The NAACP filed a federal lawsuit Friday (April 21) against two new laws enacted by Mississippi’s predominantly White Republican state government, saying the measures attack the democratic right of majority-Black Jackson to control its criminal justice system.

"As our country continues to face the reality and consequences of our broken law enforcement and criminal justice systems, passing legislation to increase policing, install undemocratically appointed judges, and infringe on the constitutional right to protest is simultaneously irresponsible and dangerous,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

Mississippi’s GOP Gov. Tate Reeves signed bills S.B. 2343 and H.B. 1020 into law April 21. The controversial measures expand the state’s law enforcement jurisdiction and implement changes to the judicial system in the capital city, which is about 80 percent Black and majority Democrat. Reeves has said the laws are needed to stem violent crime.

S.B. 2343 expands the state-controlled Capitol Police jurisdiction from around state buildings in Jackson to almost the entire city, according to CNN. Under H.B. 1020, the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice, currently conservative Judge Michael K. Randolph, will appoint a judge to oversee a state-created district in Jackson known as the Capitol Complex Improvement District. The new district includes the state Capitol building, downtown, Jackson State University, and nearby communities.

According to the NAACP, S.B. 2343 could also restrict public protests by requiring state police permission to demonstrate near state buildings. As for H.B. 1020, the civil rights organization says it would add unelected circuit judges to the Seventh Circuit Court District in Hinds County.

"Mississippi House Bill 1020 and Senate Bill 2343 represent a disturbing regression, rolling back decades of progress by stripping Jackson residents of their fundamental right to democratically elect leaders, undermining the authority of those they have elected, and severely restricting their first amendment right to freedom of speech. This Legislative body has proven that they are uninterested in upholding their sworn oath to protect the constitutional rights of their constituents, including the majority Black residents of Jackson, former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who is serving as a senior counsel for the NAACP’s legal team, said in a statement.

Reeves has said that the Jackson Police Department is understaffed and needs help from the state-run Capitol Police to reduce crime in the city.

“Jackson is experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of crime. The capital city is approximately 6% of Mississippi’s population yet, in 2020, accounted for more than 50% of the homicides in our state. It set a record for homicides within the city that year. It did it again in 2021,” the governor tweeted April 21.

He also denied that the laws have any racist intent.

“We’re working to address it. And when we do, we’re met with overwhelming false cries of racism and mainstream media who falsely call our actions ‘Jim Crow,’” Reeves’ tweet continued.

But many civil right activists view Mississippi’s new laws as part of a national trend, including Missouri and Texas, in which predominantly White Republican legislative bodies are making a power grab against local governments in heavily-populated Black cities. The Republicans say the moves aim to improve conditions in the cities. However, activists argue that a racist and political agenda drives the trend.