NAACP Sues Mississippi Over Unequal Policing and Judicial System Control

The N.A.A.C.P. is suing Mississippi over two new laws that it says create a “separate and unequal” structure involving the police and courts in the majority Black city of Jackson. The laws, passed by the overwhelmingly white and Republican Legislature and signed by Gov. Tate Reeves, also a Republican, establish state control of policing and the judicial system in much of Jackson, something not done in other cities in the state, according to the N.A.A.C.P. The racial implications of the bills became a flashpoint during debate, with Democrats calling the House Bill 1020 a “racist, unconstitutional power grab.”