Over accusations of racism, Mississippi House passes bill to create unelected court system

[In It to Win It]

[only in Jackson, MS]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/over-accusations-racism-mississippi-house-112952098.html

The passage of House Bill 1020 came in spite some of the starkest possible opposition from Jackson's mayor, its city council and its representatives in the House, many of whom said the bill reminded them of the darkest days of Mississippi's racist past.

After nearly five hours of debate on the House floor the chamber passed the bill that would create an unelected state-appointed court system within the city of Jackson, as conflict between the city and state continues to be one of the key themes of the 2023 legislative session.

The bill passed, 76-38, with only one member of the Jackson delegation supporting it.

If passed by the Senate and approved by the governor, the bill would create a new court system for cases occurring within the Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID), an area that could expand.

The bill has faced significant criticism since it was first introduced last month.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who looked on from the House gallery during the debate, said last week that it "reminds me of apartheid."

Also last week, a number of judges from the Hinds County court system spoke out against it, including Senior Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Putin lovers it sounds like

[Takket]

2. pardon my ignorence but...

on what legal authority can the state legislature/governor take away elected positions in the judicial?

I just looked up the Mississippi state constitution and it says this:

SECTION 153. Election and terms of circuit and chancery
court judges.
The judges of the circuit and chancery courts shall be elected by the
people in a manner and at a time to be provided by the legislature and the
judges shall hold their office for a term of four years.

https://www.sos.ms.gov/content/documents/ed_pubs/pubs/Mississippi_Constitution.pdf

are these not the same type of judges as is covered by section 153???????????

[Recursion]

3. I think this is about the circuit and chancery clerks, not the judges

The clerks (particularly the circuit clerks) are bizarrely powerful in Mississippi's system. It's exacerbated by the fact that Mississippi has more counties than California (and twice as many school systems as counties -- I leave why as an exercise for the reader), and many of those counties have two county seats. A circuit clerk is not only weirdly powerful, it's impossible to know in advance what town he or she will actually be in to hear pleas on a given day.

Elected judges have pros and cons, but at least in Mississippi it's been the only way to ensure that majority-minority localities get minority representation in their local justice system. So this bill is hella problematic.