JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is violating its own constitution with a new law that requires some judges to be appointed rather than elected in the state’s capital city and its surrounding county, civil rights groups said in a lawsuit filed Monday.
It is the second lawsuit since Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed bills Friday to expand state policing in Jackson, to establish a lower court with an appointed judge and to authorize four appointed judges to work alongside the four elected circuit court judges in Hinds County, which is home to Jackson.
About 83% of residents in Jackson and 74% in Hinds County are Black, and both the city and the county are governed by Democrats. The new laws were passed by the majority-white and Republican-controlled state House and Senate over the objections of most Jackson lawmakers and many local residents.
The new lawsuit was filed Monday in Hinds County Chancery Court on behalf of three residents by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mississippi Center for Justice, the ACLU of Mississippi and the MacArthur Justice Center. It says the Mississippi Constitution requires most judges to be elected.
Source : AP News
