Saturday, May 20, 2023

HB #1020 Foes to Court: Hurry Up

 The opponents of HB #1020 may have struck out in Hinds County Chancery Court but want another turn at bat and want it now.   Attorney Cliff Johnson and crew filed an emergency motion for expedited considerationwith the Mississippi Supreme Court yesterday on behalf of plaintiffs Dorothy Triplett, Sabreen Sharrief, and Ann Saunders.  

The motion repeats the same arguments made before Chancellor Dewayne Thomas last week.  The lawsuit asked the Chancellor to block the appointment of four temporary special circuit judges and the creation of a CCID court that operated the same as a municipal court.  Judge Thomas dismissed the lawsuit while also dismissing defendants Hinds County Circuit Clerk Zach Wallace and Chief Justice Mike Randolph. 

The emergency motion includes the dismissed defendants.  Chief Justice Randolph submitted a response that stated he did not oppose expedited consideration. The motion is posted below for your perusal.

Kingfish note: Mr. Johnson engaged in a little bit of misdirection.  The motion states suspects convicted of misdemeanors "can be sent to state prison."  Um, not so fast.  HB #1020 allows the CCID Court to send the incarcerated to the MDOC facility in Rankin County.  Oh, my gosh, the horror of it all.  Well, the Rankin facility is much safer than the Raymond Detention Center but the motion glosses over that fact.  Of course, Mr. Johnson has penned columns published in the Clarion-Ledger that opposed building a misdemeanor facility in Jackson.  The more criminals on the streets, the merrier, right.  Things always appear differently in the Oxford ivory tower, right. 


30 comments:

Anonymous said...

The candy ass sissy CLIFF JOHNSON lives in crime infested Water Valley. What a pompous ass. I bet Water Valley has NEVER has a car jacking.

Anonymous said...

If this incompetent Cliff guy were competent, he would be practicing law. Obviously, he supports his ego by “teaching” law? I know him, and people like him are the reason we are respected as the 50 th state in the union. But, we are still ranked higher than Puerto Rico.

Anonymous said...

Use of the slur “sissy” is an unfailing sign of backwardness.

Anonymous said...

6:26 I smell real sarcasm. Good job. Carry on.

Anonymous said...

These three women are elderly; I feel like they are being taken advantage of.

Anonymous said...

The vast majority of criticism toward these legal challenges takes one of two forms. (1) Empty demands for someone explain the basics of the lawsuits, which evaporate when somebody explains. (2) Juvenile personal attacks on the plaintiffs’ lawyers. The outrage takes the same tone that the old segregationists made against civil rights suits decades ago: a total inability to process or tolerate the challengers’ right to express opposition, much less argue their case in court.

HB 1020 might stand or it might not, but it comes with a 100% guarantee of being litigated. A law that takes away the vote is going to court the second it passes. You have to be delusional not to know that. Quit stomping and moaning and calling people names like overprivileged children. If you supported HB 1020 without expecting the State would have to defend it in court, you’re the incompetent fool.

Anonymous said...

Who are these plaintiff's and where did they come from?

Anonymous said...

Cliff Johnson is a Columbia Law School grad. That is an ultra lib, anti -American Soros type indoctrination school. Every Columbia grad I have met is off the charts anti- American.

Kingfish said...

He also graduated from a hotbed of higher education liberalism, Mississippi College.

Anonymous said...

"The candy ass sissy CLIFF JOHNSON lives in crime infested Water Valley. What a pompous ass. I bet Water Valley has NEVER has a car jacking."

PERFECT. He is, he does, he is, they haven't. I live here there.

Anonymous said...

Apparently Mississippi taxpayers via the UM law school are funding Cliff Johnson in his efforts to destroy this legislation.
Prove me wrong Cliff or any administrator at UM Law.

Anonymous said...

I know Cliff very well. He is a good person and an excellent lawyer.

Anonymous said...

