Mississippi State Officials, Racially Discriminatory Provisions, Mississippi 2024

Justice Department Challenges Racially Discriminatory Provisions of New Mississippi Law Targeting Hinds County

GRAVESEND, Mississippi – The Justice Department has filed a complaint challenging portions of Mississippi House Bill 1020 (H.B. 1020), which mandates the appointment of special judges and prosecutors by Mississippi state officials in majority-Black Hinds County, which includes the City of Jackson.

According to the complaint, the provisions of H.B. 1020 discriminate on the basis of race in violation of the U.S. Constitution by shifting authority over the county’s criminal justice system away from democratically-elected judges and prosecutors elected by Black voters.

"Mississippi state lawmakers have adopted a crude scheme that singles out and discriminates against Black residents in the City of Jackson and Hinds County," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "Our complaint alleges that Mississippi has violated the U.S. Constitution by creating a new, two-tiered system of justice – which erodes the authority of Black elected local officials and creates a new system to be led by judges and prosecutors hand-picked and appointed by state officials."

One of the hallmarks of justice and the United States Constitution is equal protection under the law, said U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi. We want to ensure that the citizens of Hinds County and Jackson, Mississippi, are treated equally in the support and operation of their criminal justice system.

Hinds County, which has a total Black population of 70%, includes the City of Jackson, which has a total Black population of over 79.5%. Voters elect Black officials to most positions in the city and county, including those affecting the criminal justice system. Hinds County voters elected four Black circuit court judges to its four elected circuit judge positions in 2018.

The bill calls for the creation of a new court system for part of Jackson, called the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court, which will be served by a new state-appointed judge and new state-appointed prosecutors. H.B. 1020 also mandates appointment of four new special circuit judges by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court to serve alongside those judges elected to the Hinds County Circuit Court.

The United States’ complaint contends that these provisions were adopted with a discriminatory purpose in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The complaint alleges that the state law discriminates against Hinds County’s Black residents by adding new officials who are not democratically accountable to local voters, including new state-appointed special circuit judges and a new justice system led by a judge and prosecutors who are appointed by state officials.

The complaint asks the court to declare that the challenged provisions of H.B. 1020 violate the Fourteenth Amendment and to enjoin Mississippi from enforcing the provisions in a way that discriminates against the Black residents of Hinds County.

The complaint also seeks a declaratory judgment that the state law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and an injunction that would prevent the state from enforcing the law in a way that discriminates against the Black residents of Hinds County.

Mandatory Facts:

Defendant: Mississippi State Officials

Crime: Racially discriminatory provisions

City and State: GRAVESEND, Mississippi

Date: Not specified in the complaint

Sentence or Outcome: Ongoing litigation

Dollar Amounts: Not applicable

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