Operating at the state level, the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals is the highest court within the state of Mississippi. Established by the original constitution of Mississippi in 1817, the court first met in January 1818. Justices were originally elected by the Mississippi legislature and met twice a year in Natchez. The rest of the year they presided over state superior courts. When Mississippi adopted a new constitution in 1832, the court was renamed the High Court of Errors and Appeals and was made of three judges who were publicly elected for six-year terms. An 1836 amendment to the state constitution moved the high court to Jackson.
The court was disrupted by the Civil War and Reconstruction. Although the court convened in 1866, federal authorities ignored its decision in Ex parte Lewis which declared the Civil Rights Act of 1866 unconstitutional. The justices resigned in protest, prompting federal officials to appoint replacements.
In 1868, Mississippi drafted a new constitution which again revised the state’s highest court. Called the Supreme Court of Mississippi, the court was made of justices appointed by the governor with consent of the Mississippi senate. The constitution of 1890 made some additional changes to the Supreme Court, and in 1898 the Mississippi legislature again tried to make the justices’ positions subject to public election. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that act on technical grounds, but Mississippians amended their constitution in 1914 to provide for public election of justices for eight years. Since then the Supreme Court has been subjected to some additional adjustments by the Mississippi legislature, but continues to preside as the highest court in the state. (Wikipedia)
