A fierce political battle is brewing in the city of Jackson, Mississippi as members of the state’s Republican Party are attempting to pass House Bill 1020 into law.
House Bill 1020 has garnered passionate backlash from Jackson, Mississippi because it has the ability to change how the city approaches public safety and crime. The controversial piece of legislation would expand the Capitol Complex district and create a new judicial district within the capital city. As a result, the Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice would have the ability to add five new temporary judges in Hinds County. Each of these new judges would remain on the bench until they are replaced by a locally elected judge, a process that would take until 2027 to complete. State lawmakers have argued that inserting five state-appointed judges would speed up the rate at which courts are able to conduct business.
“There are too few law enforcement officers, too few prosecutors, too few public defenders, and too few judges to effectively administer justice,” Rep. Trey Lamar wrote in the Magnolia Tribune.
However, many residents have argued that the predominantly white, conservative state government should not have the ability to implement five new judges in the area without input from local leaders. Additionally, many of those close to the matter hand have argued that giving residents the ability to elect five new judges locally would solve the problem as well.
“If they’re really concerned about helping speed along how cases are handled, why not add additional elected judges, as we do in every other district in the state?” Judge Winston Kidd asked, according to CNN.
In addition to creating a new district and inserting five new judges, House Bill 1020 would expand the power of the state-run Capitol Police force. If the bill were to be signed into law, the state-run police force would have jurisdiction over the entire city, not just near the Capitol District. In the event that there was any dispute over policing in the city, the state-run police force’s decisions would override any decisions made by the Jackson Police Department.
The Capitol Police force was expanded last summer and many residents have complained about its conduct throughout Jackson. Most notably, Capitol Police officers shot and killed 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis, a father of two, last September. Nearly six months later, the shooting is still under investigation and the Lewis family is still searching for answers. More recently, a Capitol Police traffic stop led to a high-speed car chase that led to multiple gunshots being fired. Two of the shots flew threw an apartment in northwest Jackson, flying over the head of a 13-year-old girl and hitting her mother in the arm.
“Capitol Police are supposed to protect and serve, but who are going to protect us from them?” Latasha Smith, the woman who was hit by the stray bullets, asked, according to CNN.
“I’m leaving – we Black folks can hang it up in Jackson then,” Smith said when asked how she’d react if House Bill 1020 was signed into law.
Smith is far from the only person to express these sentiments. Those in and around the city have compared the bill to “colonization” and “apartheid.”
“It is taking us back in time and it puts us on the wrong side of history,” Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said, according to CNN.
“It’s colonization, it’s apartheid, it’s the worst of what Mississippi can be.”