I also know Cliff Johnson well, and these attacks on him are ignorant, angry, and disgusting. He's a good man who does what he believes to be right, and he does it ethically. Anybody who alleges otherwise is hurling insults and false accusations for the hell of it -- a sleazy, know-nothing habit that has defined public discourse in Mississippi for longer than any of us can remember.

It's fine to support HB 1020 if you think it is good policy and does not violate the state or federal constitution. If that is what you think, argue it. But sniveling armchair vitriol toward someone you do not know announces clearly that you're neither interested nor learned enough to argue the merits. Instead it says you're consumed by the bile that you keep churning up -- and the rest of us have known a long time what that's really all about.

Margaret Ann said...

Columbia Law School is superb and if Johnson is a graduate the man knows the law. The school is not anti American. That statement is preposterous. Mississippi law states judges should be elected. If the Republican legislature chooses to ignore the law then they should expect a court challenge.

Anonymous said...

I’m not one of the previous commenters in this thread.

I don’t know the life story of anyone but myself. With that said, Cliff is trying to stop the State from reducing the crime in a city that had the highest murder rate in the US in 2021 and 2022, for cities over 100,000 people.

If Water Valley had the same murder rate as Jackson in 2021, then it would’ve had 3 murders. If Oxford had the same murder rate as Jackson in 2021 then it would’ve had 27 murders. I don’t know how many Ole Miss students are included in Oxford’s population.

According to the internet, Ole Miss has 16,700 undergrads, most are probably in Oxford. If the Ole Miss’ undergrad student body had the same murder rate as Jackson in 2021, then 16 undergrads would’ve been killed. Let that sink in.

Anonymous said...

6:12 doesn’t sound like someone that actually lives in Jackson (with the exception of maybe someone who lives in a bubble behind a gate).

Anonymous said...

9:09,

Almost none of the legislators who voted for HB 1020 lives in Jackson either. The chief justice does not live in Jackson. One of the main arguments pushed by supporters of HB 1020 is that Jackson belongs to the whole state, so the whole state has an interest in what happens there (a rationale I agree with, by the way).

Anonymous said...

Maybe legislators who voted for HB 1020 live in Jackson, but they all work in Jackson. Concern for their own safety, as well as other Jacksonians, is a valid reason to vote for the bill and some Jacksonians are grateful, including myself.

Anonymous said...

9:31,

I agree with that reasoning though I question whether a few more judges will make any difference, plus taking away the vote presents a serious constitutional question. Apparently 9:09 believes one must live in Jackson, and not behind a gate, in order to have a valid opinion.

Anonymous said...

Apparently 11:24 thinks you can be against 1020 if you don’t actually live in Jackson.

Do you live in Jackson, 11:24? Have you or your neighbors even been a victim of a crime? How about a crime where guns are pointed at a victim? How about multiple crimes on your street and dozens of crimes in your neighborhood that involved a gun? Ever been eating dinner then hear gun shots from 20 yards or so away?

9:09

Anonymous said...

9:09,

I do not live in Jackson, nor do I think that has any bearing whatsoever on my opinion. I have many friends in Jackson, and most of them do not support HB 1020.

I have also never lived in Afghanistan, but I have some opinions about what has happened there over the last 20-plus years. I imagine so do you.

Of course I want the crime epidemic in Jackson to end. I do not have to be a victim of a Jackson crime to want that. Once again: I question the effectiveness of appointing (or, for that matter, electing) a handful more judges to reverse the epidemic. I have not read anything that makes me think that it will be effective. I am also very skeptical that taking votes away from a specific set of people is valid under the Mississippi and U.S. Constitutions.

I believe the Legislature would have been much wiser to get aggressive in plugging the drain of capable law enforcement officers in Jackson and in creating policies to recruit more capable police to Jackson. The judicial solution it chose instead is mostly symbolic, in my opinion, and designed to punish the law-abiding Jacksonians whom the sponsors blame for this epidemic more than it is designed to help them.

Anonymous said...

