Gov Reeves signs racially divisive HB 1020; Legal challenge could loom

Table Of Content

• HB 1020 appeal: How we got here and what to know ahead of Thursday’s hearing
• What does the Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling on House Bill 1020 mean?
• ‘Only in Mississippi’: White representatives vote to create white-appointed court system for Blackest city in America
• Mississippi House passes controversial House Bill 1020, sends to Gov. as session nears end
• Mississippi Legislature 2024 Regular Session

He argued that state statute has been used to appoint judges, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, but appointing temporary judges alongside elected ones in Hinds County is not constitutional. There already exists in the city of Jackson a legislatively created Capital Complex Improvement District where a state police force has jurisdiction. The House proposal would expand the district to cover more affluent and whiter areas of Jackson. The revised Senate version of House Bill 1020 would allow the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice to appoint one judge to work within the existing Hinds County Court system through December 2026. The bill would also authorize the state-run Capitol Police to patrol the entire city of Jackson instead of its current patrol in only parts of the city. "Stading is not the only jurisdictional problem with this case," Shannon said, adding that it could lead to the overturn of a law already on the books that allows for appointed judges in the event of an "overcrowded docket."

HB 1020 appeal: How we got here and what to know ahead of Thursday’s hearing

But Munford said the process of appealing decisions of the appointed judges to the elected judges, as spelled out in the bill, is unworkable. Plus, the state constitution gives only the governor the authority to appoint judges — when a vacancy occurs and then only to the next election. The version that passed the House about a month ago would create a permanent unelected court system within the Capitol Complex Improvement District, an area the bill would also expand to include majority-white areas of the largely Black city.

What does the Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling on House Bill 1020 mean?

If House Bill 1020 becomes law later this session, the white chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court would appoint two judges to oversee a new district within the city — one that includes all of the city’s majority-white neighborhoods, among other areas. The white state attorney general would appoint four prosecutors, a court clerk, and four public defenders for the new district. The white state public safety commissioner would oversee an expanded Capitol Police force, run currently by a white chief.

‘Only in Mississippi’: White representatives vote to create white-appointed court system for Blackest city in America

Lawmakers have until Saturday night to file revenue bill conference reports detailing key funding measures and until Monday for general bills. Key pieces of legislation still to be decided include the education formula, changes to the state retirement system and Medicaid expansion. Much of the debate centered around the issue of creating a court where the Black majority in Hinds County would not be allowed to vote on judges. Democratic members of the House said if they wanted to help with the crime problem, the Legislature could increase the number of elected judges in Hinds County. Blackmon said Hinds County was provided four judges in 1992 when a major redistricting occurred, and that number has not increased since then even as the caseload for the four judges has exploded. The bill would double the funding for the district to $20 million in order to increase the size of the existing Capitol Police force, which has received broad criticism from Jacksonians for shooting several people in recent months with little accountability.

The Senate also reintroduced efforts to change how the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi board makes changes to employer contribution rates into the state retirement system. “When Jackson becomes the No. 1 place for murder, we have a problem,” Lamar responded, highlighting the city’s long backlog of court cases. Several Democrats, during the debate, pointed out that the state of Mississippi’s crime lab has a lengthy backlog, as well, adding to the difficult in closing cases in Hinds County.

Mississippi Legislature 2024 Regular Session

Theprovisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit or in any way limitthe Hinds County District Attorney from filing an indictment or any other criminalaction that occurred or accrued, in whole or in part, within the boundaries of theCCID. (b)  Any person convictedin the CCID inferior court may be placed in the custody of the Mississippi Departmentof Corrections, Central Mississippi facility. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on donations from readers like you to make this important work possible. By donating today, you support our mission to ensure everyone in the state we love has access to free local news, no matter their ability to pay.

Motion to stay filed in the case against House Bill 1020 - WAPT Jackson

Motion to stay filed in the case against House Bill 1020.

Posted: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

She was chosen as a fellow in the inaugural class of the Widening the Pipeline Fellowship through the National Press Foundation and the Law and Justice Journalism Project fellowship. Before joining Mississippi Today, she was a reporter for the Clarion Ledger and newspapers in Massachusetts. Another topic raised during oral arguments was about the legitimacy of the Capitol Complex Improvement District court. HB 1020 has been discussed as a response to addressing a court backlog in Hinds County, but Johnson said the law makes no claim that a crowded docket exists.

