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The future of the Voting Rights Act runs through a legal fight over Mississippi’s Supreme Court. Also, violence persists in the Hinds County jail, even under federal oversight, and immigration enforcement in Mississippi is drawing more attention.

– Caleb Bedillion and Daja E. Henry

Mississippi grapples with SCOTUS voting rights decision

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Sharion Aycock ruled that the voting districts used to elect the Mississippi Supreme Court’s nine justices illegally dilute the influence of Black voters. About 38% of Mississippi is Black, but only one justice currently sitting on the bench is Black. All the other judges are White.

Then last week, the U.S. Supreme Court set off a legal earthquake by releasing a decision that significantly weakens the Voting Rights Act and makes it harder for racial minorities to claim in court that they are disadvantaged by voting districts used in elections.

The opinion in Louisiana v. Callais shifts voting rights law so much that the civil rights plaintiffs who filed the Mississippi lawsuit and the defendants have jointly asked a federal appeals court to void (the legal term is “vacate”) the ruling by Aycock and send the case back to her for new arguments.

As of Friday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had not yet ruled in response to this joint motion.

The Callais ruling has triggered intense speculation about its impact on a partisan redistricting war raging across the country ahead of midterm elections. With fewer voting protections in place for racial minorities, states across the South could try to eliminate voting districts drawn to favor those voters. This week, Tennessee lawmakers voted to eliminate the state’s lone Black-majority congressional district.

In Mississippi, the state Supreme Court districts loom as the most immediate issue.

When she found last year that the current maps discriminate against Black voters, Aycock gave state lawmakers an opportunity to draw a new voting map. In a legislative session that ended in April, they failed to do so.

A special session called by Gov. Tate Reeves is now scheduled for later this month, during which legislators could potentially change the voting districts of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Will those lawmakers decide again to leave the status quo in place? Will they adopt a map that is more favorable to Black voters in a bid to bring litigation to a close? Could the Republican-controlled body take Callais as a signal to make the districts less favorable to Black voters?

At the same time, public speculation has mostly centered on whether Reeves will expand the scope of the special session to include the state’s Congressional districts. Some elected officials in the state — as well as President Donald Trump — are calling for more sweeping changes that will change the state’s congressional districts to eliminate a Black-majority district currently represented by Bennie Thompson, a Democrat.

Violence continues at Hinds County jail

Violence continues to plague Hinds County’s Raymond Detention Center, now under the control of a court-appointed federal receiver. Two men were assaulted at the jail on April 23, Sheriff Tyree Jones confirmed to Mississippi Today.

The men were identified as 26-year-old Isaac Gibson and 22-year-old Quandarius Beasley. Gibson’s aunt told Mississippi Today that he had been stabbed.

Violence is just one of the systemic issues that have plagued the facility for decades, leading to the federal takeover. U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves ordered the receivership in 2022 after the county repeatedly failed to address constitutional violations found in the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2014 investigation.

Federal receiver, Wendell M. France Sr., took over operations at the facility in October 2025. In a February 2026 court hearing, France said staffing levels at the facility were “woeful.” The building is deteriorating and overcrowded, he reported.

“We will never reach a constitutional, sustainable jail if we do not increase the staff,” France said in the hearing.

According to logs obtained by The Marshall Project – Jackson, dispatchers responded to at least 121 assaults, one stabbing, and 29 aggravated assaults which involved the use of a weapon, in the facility in 2025.

Last year, eight people died in the jail, and one of those deaths was ruled a homicide, according to documents obtained by The Marshall Project – Jackson. In April 2025, 37-year-old Anthony Johnson was found unresponsive in his cell after being assaulted. Three people have been charged in connection with his death.

At least four more people have died in the facility this year.

Tracking immigration enforcement in Mississippi

The privately run Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi is among the largest ICE detention facilities. People from across the country are held there ahead of possible deportation. But the number of detainees has recently dropped sharply, according to Mississippi Today and The New York Times. With the ability to hold up to 2,500 people, the facility was holding 1,400 people during an April tour, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, told the news outlets.

Nationally, detention numbers have not decreased. A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied any intent to close the facility.

The news outlets are reporting in partnership about immigration enforcement and detention in Mississippi. They have interviewed Thompson about his visits to the Adams County facility and probed the scant details about the death of a person held there.

Elsewhere in Mississippi, two brothers from the Republic of the Congo who were attending a public high school on the Mississippi Gulf Coast were recently released from ICE custody after the intervention of prominent Republican officials, according to the Mississippi Free Press. Israel and Max Makoka legally came to the U.S. on student visas, but then transferred from the private boarding school in Rankin County that they initially attended. In a statement, ICE told the Mississippi Free Press the brothers were out of compliance with their visa terms.

Though they are back home with their host parents for now, the brothers still face possible deportation.

Around the state

More redistricting news. Some Mississippi Republicans have urged caution in redistricting. SuperTalk. “Mississippi faces pressure to redistrict before congressional midterms, but also real-world constraints.” Magnolia Tribune Special legislative session on redistricting will take place in Mississippi’s notorious Old Capitol, where the state’s Jim Crow Constitution was approved. Mississippi Today TMP Context: Black candidates have a “bleak” history in Mississippi Supreme Court elections. The Marshall Project

Retaliation on Death Row. There is only one woman on Mississippi’s Death Row. After speaking to a news outlet earlier this year about the restrictive conditions she faces, Lisa Jo Chamberlin believes she faced retaliation. Mother Jones

“Goon Squad” scandal yields new lawsuit. Two men who were beaten and tortured by deputies with the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department are now suing an elected member of the county’s Board of Supervisors for defamation. Mississippi Today

Immigration cooperation. Two rural Mississippi counties recently inked local cooperation agreements with ICE, allowing deputies for the departments to perform certain immigration enforcement duties. One of the sheriffs acknowledged that his department hasn’t arrested a single undocumented immigrant within the last year. The Dispatch

Too much paperwork. Jackson’s new police chief recently told the City Council that the billing system currently in use requires that she spend hours reviewing invoices. WLBT