Court doors closed to NAACP suit over Black juror denials

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court says the NAACP has no standing to sue a Mississippi prosecutor accused of routinely rejecting Black jurors in criminal cases. District Attorney Doug Evans has been accused of routinely rejecting Black jurors because of their race — including in a high-profile murder case overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that a local NAACP chapter and four other plaintiffs who sued Evans could not show they faced an immediate threat of being cut from jury service. In 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of Curtis Flowers after finding Evans excluded Black jurors.