The Senate passed its version of the bill Tuesday, only including temporarily appointed judges to cover all of Hinds County, not just the Capitol Complex district. A host of elected officials and attorneys who are increasingly scrutinizing House Bill 1020 say the original version of the legislation is likely unconstitutional — a point looming over lawmakers as they continue to debate and change the bill at the Capitol. Citizens should be able to hold judges and prosecutors accountable for their actions, but HB 1020 does not allow that right. It creates a new judicial district, filled with judges and prosecutors who are appointed by the white Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Retrial for Beth Ann White begins Monday

“Only in Mississippi would we have a bill like this … where we say solving the problem requires removing the vote from Black people,” Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Jackson. While that version of the bill includes language about a memorandum of understanding between the departments, it brings its own concerns, Wade said. For one, if a memorandum cannot be agreed to, the state will decide any disputes between the departments. Another concern has to do with a lack of history of the departments working closely together. "I met with my team last night and we discussed the bills, all of the bills, and I've got to tell you representative, we’re not interested in a bill that advances our interests as an office but limits other systems that we depend on," Owens said. On Monday, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said his office opposes both versions of the bill, even though the Senate version might appear to provide some help.

After thorough and passionate dissent from Black members of the House, the bill passed Tuesday primarily along party lines. Two Black member of the House — Rep. Cedric Burnett, a Democrat from Tunica, and Angela Cockerham, an independent from Magnolia — voted for the measure. All but one lawmaker representing the city of Jackson — Rep. Shanda Yates, a white independent — opposed the bill. “It belongs to each and every one of us in this room.” He said the legislation passed Friday was intended to provide that help, not to create racial divides. House Bill 1020 and its companion Senate Bill 2343 have for weeks attracted negative national attention for giving white state leaders new judicial and expanded police authority over capital city Jackson, the Blackest large city in the nation.

Cliff Johnson, an attorney for the appellants from the MacArthur Justice Center, said there are limited exceptions of when circuit court judges are not elected by the people, such as when the governor appoints someone if the judge is disqualified or unable to serve. Even though the Senate stripped the language creating the separate judicial district with the appointed judges, those provisions will remain alive this session and could be reinserted in the bill later in the process with the agreement of Senate leaders. "The laws these plaintiffs are challenging are part and parcel of that broader legislative effort to address this ongoing public safety crises with the objective of creating a safer capital city for all Jacksonians and all Mississippians." Instead of using more Jackson tax dollars to fund the expansion of the CCID and the creation of a new judicial district, lawmakers could fund mental health and re-entry programs, which are proven to decrease incarceration. Lamar said the Mississippi Constitution gives the Legislature the authority to create “inferior courts,” as the Capitol Complex system would be. The decisions of the appointed judges can be appealed to Hinds County Circuit Court.

The amount of funds allocatedto any county under this subsection for any fiscal year after fiscal year 1994 shallnot be less than the amount allocated to the county for fiscal year 1994. (b)  The AdministrativeOffice of Courts shall establish personnel policies to compensate the supportstaff for each temporary special circuit judge. The legislation gives the state Department of Public Safety the authority to send to prison those convicted of misdemeanor crimes that carry jail time.

It would also have broadly expanded jurisdiction of the white appointed state police department inside the Jackson city limits. Many have speculated it would be challenged in court because it takes the right to elect judges away from the citizens of Hinds County. The Mississippi Constitution calls for judges to be elected, though there are examples where judges are appointed on a temporary basis by the Supreme Court chief justice. Whether House Bill 1020 creates an allowable exception for usurping the electoral rights of Hinds County citizens could be decided by the courts.

The law was set to go into effect July 1, but it has been paused in another lawsuit in federal court. Justice James Kitchens asked where in HB 1020’s language does it address that the CCID court has appealability, and Stewart replied that existing state law for municipal courts grants the right for appeals to the county court. Mississippi Supreme Court Justices heard arguments Thursday that will help them decide the constitutionality of House Bill 1020 – the controversial law that places appointed judges in Hinds County and sets up a separate court system within Jackson. Lamar pointed out that state law does give the chief justice the authority to appoint judges in certain instances, such as to hear election challenges or when the judges in a district recuse themselves from the case.

1020 was enacted on the heels of decades of failure by the Mississippi Legislature to provide Hinds County’s criminal justice system with the resources, funding, and personnel that it needs, making it harder for local police, prosecutors, judges, and other officials to do their work effectively and efficiently. The complaint asks the court to prohibit the appointment of the new judges and prosecutors by states officials and provide other necessary relief. The state lawsuit argues that the appointment of temporary judges by the chief justice violates the state constitution and Hinds County residents’ right to vote for their judges.