In federal challenge to Mississippi law, arguments focus on racial discrimination and public safety

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge will consider arguments over racial discrimination, public safety and local democracy as he decides whether to block appointments to a state-run court set to be created on Jan. 1 in part of Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city. Attorneys for Mississippi and the NAACP, who represent Jackson residents suing the state, each laid out their arguments Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate. The NAACP says the appointment rather than election of judges and prosecutors deprives Hinds County residents of exercising local control over the criminal justice system. State attorneys say the court is necessary to reduce crime in Jackson. Wingate promised to issue a ruling before the court is set to be created on Jan. 1.