entertainment areas.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who — like 80% of city residents — is Black, reportedly said, “It jogs my memory of apartheid,” after watching the talk from the House gallery.
If the brand new Jackson court system is approved by the Senate and governor, its judges and clerk can be appointed by the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, who’s white.
And prosecutors can be named by the state attorney general, who is also white.
The bill’s writer, Republican Rep. Trey Lamar, cited reports of Jackson’s high crime rate in arguing for the brand new system, in addition to an expanded police force that is an element of the laws, the Mississippi Today news outlet reported.
“This bill is designed to make our capital city of Jackson, Mississippi, a safer place,” said Lamar, who lives greater than 170 miles away from Jackson. He, like every one among his GOP colleagues, is white.
Rep. Ed Blackmon, a Democratic lawmaker and civil rights leader who opposed the measure and is Black, said, “Only in Mississippi would we’ve a bill like this … where we are saying solving the issue requires removing the vote from Black people,” the outlet reported.
Blackmon noted that the brand new court would handle each criminal and civil cases.
“This bill is about helping to fight crime?” Blackmon said, in keeping with the Clarion-Ledger newspaper. “What does civil litigation should do with crime within the state of Mississippi?”