New Mississippi law discriminates against Black residents, says DoJ

The federal complaint also argued that the state’s appointment powers meant that Jackson voters would be unable to hold new officials accountable because the state would appoint them. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

A recent Mississippi law that allows the state to appoint judges and prosecutors in Hinds county, including the majority-Black capital of Jackson, constituted a “crude scheme that singles out and discriminates against Black residents”, the justice department said on Wednesday.

The agency announced its intent to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the NAACP against the state, arguing that the law, signed by the Republican governor, Tate Reeves, in April, took voting authority away from Black residents in Jackson and Hinds county, which are both Democrat-run and majority-Black.