Jan. 18, 1962

Officials at Southern University at Baton Rouge, Louisiana — under pressure from the state — closed the doors after students protested those kicked out of school for taking part in sit-ins. 

State police occupied the campus to try and end these protests, and when SNCC field secretary Dion Diamond tried to meet with students, police jailed him on charges of criminal anarchy for “attempting to overthrow the state of Louisiana.” 

The white guards told Black inmates if they gave Diamond a difficult time, “you may get time off for good behavior,” he recalled. After the guards left, the inmates promised to protect him instead. He wound up serving 60 days in jail before being released. 

He was only 15 when he began his activism, sitting at “whites-only” lunch counters. When he was involved in a 1960 sit-in in Arlington, Virginia, American Nazi leader George Rockwell spewed insults at him. 

In May 1961, he became a Freedom Rider. He said he was thinking it might be a long weekend; instead it turned out to be two and a half years. After he and other riders arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, where they were arrested and sent to the state’s worst prison, Parchman, because the city ran out of jail space. 

In all, Diamond was arrested about 30 times. He remains grateful for the experience. “Any time I pick up a historical publication,” he told NPR, “I feel as if a period or a comma in that book is my contribution.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The Jackson State University football team celebrated their national title win with a parade through downtown Jackson.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The Capitol Complex Improvement District Court is set to open in downtown Jackson a year after it was set to begin hearing cases with a state-appointed judge and prosecutors. 

An opening ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 24, at 10:30 a.m. at the court’s building at 201 S. Jefferson St., a former bus terminal located near the fairgrounds. 

As of Friday, the identity of the judge who will hear cases has not been announced. Instead, Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph is expected to introduce the judicial appointees at next week’s ceremony. 

The attorney general’s office has also appointed a prosecutor to the CCID court. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday about that appointee. 

Jan. 27 will be the CCID court’s first day of business, starting at 8 a.m.

While the court was being established, elected Hinds County judges continued to hear cases meant for the CCID and people were held in area jails, including at detention centers in Hinds and Rankin counties. 

House Bill 1020, signed during the 2023 legislative session, created the CCID court and expanded the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police, whose cases will be heard in the court. The court was supposed to be established in 2024. 

The bill also gave appointment responsibilities to the chief justice and attorney general, and said people convicted of misdemeanors could be housed at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility – a state prison. 

The court and police expansion were touted as solutions to crime and an overloaded Hinds County court system. Pushback came from Jackson lawmakers, advocacy groups and community members. 

Two lawsuits challenged the law, one at the state level and another in federal court. To date, both suits have been resolved. 

The MacArthur Justice Center, which was part of the challenge of HB 1020, formed a courtwatch group made up of volunteers who will sit in on court proceedings and track outcomes of cases. That information is expected to be made available publicly. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.