'It will be the most closely watched court in Mississippi.' Group to collect data on CCID

Even as attorney Cliff Johnson made arguments to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2023 challenging the constitutionality of state-appointed judges in a new municipal court in downtown Jackson, he knew a watch dog for the court might be needed.

Months later, the supreme court satisfied Johnson and several others' arguments by stating the new court would function just like others, and after a federal court ruled it was in fact constitutional, Johnson's resolve for monitoring the new court was set in stone.

"We have expressed our concern about the ways in which (this would) undermine elected leaders in Jackson and in many ways worked as an end around the democratic process in Jackson in Hinds County," Johnson said. "We're keeping a close eye on how this plays out."

Johnson, University of Mississippi professor and director for the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, told the Clarion Ledger he is gathering a group of more than 50 dedicated participants from partnering organizations and Ole Miss to sit in and monitor the CCID municipal court and report back to the public on cases that come before it, dubbed the CCIDcourtwatch.com.

The CCID municipal court was established with the passage of House Bill 1020 in the 2023 legislative session. It also expanded parts of the CCID, featuring Downtown Jackson and goes all the way to Jackson State University. The CCID will expand this summer to include the west bank of the Pearl River all the way to Northside Drive and continue to encompass most of downtown.

The municipal court itself would feature four judges appointed by Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph, four prosecuting attorneys appointed by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and the court would send defendants to state prison instead of county jail. The bill also did not feature specific language on whether defendants could appeal decisions made by judges.

The court was slated to open in January, but several lawsuits were filed seeking to dismantle it or block it before it was ever established. Johnson served as an attorney arguing that state-appointed judges working alongside elected ones, as well as the court not having a process for making appeals, was unconstitutional. MSC ruled late last summer that the court would have appeals. Other federal lawsuits filed by the NAACP sought to block the court's existence, but Judge Henry Wingate stopped those blocks, and the court is now slated to open later this year.

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Johnson said he has spent the time between last fall and now gathering colleagues and students to monitor the court for transparency with the public. So far, he has partnered with Ole Miss, American Civil Liberties Union, the Mississippi Poor People's Campaign, the Mississippi Center for Justice and the People's Advocacy Institute, to name a few.

Those monitors will use the website to file data collected on each individual case that comes through the court. It will include information such as defendants' identity and race, whether the Jackson Police Department or Capitol Police handled the arrest, the nature of proceedings, if defendants are granted bail, if fees and fines are issued that consider a defendant's income and if payment plans are allowed for low-income defendants. The database will also include information about whether defendants are sent to county jail or state prison.

"Recognizing the uniqueness of this CCID court, I believe it is particularly important to keep a very close watch on what this one-of-a-kind court is doing, how the leadership of that court carries out their duties and responsibilities and the extent to which there are outcomes that are improper or inconsistent with the law," Johnson said. "My hope is that a CCID court will be the most fair, most unbiased court in the state of Mississippi. I don't go into this monitoring effort with a hope that terrible things happen in the CCID court, but it will be the most closely watched court in Mississippi."

Johnson even intends to send several of his own Ole Miss students to Jackson and watch the court, and he will also make the trip a few times per month to contribute to the database.

"My plan is to be in that courtroom on the first day CCID court opens," Johnson said. "I will monitor that day myself."

Gail Wright-Lowery, a Hinds County public defender, told the Clarion Ledger she thinks the monitors could prove helpful to her and colleagues in the public defender's office as they represent clients in the court later this year.

"Because the concept as it has been introduced to us in Hinds County and in Jackson, I think that that is a good idea just to keep data so that we can see exactly what is going on and whether or not the court is actually living out what the intent was when it was created," Lowery said.

As for information about how the court will work or when it will open, who Judge Randolph is considering to preside over the court or who Fitch will appoint to prosecute, Lowery said she and her colleagues have been kept in the dark.

"We are still in a wait and see," Lowery said. "We have reached out to make sure that everybody knows that we are ready to sit and meet in the event that we are a part of the organizational process. We are poised to walk in court when they tell us it's up and ready and running. Because that's what we do every day."

Fitch did not respond to multiple Clarion Ledger requests for comment on this story pertaining to when she expects to announce prosecutor appointments.

MSC Public Information Officer Beverly Kraft told the Clarion Ledger the court's opening is being delayed while lawmakers consider House Bill 822, which will establish clear guidelines for an appeals process in the CCID Court.

"The court is waiting on the outcome of pending legislation, which could affect the number of CCID judges to be appointed," Kraft said.

Kraft said Randolph, who did not respond to questions about where he is at in that process or who the candidates are, has yet to make any final decision on judge appointments.

Once those appointments are made, the court will set up shop in the War Memorial building at 120 State St. N., before renovations are complete to the Wright and Ferguson building on the corner of West and High Street, which will also house the Capitol Police headquarters.

The Mississippi Department of Finance Administration is overseeing the renovation project, but representatives did not respond to questions about when the project is supposed to be completed.

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Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson CCID court to be watched, reported on by group of court monitors