The Justice Department has filed a complaint challenging parts of Mississippi House Bill 1020 (H.B. 1020), which mandates the appointment of special judges and prosecutors by state officials in majority-Black Hinds County, including the City of Jackson. The complaint alleges that these provisions discriminate based on race, violating 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.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated, “Mississippi state lawmakers have adopted a crude scheme that singles out and discriminates against Black residents in the City of Jackson and Hinds County.” Clarke emphasized that the complaint alleges Mississippi has violated the U.S. Constitution by creating a new, two-tiered system of justice, which undermines the authority of Black elected local officials. This new system is to be led by judges and prosecutors hand-picked and appointed by state officials. Clarke described this as a thinly-veiled state takeover intended to strip power, voice, and resources away from Hinds County’s predominantly-Black electorate, singling out the majority Black Hinds County for adverse treatment not imposed on any other voters in Mississippi. The Civil Rights Division remains committed to identifying and challenging all acts of discrimination targeting Black communities.
U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi added, “One of the hallmarks of justice and the United States Constitution is equal protection under the law. 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, with a Black population of 70%, includes the City of Jackson, which has a Black population of over 79.5%. Voters in Hinds County elect Black officials to most positions, including those affecting the criminal justice system. In 2018, Hinds County voters elected four Black circuit court judges to its four elected circuit judge positions.
H.B. 1020 radically changes Hinds County’s democratic approach to governance over its criminal justice system. 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 the 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, violating 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 appointed by state officials. These new appointments significantly change the form of government in Hinds County and the dynamic of power over the local criminal justice system. The complaint argues that these changes are intended to primarily benefit white residents in Jackson and to treat Black voters in Hinds County differently than white voters elsewhere in the state. The complaint also alleges that H.B. 1020 was enacted following decades of failure by the Mississippi Legislature to provide Hinds County’s criminal justice system with the necessary resources, funding, and personnel, making it harder for local police, prosecutors, judges, and other officials to work effectively and efficiently. The complaint asks the court to prohibit the appointment of the new judges and prosecutors by state officials and provide other necessary relief.
Complaints about discriminatory practices can be reported to the Civil Rights Division through its internet reporting portal or by calling (800) 253-3931. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work to uphold and protect the voting rights of all Americans is available on the Justice Department’s website.
The history of voting rights and political representation in the Mississippi Delta is marked by significant legislative and judicial milestones. Following the Civil War, the 14th and 15th Amendments were ratified to protect the voting rights of African Americans. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed equal protection of the laws, while the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
During Reconstruction, several statutes were passed to safeguard the franchise rights of newly freed slaves. The Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867 mandated that southern states adopt new constitutions providing suffrage rights for African American males as a condition of readmission to the Union. As a result, approximately 700,000 Blacks, mostly former slaves, registered to vote. Following the ratification of the 15th Amendment, Congress passed the Enforcement Act of 1870, which mandated that any citizen otherwise qualified to vote shall be entitled to vote without distinction to race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The act also provided penalties for obstruction of the right to vote by election officials or other citizens.
For a brief time, these protections allowed African Americans to vote and elect representatives of their choice. From 1869 to 1901, Mississippi elected three Black U.S. congressmen and 64 Black state legislators. However, the electoral success of African Americans was short-lived. In two cases decided in 1875, the Supreme Court severely restricted the use of the Enforcement Act, and in 1894, Congress repealed many of its remaining sections. The only provisions that survived were those creating civil liability for persons who interfered with the right to vote and imposing criminal sanctions for hindering a citizen in the exercise of the right to vote.
Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, litigation to protect the voting rights of people of color was brought under the Constitution, specifically the 15th Amendment and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Several landmark cases challenged impediments to voting erected by states to prevent African Americans from exercising their franchise rights.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a significant piece of legislation affecting the right to vote. It prohibited the use of any qualification or prerequisite to voting that denied or abridged the right to vote based on race or color. The act also provided for the automatic suspension of literacy tests and other devices in states and subdivisions where such tests were maintained and where less than 50% of the voting-age population was registered or had voted in the presidential election of 1964. The act required covered states and political subdivisions to submit any new or changed voting requirements to the Attorney General for approval. The act also provided for the appointment of federal election examiners and poll watchers and contained criminal penalties for officials who abridged the right to vote or failed to count the vote of any person.
The Voting Rights Act was extended and expanded several times, including in 1970, 1975, and subsequent years, to include language minorities and to address other discriminatory practices. The act provided a new cause of action to challenge discriminatory voting practices, and its provisions, including Section 5, were instrumental in preventing new roadblocks to minority voter participation.
The recent complaint filed by the Justice Department against Mississippi House Bill 1020 is a continuation of the ongoing effort to protect the voting rights and political representation of Black communities in Mississippi and across the United States.
Source: Justice Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi
