Legislators approved a bill that would establish a separate court system for roughly one-fifth of Jackson, run by state-appointed judges and served by the state-run police force that currently patrols the area around Mississippi government buildings.
For the neighborhoods it would cover, the entire apparatus would effectively supplant the existing Hinds County Circuit Court, whose four judges are elected, and the city-run Jackson Police Department….
More than eight in 10 of Jackson’s 150,000 residents, as well as most of its elected leaders, judges and police officers, are African Americans. The proposed court system, and the police force, would be controlled almost exclusively by white officials in the state government.
Atop that, the new courts and police patrols would serve neighborhoods that contain the bulk of Jackson’s white population. The city’s Black neighborhoods would largely be skirted…,
More than eight in 10 of Jackson’s 150,000 residents, as well as most of its elected leaders, judges and police officers, are African Americans. The proposed court system, and the police force, would be controlled almost exclusively by white officials in the state government.
Atop that, the new courts and police patrols would serve neighborhoods that contain the bulk of Jackson’s white population. The city’s Black neighborhoods would largely be skirted….
The dense knot of white government workers who live near the state offices within the district have applauded the new patrols. Many Black residents saw something different, and complained that officers were both disrespectful and too aggressive toward them.
On July 9, Capitol Police officers shot and wounded a suspect. Officers wounded another suspect on July 25, another on Aug. 14 and a fourth on Sept. 12.
Then, on the evening of Sept. 25, officers fatally shot Jaylen Lewis, a 25-year-old Black man, as he sat in a car with his girlfriend. Officials said the shooting occurred as the officers were attempting to make a traffic stop.The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry into the fatal shooting.
Nearly five months later, the investigation remains open, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety said on Friday.
Brooke Floyd, an official at a local nonprofit that advocates for Jackson’s Black residents, said she was troubled not just by the new police force’s tactics, but by the fact that both the Capitol Police and the new court system — unlike local judges and police officers — do not answer to Jackson taxpayers….
Both Black and white critics have accused G.O.P. lawmakers of effectively creating a separate court and policing system for a white population that already enjoys the city’s lowest crime rates.
“It’s concerning on a lot of levels, because it seems there’s no oversight and no accountability,” she said.
Connect the Dots 101 
Leave a comment