Mississippi's Federal Courts: A History

by David M. Hargrove

Overview

This resource produces the first comprehensive history of the state’s federal courts from the inception of the Mississippi Territory to the late twentieth century. Using archival material and legal documents, David M. Hargrove untangles the state’s complex legal history, which includes slavery and secession, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Jim Crow and civil rights.

In this important overview of the United States courts in Mississippi, Hargrove surveys the state’s federal judiciary as it rules on key issues in Mississippi’s past. He examines the court as it mediates conflict between regional and national agendas as well as protects constitutional rights of the state’s African American citizens during the Reconstruction and civil rights eras.

Hargrove traces how political activities of the state’s federal judges affected public perceptions of an independent judiciary. Growing demands for federal judicial and law enforcement infrastructure, he notes, called for courthouses that remain iconic presences in the state’s largest cities.

Hargrove presents detailed judicial biographies of judges who shaped Mississippi’s federal bench. Commissioned by the state’s federal judiciary to write the book, he offers balanced perspectives on jurists whose reputations have suffered in hindsight, while illuminating the achievements of those who have received little public recognition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496819499
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	01/17/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	340
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David M. Hargrove is director of Winterset Public Library. He earned a PhD in history from the University of Mississippi, and worked as the circulation manager at the Grisham Law Library. He has published in The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and Mississippi Law Journal.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 The Courts of the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1817 15

Chapter 2 The Mississippi District Court and Its fudges, 1818-1838 36

Chapter 3 States' Rights and Secession, 1839-1861 61

Chapter 4 Civil War and Congressional Reconstruction, 1861-1870 71

Chapter 5 Klan Violence and Democratic Domination, 1870-1891 94

Chapter 6 "$100 and Thirty Days": Roping Blind Tigers, 1891-1918 116

Chapter 7 Enforcing the National Prohibition Act, 1919-1929 138

Chapter 8 A Second Federal Judge for Mississippi, 1929-1949 159

Chapter 9 Defiant Democrats, 1950-1961 183

Chapter 10 The Road to Compliance, 1961-1983 207

Chapter 11 The Us Courts of Mississippi 237

Appendix 1 US Magistrate Judges and Bankruptcy Judges of Mississippi 268

Appendix 2 US Attorneys of Mississippi 288

Appendix 3 US Marshals of Mississippi 291

Appendix 4 Chief Us Probation Officers of Mississippi 294

Notes 295

Index 321