Mississippi Proves Civil Rights Lawyer’s Point With Sham Arrest And Trial

// Judges hate getting reversed. Nobody wants to spend the time writing a long opinion meticulously explaining their rationale on an issue only to later have a higher court say, “Yeah, that was dumb.” But I’d imagine — and also hope — that the sting is that much sharper when you have to reverse your own judicial failures. Mississippi judge Marcus Fisher got caught with his tail between his legs once it got out that he took part in an attempt to stifle Jill Collen Jefferson’s push to hold police accountable for their misconduct. From Law and Crime:

A week after finding a prominent civil rights attorney guilty on multiple criminal charges with what was described as a “canned verdict” that was “emblematic” of how Black residents are mistreated by local government, a Mississippi judge reversed his own ruling in a short order riddled with errors.

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If there’s one take away from this, it should be that this is not the happy ending to the story. Chastising people in positions of authority without attaching consequences is an invitation to do it again. If the bar for a judge’s responsibility to promote public confidence in the law is so high that they violate ethics rules because they used a curse word on a personal Instagram post, ignoring a trial completely and reading from a boiler plate guilty script you didn’t even bother to proofread is unforgivable:

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Jefferson initially described her trial as “really heartbreaking,” and said Fisher ignored the evidence she presented. She said she expected the “canned verdict” even before her trial began, because she observed other proceedings and noticed that Fisher already had verdict sheets printed on his desk before her trial started. When it came time for Fisher to read the verdict aloud, Jefferson said she “could tell he didn’t write [the verdict sheet] because he couldn’t pronounce some of the words in the verdict.”

It won’t be a happy ending until the police that ordained an intimidation arrest are held accountable. From Mississippi Today:

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After her Jan. 31 trial, she claimed the outcome was unjust because the judge did not consider evidence presented during the trial, including an affidavit from a former Lexington police officer who had knowledge that Jefferson’s arrest was planned and targeted in response to her legal work.

The failure of Mississippi’s PD and judiciary to ruin Jill Collen Jefferson’s good name is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has the audacity to make the protect-and-serve people live up to their creed. It is very apt that the unjust arrest that led to breaking up the police and judge Fisher’s kayfabe was made right after Jefferson recorded a traffic stop. Because it is really hard to not see what’s going on now.

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‘Emblematic Of What We’re Organizing Against’: Prominent Civil Rights Lawyer Slams Judge For Reversing His Own ‘Canned Verdict’ Against Her [Law and Crime]
Lexington Judge Rescinds Conviction In What Civil Attorney Calls ‘An Unjust Arrest, Fraudulent Charges And A Sham Trial’ [Mississippi Today]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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Courts, Jill Collen Jefferson, Judge Marcus Fisher, Judges Behaving Badly, Judicial Ethics, Legal Ethics, Mississippi