Black Residents Liken Mississippi’s New Court System to ‘Modern Day Slavery’

by Aallyah Wright and Brandon Tensley, Capital B

This story originally published in 2024, but has been updated to reflect that three judges and a clerk have been sworn in.

Jackson, Mississippi, resident and organizer Rukia Lumumba is frustrated with a federal appeals court decision that allows Mississippi to move forward with its separate, state-run court system in her hometown.

Backed by a mostly white, Republican-controlled Legislature, Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law last year HB 1020 and SB 2343, which respectively establish a separate judicial system and increase police presence in the majority-Black capital city.

Lawmakers claimed the bills would reduce crime in Jackson. But, organizers like Lumumba, the executive director of the People’s Advocacy Institute, say it’s an attempt to undermine the authority of the Black leadership and voting power of residents.

The NAACP filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the court plan, but U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate denied the request in a Dec. 31, 2023 decision, a day before the law was set to go into effect. He wrote that the plaintiffs failed to establish injury or standing.

[…]

Following the ruling, the NAACP filed an appeal with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted a temporary stay that blocked the court’s opening. But on Jan. 4, 2024, the three-judge appeals panel upheld Wingate’s decision in a unanimous vote, vacated the temporary administrative stay, and denied a request for injunction, ruling the plaintiffs lack standing. 

“For the court to legitimize a bill that essentially allows for direct and systematic discrimination based on race and class to be established … it’s extremely problematic,” Lumumba told Capital B. “It exposes why it is so important that community members be afforded an opportunity to participate fully in the legislative process every year.”

On Friday, three judges and a clerk were sworn in to the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court in Jackson, which covers downtown and northeast parts of the city, the Clarion Ledger reported. This week, the court officially opened, a year later than initially planned.

Read more.

Discover Black history in our online exhibits.

More Black news.