A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the controversial creation of a state-run court in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city of Jackson.
According to The Hill, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay, halting the creation of the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court until at least Friday (Jan. 5).
The request was made by the NAACP, whose leaders previously filed a lawsuit against Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves over the implementation of the state-run court in Jackson.
“The NAACP stands firm in our belief that this legislation is inherently undemocratic,” NAACP spokesperson Alicia Mercedes said in a statement. “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.”
The NAACP argued in its lawsuit, which was filed last year, that the new state-run court targets Jackson’s Black residents and strips them of their voting power as judges of the court would be state-appointed.
The appeals court’s ruling came just before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate dismissed requests to block the new court from going into 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 his ruling filed on Sunday (December 31).
A spokesperson for the Mississippi Attorney General’s office said 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.”
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