Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House voted on Tuesday to create a separate court system composed of unelected leaders and an expanded police force in the capital of Jackson.
The proposal, HB 1020, has been put forth by its GOP backers as a measure to increase public safety and reduce backlogs in the courts, but local leaders have argued the measure is a power grab from the state’s largely conservative, white legislature against the majority Black population of Jackson.
“Only in Mississippi would we have a bill like this … where we say solving the problem requires removing the vote from Black people,” Rep Ed Blackmon, a Democrat, said at the legislature on Tuesday.
He added that the measure, which would allow state officials to appoint judges and prosecutors instead of the usual local process of electing them, wouldn’t do anything to reduce crime.
"I notice that this bill does not address part of the problem, which is lack of funding at that crime lab. You’re blaming Jackson because they can’t process their cases fast enough because the crime lab is not operating at capacity because we won’t give them the money," he added.
Last week, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the mayor of Jackson, said HB 1020 "reminds me of apartheid."
The Jackson City Council, including the sole Republican present, Ashby Foote, voted on Saturday for a resolution opposing the bill, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.
Rep Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, 175 miles outside of Jackson, defended the bill on Tuesday, saying it would make the capital safer.
"I don’t know what you’ve heard, I’ll say that, but this bill is designed to help make our capital city of Mississippi a safer city,” he said. “This bill is designed to assist the court system of Hinds County, not to hinder it. It is designed to add to our judicial resources in Hinds County, not to take away. To help, not to hurt.”
The capital has indeed struggled with public safety.
According to a 2022 report from the state auditor, Mississippi has had the highest homicide rate of any state in the country since 2018, with more homicides per capita in Jackson than any other major metropolitan area in the country in 2021.
The state, like numerous other cities, has also struggled with what community residents argue is excessive police force.
Last month, family members of Jaylen Lewis, who was killed by police last fall during a traffic stop, called for a federal investigation into the Capitol Police, who would get millions in new funding under HB 1020.
Few details have been released about the shooting, but the officers involved are on administrative leave and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is probing the case
As WLBT reports, the Capitol Police have fired on civilians four times in the last five months, more than any other Mississippi law enforcement agency in the last year.
