‘SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL’

NAACP Sues Mississippi Over Expansion of State-Run Policing in Jackson

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed legislation that represents “a state takeover of Jackson,” the NAACP said.

The NAACP is suing Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves after he signed legislation granting state officials more control over police in the capital city of Jackson by expanding the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police Department. The lawsuit, filed Friday, warns the two signed bills will create a “separate and unequal” system of policing and represents “a state takeover of Jackson.” The complaint accuses Reeves and other state officials of stripping citizens of their rights to democratically elect their own leaders. Reeves cited Jackson’s violent crime rate as a reason to expand the Capitol Police’s jurisdiction area—and establish a new court system within the state-created district. “If elected officials in Mississippi want to help address the results of their negligence and improve the lives of Jackson residents, they should start with completing improvements to Jackson’s water system, not undermining the constitutional rights of their citizens,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.