I know several people in Jackson that DO want HB 1020. They are conservative. The ones I know that are against it think we can hold hands, sing and talk about the criminals feelings. We need the judges to help with the backlog of cases. It's not a permanent thing. We NEED the Capitol police. Everyone knows Lumumba hates the police. He has basically defunded it as much as he possibly can. And how in the heck does this punish law-abiding citizens? We are punished every single day by having our heads on a swivel when we take a walk or go shopping in Jackson.
And yes, I know plenty of black residents that really want this bill to pass.
We need the help and as long as Lumumba is around, the Jackson Police are castrated.

Anonymous said...

The 18 year old thug with the gun on the back a friend of mine's head on Halloween night a year ago, while his 15 and 16 year old thug buddies were pointing their guns at he and his wife's 4 and 6 year old CHILDREN, cursing and yelling with language that would embarrass a sailor, is in a holding cell, awaiting charges on 5 MURDERS he is accused of. 5 MURDERS. 18. All compliments of our stellar Hinds County justice system.

1:39 is either a liar or FOS. " I have many friends in Jackson, and most of them *do not* support HB 1020." Bullshit.

Anonymous said...

4:46,

"How in the heck does this punish law-abiding citizens?"

For the umpteenth time, it takes their right to vote away.

Yes of course a lot of people in Jackson want HB 1020 because they think it will reduce crime. A lot don't think that and believe it is a pretense to disempower black Jacksonians. Why do they think that? Because if if it were strictly about relieving the backlog, then the Legislature would have created new *elected* judicial positions, as the law plainly requires. If that were the only motivation, nobody would have even thought about abandoning the right to vote.

For what it is worth, I agree 100% with your last sentence. I'm all for beefing up the Capitol Police, paying them a lot more to recruit good people, expanding their jurisdiction. Under Mississippi law, police are not elected. Judges are.

This thing is going all the way to the US Supreme Court because it targets a predominately black population and takes away their votes. Think about that: the Mississippi Legislature passed a law that deprives a large number of black citizens of the right to vote. It's the most direct attack on black voting rights in this state since 1965 -- this state with the darkest, most notorious and disgraceful history of punishing blacks who want to vote. Only the most deluded fool would think there would be no serious legal challenge.

HB 1020 very well might survive. But the only residents screaming and cursing from a bubble are the ones who can't believe -- literally, they do not have the capacity to believe -- that other Mississippians see this radical law differently than they do.

Anonymous said...

1:39,

Thanks for being honest that you don’t live in Jackson and thanks for your service.

With that said, let me put this another way. According to the internet, about 1750,000 people were killed in Afghanistan over about 20 years. Afghanistan has about 40 million people. About 1 in 227 people were killed in Afghanistan over the 20 year period.

If Jackson’s murder rate of approximately 1 in 1,000 in 2021, were to last for 20 years then about 1 in 50 Jacksonians would be killed over the 20 year period.

9:09, etc.

Anonymous said...

1:39 posted, "I believe the Legislature would have been much wiser to get aggressive in plugging the drain of capable law enforcement officers in Jackson and in creating policies to recruit more capable police to Jackson."

With your broad knowledge of how things work, how do you propose the state legislature would have the authority to create police recruiting policies and plug the turnover hole?

You claim the state has no authority to put this program in place - then you suggest, as a solution, something the state has no authority to put in place. Huh?

Anonymous said...

1:39,

They have authority over the Capitol Police, for starters.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why educated Jacksonians think the majority of Jackson voters should be trusted to elect non-corrupt judges?

Given the demonstrably horrendous record of electing thieves to any and all city positions, why will they get this right?

I get the argument that appointed judges are taking away the vote and I am not even saying its fair and constitutional. Maybe it's not. And I can respect that as a valid reason to refuse HB1020.

But what I don't get is WHY anyone with a decent IQ could think the citizens will suddenly get it right and vote for judges that are tough on crime? You cant be serious with that argument?

Anonymous said...

“Taking away their right to vote.” Like their right to vote for municipal judges?

Anonymous said...

These anti 1020's are GD dreamers that don't live with this horrific shit every day. Hate is a strong word. I hate them.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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