State capital mayor: Plan for courts is like apartheid

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba says that legislation that would create a separate court system run by unelected judges in part of Mississippi’s capital city is racially motivated. Lumumba says the proposal by legislators from outside the 80% Black city to create a separate court system within its borders reminds him of apartheid. The bill would create a separate judicial district within an area around downtown Jackson where many state-owned buildings are located. The new court system’s judges would be appointed by the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. It was introduced by Rep. Trey Lamar, a Republican. Lamar did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.