Case challenging constitutionality of H.B. 1020 headed to Miss. Supreme Court

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A Hinds County chancery judge’s decision to dismiss a constitutional challenge to H.B. 1020 has been appealed.

On Tuesday, attorneys representing three Jackson residents are appealing a string of decisions handed down by Chancery Court Judge Dewayne Thomas, who dismissed the constitutional challenge on Monday, just days after he allowed Hinds County Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace and Chief Justice Michael Randolph to be dismissed from the case.

The suit and appeal were filed by the ACLU and MacArthur Justice Center on behalf of Ann Saunders, Dorothy Triplett and Sabreen Sharrief, who argued that provisions of H.B. 1020 violated their constitutional rights as voters of the city of Jackson.

Provisions in question included one requiring the chief justice to appoint four temporary judges to the Hinds County Circuit Court and another to appoint a special judge to preside over cases in a CCID inferior court.

The CCID is the Capitol Complex Improvement District. The boundaries of that special district were also expanded under provisions of 1020. However, those expanded boundaries will not go into effect until 2024.

While that case is on appeal, another challenge is making its way through federal court.

In April, the National Conference of the NAACP and others filed a suit to block the law in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Last week, District Judge Henry Wingate issued a temporary restraining order blocking Randolph from appointing judges under 1020 until he holds a hearing in the matter.

That hearing is slated for May 22.

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