Appeals court hits brakes on state-run court in Mississippi’s Black-majority capital city

The creation of a state-run court in Jackson, Miss., a Black-majority city, has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court.

Responding to a request from the NAACP, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay, which prevents the court — the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court — from being created at least until Friday.

“The NAACP stands firm in our belief that this legislation is inherently undemocratic,” NAACP spokesperson Alicia Mercedes said in a Monday statement, according to The Associated Press.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to fight for Jackson residents’ rights to have control over their own institutions and live free from state-driven discrimination.”

Last year, attorneys for the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Mississippi’s Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and other officials, arguing the new state-run court targets residents of Jackson and undermines democracy because the judges would be state-appointed.

The appeals court’s ruling shortly before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed requests to block the court on Sunday, the day before the law creating it was scheduled to take effect. 

“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 Court or the challenged appointment of a judge or prosecutors for that court,” Wingate wrote. 

In a statement emailed to The Hill, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Attorney General’s office said that they “appreciate Judge Wingate’s thoughtful consideration and order.”

“We will be prepared to defend this law on appeal and to perform our duties to help protect the people of Jackson from the stifling, suffocating crime that plagues the City,” the statement continued. 

In its own emailed statement to The Hill, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) said that the new state-run court “shouldn’t exist.”

“Nothing about it addresses the public safety issues in Jackson,” the LDF said. “Instead, it is a transparent attempt to undermine local control and strip away the right of Jackson’s predominantly Black residents to make decisions for themselves.”

Updated Jan. 3 at 4:02 p.m.