Federal appeals court denies effort to block state-run court in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court has denied a legal effort to stop Mississippi officials from creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson. The judges issued their ruling over objections from the NAACP. Three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the NAACP’s motions for an injunction pending an appeal and vacated an administrative stay that had temporarily blocked state officials from creating the court. Attorneys for the NAACP had sued on behalf of several Jackson residents who say the new court undermines democracy because local voters or local elected officials won’t choose its judge or prosecutors.