After the Republican governor of Mississippi said it was imperative that the state controls local policing in violent cities like Jackson, the NAACP has filed a lawsuit to block the move claiming it would result in a return to a “separate but unequal” state.
The NAACP filed a lawsuit against Gov. Tate Reeves and other state officials claiming a decision to expand state criminal justice jurisdiction in the state capital violates the civil rights of Black residents in the city of Jackson.
The complaint, which was filed on Friday, April 21 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star, alleges the new law would target Jacksonians “on the basis of race.” It also states it would set up a culture “for a separate and unequal policing structure and criminal justice system to which no other residents of the State are subjected.”
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The lawsuit came out on the same day Reeves signed the bill into law.
Jackson is the state’s capital and is where the governor’s office is located. It also is a predominantly Black city.
Reeves believes he needs to expand the reach of Capitol Police to patrol the city because of the massive waves of violence the city experiences.
Jackson is among one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. In 2022, the city had 138 homicides, a rate that according to WLBT surpassed every major city in the U.S. While the murder numbers dropped 14 percent from 2021, this is the second consecutive year that the city topped other big cities in the country.
In 2021, while the country was still in the throes of COVID-19, 160 people were murdered, making it the deadliest year in Jackson’s history, according to records from the FBI, the Jackson Police Department, and the Murder Accountability Project.
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