Mississippi Today

Lawsuit claiming Mississippi Supreme Court district are discriminatory is set for August

Published

4 weeks ago

June 4, 2024

A federal trial challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi‘s Supreme Court districts is scheduled to begin Aug. 5 in Oxford.

The lawsuit, filed in April 2022, alleges that the three districts from which the state's nine Supreme Court justices are elected dilute Black voter strength. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Mississippi, the Southern Poverty Law Center and private law firms on behalf of a group of Black Mississippians including state Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greensville.

The lawsuit will be heard by U.S. Northern District Judge Sharion Aycock.

“Mississippi's population is almost 40 percent Black—a greater proportion than any other state in the nation,” the lawsuit states. “Yet in the 100 years that Mississippi has elected its Supreme Court by popular vote, there have been a total of only four Black justices ever to sit on that body.”

The defendants – the state Election Commission consisting of Gov. Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Secretary of State Michael Watson — deny that the districts are discriminatory. But they do concede that they have not been redrawn by the Legislature since 1987.

Simmons, who is Senate minority leader, said that this past session the Legislature did consider the redrawing of the trial court districts – both chancery and circuit – to adhere to population shifts revealed by the 2020 Census. But that effort was postponed until 2025 and Simmons said there was never an effort during the 2024 session to redraw the Supreme Court districts.

All four Black Mississippians who have served on the Supreme Court were first appointed to the post by governors and then later won election to the post as the incumbent. All four represented the Central District.

In 2020, Court of Appeals Justice Latrice Westbrooks attempted to become the first Black Mississippi to be elected to the Supreme Court before first being appointed by a governor. She lost a close election to Kenny Griffis, who was running for the post for the first time after being appointed to a vacant slot on the court by then-Gov. Phil Bryant.

The three Supreme Court districts also are used to elect the three-member Public Service Commission and Transportation Commission.

Both the Central District Transportation commissioner, Willie Simmons, and the Public Service commissioner, De'Keither Stamps, are black. Stamps won election to the post in 2023 after losing a close election to the post in 2019. Simmons was elected to his second term on the Transportation Commission in 2023.

At the same time the lawsuit involving the Supreme Court districts is ongoing, a separate case is being considered claiming Mississippi's legislative districts dilute Black voter strength.

The lawsuit says the state Legislature's redrawing of the House and Senate districts in 2022 to match population shifts gleaned from the 2020 Census “packed” Black voters in a limited number of districts to dilute their electoral impact.

Carroll Rhodes of Hazlehurst, a longtime civil rights attorney who is involved in the lawsuit, has said the new legislative districts violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution by “packing” Black voters in a smaller number of districts to dilute their strength.

Rhodes and others claim that a new redistricting plan could generate more Black majority districts in addition to increasing the number of African Americans in other districts to provide them more impact in those.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today launches collaboration with JPMorganChase

Published

2 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Staff Editor

The American Journalism Project today announced it is teaming up with JPMorganChase to support local news organizations throughout the country. In addition to providing funding for the American Journalism Project's national efforts to rebuild local news, JPMorganChase is sponsoring eight nonprofit newsrooms nationwide, sharing ongoing financial health content, organizing local events, and providing expertise tailored to their unique challenges to help meet their business and operational goals. This work with JPMorganChase marks the first time the American Journalism Project is collaborating with a financial services firm.

“As the largest bank in the country, this commitment from JPMorganChase sends a powerful signal that corporations can play an integral role in rebuilding local news,” said Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. “The investment and scale will infuse resources in a thrilling new generation of news outlets that are working to ensure local news is available to all, strengthening and informing communities.”

“The evidence is clear that a thriving local news ecosystem is key to more civic engagement and a healthy democracy. JPMorganChase believes supporting sustainable models for local news is essential to meeting information needs, strengthening communities and fostering inclusive economic growth,” said Andrew Gray, Managing Director of Regional Communications for JPMorganChase. “The American Journalism Project is playing a key role in supporting the sector by growing local news from the ground up so outlets can independently thrive. We're proud to be a part of this effort, and engage locally to identify the best opportunities where we can make an impact.”

