DOJ accuses Mississippi of discrimination over new law

The Justice Department announced Wednesday, July 13, it is challenging a new Mississippi law. The department claimed the law discriminates against Black people in the capital city of Jackson.

The law creates a new court in Jackson, with prosecutors appointed by the Mississippi attorney general and a judge appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice. It also authorizes the chief justice to appoint four other judges to work alongside the four elected circuit court judges in Hinds County, where Jackson is located.

The department argued this creates a two-tiered justice system between the judges and prosecutors that are elected, and those that would be appointed under the new law. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division described the law as “a crude scheme” that targets the county, which is 70% Black.

“This thinly-veiled state takeover is intended to strip power, voice and resources away from Hinds County’s predominantly-Black electorate, singling out the majority Black Hinds County for adverse treatment imposed on no other voters in the state of Mississippi,” Clarke said.

“We want to ensure that the citizens of Hinds County and Jackson, Mississippi, are treated equally in the support and operation of their criminal justice system,” U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi said.  

According to Straight Arrow News’ exclusive Media Miss tool, most of the sources covering this story lean left. Only one source leans right.

A U.S. district court judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in June of 2023 after the NAACP sued. That judge would have to approve the department’s request to intervene in the lawsuit.