Federal authorities orders desegregation in 32 Mississippi college districts

LEXINGTON, Miss. — Federal courts have issued desegregation orders for 32 college districts in Mississippi, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant legal professional common stated Thursday.

The desegregation orders match right into a broader physique of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that’s analyzing jails, police departments and hate crimes within the state, in line with Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court resolution that outlawed segregation of public colleges throughout the nation, she stated the Justice Department is guaranteeing college districts present Black college students in Mississippi with equal entry to education schemes.

“In our ongoing efforts to fulfill the promise of Brown vs. Board of Education, we currently have 32 open cases with school districts here in Mississippi,” Clarke stated. “And in each of those cases, we are working to ensure that these districts comply with desegregation orders from courts.”

Clarke spoke to a small group of residents, native leaders and reporters Thursday on the Holmes County Circuit Court Complex in Lexington, about 62 miles (99.78 kilometers) from Jackson, the state capital. Mississippi is the most recent cease in Clarke’s “listening tour” all through the Deep South. The Justice Department is studying the place to direct sources and the place it’d have to mount civil rights lawsuits, she stated.

Mississippi has the best share of Black residents of any state. It has been dwelling, as produce other states, to authorized fights over desegregation. In 2017, a Mississippi Delta college district agreed to merge two excessive colleges after almost 50 years of litigation during which the district sought to keep up traditionally Black and white colleges.

In addition to highschool districts, Clarke stated at the very least 5 Mississippi jails and prisons have come beneath federal scrutiny. The division is trying into whether or not the services shield prisoners from violence and meet housing requirements. The services embrace the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility and a Hinds County Jail.

Clarke additionally stated her division is investigating whether or not Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputies used extreme power after they shot Michael Corey Jenkins within the mouth throughout an alleged drug raid. An Associated Press investigation discovered that a number of deputies from the division have been concerned in at the very least 4 violent encounters with Black males since 2019 that left two lifeless and one other with lasting accidents.

Clarke declined to supply extra particulars concerning the case, citing an ongoing federal civil rights investigation. After delivering ready remarks in Lexington, she met with group members about allegations of police brutality within the small city. Police have “terrorized” Black residents by subjecting them to false arrests, extreme power and intimidation, an ongoing federal lawsuit claims.

“What I hope she’ll do is seriously address the issues. Not gloss over them, say that she has heard about these violations, talk about them in detail and say that it is wrong if it is happening,” stated Jill Collen Jefferson, president of JULIAN, a civil rights group that filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of a bunch of Lexington residents.

The group assembly was closed to reporters. The Justice Department has not introduced an investigation into the Lexington Police Department.

Jefferson stated her group plans to file a category motion lawsuit towards the Lexington Police Department within the new few months.

Against the backdrop of ongoing investigations into potential civil rights violations ensnaring college districts, jails and police departments is FBI knowledge launched in March exhibiting the variety of hate crimes within the U.S. rose in 2021.

“Hate and bigotry are sadly on the rise,” she stated.