Mississippi
Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP v. State Board of Election Commissioners
Mississippi has a growing Black population, which is already the largest Black population percentage of any state in the country. Yet. Black Mississippians continue to be significantly under-represented in the state legislature, as Mississippi’s latest districting maps fail to reflect the reality of the state’s changing demographics. During the 2022 redistricting process, the Mississippi legislature refused to create any new districts where Black voters have a chance to elect their preferred representative. The current district lines therefore dilute the voting power of Black Mississippians and continue to deprive them of political representation that is responsive to their needs and concerns, including severe disparities in education and healthcare.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2022
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
The case concerns the constitutionality of a Mississippi law prohibiting abortions after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. The state used the case as a vehicle to ask the Supreme Court to take away the federal constitutional right to abortion it first recognized 50 years before in Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States accepted the state’s invitation and overturned Roe eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Mississippi
Mar 2017
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
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All Cases
18 Mississippi Cases
Mississippi
Dec 2011
Sturgis v. Copiah County School District
When graduating senior Ceara Sturgis chose to wear a tuxedo for her senior yearbook photo, rather than the drape typically reserved for girls, her school, Wesson Attendance Center, responded by excluding her entirely from the senior portrait section of the yearbook. The ACLU seeks damages for Ceara and hopes to prevent gender discrimination in the future.
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Mississippi
LGBTQ Rights
Sturgis v. Copiah County School District
When graduating senior Ceara Sturgis chose to wear a tuxedo for her senior yearbook photo, rather than the drape typically reserved for girls, her school, Wesson Attendance Center, responded by excluding her entirely from the senior portrait section of the yearbook. The ACLU seeks damages for Ceara and hopes to prevent gender discrimination in the future.
Dec 2011
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U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2011
Cooley v. Forrest County Sheriff’s Department
Andre Cooley, a corrections officer for juvenile detainees at the Sheriff's Department in Forrest County, Mississippi, was fired when his supervisors discovered that he was gay.
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U.S. Supreme Court
LGBTQ Rights
Cooley v. Forrest County Sheriff’s Department
Andre Cooley, a corrections officer for juvenile detainees at the Sheriff's Department in Forrest County, Mississippi, was fired when his supervisors discovered that he was gay.
Mar 2011
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Mississippi
Nov 2010
McMillen v. Itawamba County School District
Status: Closed (Settled)
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Mississippi
LGBTQ Rights
McMillen v. Itawamba County School District
Nov 2010
Status: Closed (Settled)
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Mississippi
Religious Liberty
Reproductive Freedom
Robinson v. Thompson
Nov 2009
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2009
D.G. v. De Soto County School District
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U.S. Supreme Court
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
D.G. v. De Soto County School District
Oct 2009
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