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FILE - People voicing their opposition to Mississippi House Bill 1020 wear protest t-shirts as they gathered on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Jan. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

The NAACP ends its challenge over Mississippi creating a new court in majority-Black capital city

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba voices his opposition to Mississippi House Bill 1020, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, during a protest at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Bribery case adds to problems in Mississippi city with water woes and policing disputes

Associated Press

FILE - EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, right, addresses a roundtable of Jackson-area businesspeople, community leaders, residents and educators, as Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, left, listens, Nov. 15, 2022, at Jackson State University, in Jackson, Miss. The EPA said Monday, May 6, 2024, that it found “insufficient evidence” that racial discrimination shaped decisions made by two Mississippi agencies about water system funding for the majority-Black city of Jackson. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Racial bias did not shape Mississippi’s water funding decisions for capital city, EPA says

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

Bul Mabil has tears streaming down his face as he speaks during a press conference to ask for the public's help in finding his brother, Dau Mabil, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson Miss., on Monday, April 1, 2024. As a child, Dau Mabil escaped war-torn Sudan and built a new life in Mississippi. In April, fishermen found his body floating in a river in the state — prompting calls for a federal investigation into his disappearance and death. (Lauren Witte/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A man escaped Sudan’s bloody civil war. His death in Mississippi has sparked suspicion

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press

FILE - Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, center right, Bettersten Wade, center, mother of Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old man who died after being hit by a Jackson, Miss., police SUV driven by an off-duty officer, watches her son's body transferred to a mortuary transport after being exhumed from a pauper's cemetery near the Hinds County Penal Farm in Raymond, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. After men in near Mississippi's capital were buried in a pauper’s cemetery without their relatives’ knowledge, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it will help the city's police revamp their policies for performing next-of-kin death notifications. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi capital revamping how it notifies next of kin about deaths with Justice Department help

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press

Mississippi House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, addresses committee members as they review bills at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Quick death for Mississippi bill that sought casino site in capital city of Jackson

Associated Press

This combination of photos shows, from top left, former Rankin County sheriff's deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield appearing at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Aug. 14, 2023. Two Black men who were tortured for hours by the six Mississippi law enforcement officers in 2023 called Monday, March 18, 2024, for a federal judge to impose the strictest possible penalties at their sentencings this week. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Former Mississippi police officer gets about 10 years in prison for racist torture of 2 Black men

By Michael Goldberg and Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

This combination of photos shows, from top left, former Rankin County sheriff's deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield appearing at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Aug. 14, 2023. Two Black men who were tortured for hours by the six Mississippi law enforcement officers in 2023 called Monday, March 18, 2024, for a federal judge to impose the strictest possible penalties at their sentencings this week. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

6 former Mississippi law officers to be sentenced for torture of 2 Black men

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press

Former State Rep. Alyce Clarke, D-Jackson, inspects her official portrait in the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Clarke is the first woman and the first African American to have a portrait displayed in the state Capitol. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The first Black woman in the Mississippi Legislature now has her portrait in the state Capitol

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

People voicing their opposition to Mississippi House Bill 1020 wear protest t-shirts as they gathered on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Jan. 31, 2023. A federal judge will consider arguments over racial discrimination, public safety and local democracy as he decides whether to block appointments to a new state-run court in part of Mississippi's majority-Black capital city set to be created on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

In federal challenge to Mississippi law, arguments focus on racial discrimination, public safety

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press

Otis Wells, 51, stands in front of his Clinton, Miss., precinct, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, recalling how he, his wife and son had to wait in line for almost an hour to vote, since the precinct ran out of paper ballots midafternoon, during Tuesday's general election. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Ballot shortages in Mississippi created a problem for democracy on the day of a governor’s election

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Michael Goldberg and Ayanna Alexander - Associated Press

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves greets a supporter at a election night party in Flowood, Miss., Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Reeves won a second term, defeating Democrat Brandon Presley. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves wins 2nd term, defeating Democrat Brandon Presley

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

Ronald Graham-Wilson, 21, expresses his uncertainty in who he plans to vote for in the upcoming statewide elections this year and federal elections in 2024, during a roundtable discussion with other youth community activists, on elections, race and voter fatigue, Oct. 25, 2023, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Mississippi has a history of voter suppression. Many see signs of change as Black voters reengage

By Ayanna Alexander - Associated Press

An anti-police brutality activist looks back at the entrance to the Rankin County Sheriff's Office in Brandon, Miss., Wednesday, July 5, 2023, as the group called for the termination and prosecution of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey for running a law enforcement department that allegedly terrorizes and brutalizes minorities. Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi have pleaded guilty to a racist assault on Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker, who are Black. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

How 6 Mississippi officers tried to cover up their torture of 2 Black men

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division speaks, June 1, 2023, in Jackson, Miss. On Wednesday, July 12, the Justice Department filed court papers challenging a Mississippi law that authorizes the appointment of some judges in Jackson and Hinds County, which are majority-Black. Most judges in Mississippi are elected, and Clarke said the appointment of judges discriminates against Black residents. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi discriminates against Black residents with appointed judges, Justice Department says

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

FILE - Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, center, speaks during his State of the State address on the steps of the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. The capital city has had Black mayors since 1997. Reeves has campaigned in the past on withholding state financial support the city requested. During the 2022 water crisis, Reeves said in another city that it was “as always, a great day to not be in Jackson.” (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

The problem with Jackson, Mississippi — and America

By Jameson Taylor

Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Floyd McKissick march in the front rank of blacks and whites who took up the Memphis-to-Jackson, Miss., march, which was begun by James Meredith three days ago. They are crossing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Coldwater River in northern Mississippi, June 8, 1966. Meredith is still talking about his divine mission. In the weeks leading up to his 90th birthday on Sunday, Meredith made several appearances around his home state, urging people to obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule to reduce crime, and saying that older generations should lead the way. (AP Photo, File)

Civil rights icon James Meredith turns 90, urges people to fight crime by obeying Ten Commandments

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

Myrlie Evers, civil right leader and widow of slain civil rights icon Medgar Evers, acknowledges the audience applause after the unveiling of the new park sign for Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, June 8, 2023. The event was designed to both celebrate recent preservation and protection efforts that extend access to the Evers story and to open a weekend-long commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 963 assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Thursday, June 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

60 years after Medgar Evers’ murder, his widow continues a civil rights legacy

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

Jackson residents and supporters march with members of the Poor People's Campaign of Mississippi to the Governor's Mansion in Jackson, Miss., to protest water system problems, poverty and other issues, Oct. 10, 2022. A lawsuit filed Friday, June 2, 2023, challenges a new Mississippi law that will require people to receive state law enforcement permission before protests near state government buildings in Jackson. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)

Mississippi harms free speech by requiring state permits before protests, lawsuit says

By Emily Wagster Pettus - Associated Press

This image provided by the Jackson (Miss.) Police Department shows Keith Murriel. A Mississippi grand jury has indicted two former police officers on murder charges and another ex-officer on a manslaughter charge in the death of Murriel, a Black man seen on video being pinned down and repeatedly shocked with stun guns during a New Year's eve arrest. Officials in the state capital of Jackson released body camera footage Wednesday, May 25, 2023 that showed then-officers Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land struggling to handcuff Keith Murriel as he was apparently stunned numerous times over 10 minutes. (Jackson (Miss.) Police Department via AP)

Body-cam footage shows indicted ex-police officers laughing at man who died in their custody

By Michael Goldberg - Associated Press