JPMorganChase will work directly with eight local nonprofit news organizations in the American Journalism Project's portfolio, including:

THE CITY (New York City), a nonpartisan news outlet that serves the people of New York through independent journalism that holds the powerful to account, deepens democratic participation, and makes sense of complex issues.
Block Club Chicago, a newsroom dedicated to delivering reliable, relevant, and nonpartisan coverage of Chicago's diverse neighborhoods.
Mississippi Today, which as part of the Deep South Today nonprofit news network is providing free nonpartisan news to inform communities statewide and ensure accountability from public officials.
Cityside (San Francisco Bay Area), a nonpartisan digital news organization building community through local journalism with three local news sites, Berkeleyside, The Oaklandside and Richmondside.
Montana Free Press, a nonpartisan, public-powered news organization dedicated to reaching and serving the information needs of all Montanans by producing in-depth news, information, and analysis.
Signal Ohio, a statewide news organizations with newsrooms in Cleveland and Akron, committed to producing high-quality accountability journalism while working directly with residents to produce and distribute community reporting that is free to access for all
Fort Worth Report, producing independent, factual news coverage that aims to find solutions for community issues and strengthen a diverse and rapidly growing city and home county.
Spotlight Delaware, a community-powered, collaborative newsroom covering the impact of public policy, increasing access to information and civic engagement in historically underserved communities, and strengthening existing newsrooms throughout the state.

“Deep South Today is grateful for this opportunity to partner with JPMorganChase to further build the capacity of Mississippi Today to deliver essential local news to the communities it serves,” said Warwick Sabin, President and CEO of Deep South Today. “We look forward to working closely with them over the long term to achieve a healthier democracy and civil society through journalism that informs, engages, and inspires more Mississippians.”

AJP is the leading venture philanthropy working to address the market failure in local news. It is establishing and advancing a new generation of nonprofit local news organizations across the country. Founded in 2019, AJP is built on the evidence that robust journalism is an essential component of a healthy democracy. To date, AJP has raised $175M from local and national funders to address the local news crisis and has backed 44 news operations across 33 states.

JPMorganChase is a leading financial services firm and one of the oldest financial institutions in the U.S. It serves millions of customers, clients, and communities in 100+ global markets. This collaboration with AJP is part of the bank's overarching efforts to support local journalism.

About the American Journalism Project

The American Journalism Project is a venture philanthropy dedicated to local news. We believe in civic journalism as a public good and are reimagining its future by building a model to finance and sustain the local news our democracy requires. We make grants to local nonprofit news organizations to build their revenue and business operations, partner with communities to launch new organizations, and meteor leaders as they grow and sustain their newsrooms. To learn more about the American Journalism Project, visit our website.

About JPMorganChase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $4.1 trillion in assets and $337 billion in stockholders' equity as of March 31, 2024. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1870

Published

4 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Staff Editor

JULY 1, 1870

Congress created the Department of Justice to handle the flood of post-Civil War litigation. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman, whose priority became the protection of Black voting rights from attacks by the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups.

Congress aided that fight by passing additional laws that gave the department powerful tools to fight these violent white supremacist groups. These new laws enabled Akerman to obtain hundreds of convictions across the South. On one day in November 1871, 250 men in a South Carolina county confessed membership in the Klan.

Historian William McFeely wrote of Akerman, “Perhaps no attorney general since his tenure … has been more vigorous in the prosecution of cases designed to protect the lives and rights of Black Americans.”

But instead of rewarding Akerman, Grant dismissed him, and the battle to preserve these voting rights became less of a priority.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Podcast: State Democratic Chair Taylor remains committed to Biden

Published

4 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Staff Editor

Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender interview Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Cheikh Taylor about President Joe Biden's debate performance and the future of the Democratic Party in Mississippi. Taylor, a state House member from Starkville, also expressed hope that the Legislature will finally approve Medicaid expansion in the 2025 session.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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