Mississippi Courts
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Mississippi Courts April 2015 Published by the Administrative Office of Courts Tallahatchie County Courthouse restoration finished The bench is tiny, and the J.W. Milam of murder in the South,” Cochran said. acquittal, Bryant and Milam jury room has two doors, one slaying of Emmett Till. The Till, 14, of Chicago, was admitted in a paid magazine wooden and the second a Emmett Till Interpretative visiting relatives in the Delta interview that they had beat screen door. When juries Center across the street cap- when he and his cousins went and shot Till, tied a gin fan deliberated in the days before tures the history of the slay- to a country store near Mon- around his neck and dumped air conditioning, the judge ing and the trial. ey. Till whistled at Bryant’s his body into the Tallahatchie would clear the courtroom The Emmett Till Memorial wife as she tended the store. River. and open the wood door on Commission, which moved Till was awakened in the Airicka Gordon Taylor, the jury room to bring in a the courthouse restoration middle of the night and founding director of the Ma- breeze, leaving only the and interpretative center dragged from his uncle’s mie Till Mobley Memorial screen door to keep out the from idea to reality, hosted a house, beaten and dumped Foundation, was somber. mosquitoes. ceremony at the courthouse into the Tallahatchie River. She vividly remembered Recently completed reno- on March 21. Mamie Till Mobley insisted Mobley’s grief over the loss vation of the Tallahatchie Sen. Thad Cochran told the on an open casket funeral for of her only child. And she County Courthouse in packed courtroom, “It is im- her only child so that the remembered the powerful Sumner returned the second portant to reflect on its histo- world could see what had love and determination of the floor courtroom and jury de- ry, what has the courthouse happened. A few months woman who helped raise her. liberation room to the way it done and seen.” Till’s story after they walked free with an “Coming here this time looked in September 1955, “helped galvanize the Civil was very difficult and emo- when an all white, all male Rights movement across the tional because of the reason,” jury deliberated for a little nation, and especially in the she said. She bristled at oth- more than an hour before ers’ characterization of the acquitting Roy Bryant and event as a celebration. “How Page 2 April 2015 can you celebrate this?” But Commission member Jes- Commission member that if we could have cooper- sadness was tempered by the sie Jaynes celebrated the Frank Mitchener said that ation of both races to restore spot’s place in history. memory of Jerome Little, the Little, the first African- the courthouse, it would build “Mamie didn’t want Emmett man who started the effort to American president of the relations. It’s obvious that to die in vain,” she said. restore the courthouse, and Tallahatchie County Board of Jerome Little was a man of “How can you reform with- moved the effort forward. Supervisors, wanted to create vision.” out knowing where you came The dedication was the reali- a memorial to the life of Em- Longtime newspaper col- from? We have to remember zation of Little’s dream. “He mett Till and the legacy of umnist Bill Minor sat close to the past in order to educate was very passionate about it the Civil Rights era. “He the spot from which he re- our children.” until the day he died.” thought, and he was right, ported the 1955 trial for the Sen. Thad Cochran speaks during dedication ceremony. Journalist Bill Minor, at right, talks to Airicka Gordon Frank Mitchener is seated at right. Taylor after the dedication ceremony. April 2015 Page 3 New Orleans Times- his children came in Picayune. He looked over the the judge’s entrance mingling, diverse crowd after and squeezed into a the ceremony and remarked spot along the wall to on what a different picture it watch the program. presented. Sixty years ago, “that was unthinkable.” Dur- ing the Bryant and Milam trial, the county sheriff didn’t want to let African-American journalists into the court- room. “All of us are together and that’s the way it needs to be,” Jaynes said. Thacker Mountain Radio Hour recorded its weekly music program from the courtroom before the dedica- tion. Mississippi music leg- end Dorothy Moore wowed Music legend Dorothy Moore sings “Misty Blue” before courthouse dedication March 21. the audience with her famous “Misty Blue” and two other “I grew up around and played hits. The Tutwiler Communi- in this courthouse.” He re- ty Center Student Blues Band called ringing the courthouse and the Thacker Mountain bell to watch the pigeons fly band, the Yalobushwhackers, out of the tower. His parents’ performed. home is down the street. “It’s nice to see the court- He convened court there house in better repair,” Cir- for the first time after the cuit Judge Smith Murphey V renovation, empaneling a said before he and three of grand jury. Chancery Clerk Anita Greenwood, at left, talks to John La- The jury deliberation room stands empty at the Tallahatchie mar and Justice Ann Lamar. Circuit Judge Smith Murphey County Courthouse in Sumner. V is at back, left. Page 4 April 2015 Court language interpreter certified after AOC training Russian-born Galina Lo- bodina came to Jackson State University in 2004 to teach English as a second language to international students. In February, her bilingual mas- tery earned her a spot as the first court interpreter to be trained and certified under the state’s own program. Lobodina, 36, who was born in Volzhsky, Russia, is the state’s only certified Rus- sian language court interpret- er. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Joe Lee administered the court interpreter’s oath to Lobodina on Feb. 11 during a ceremony in the Supreme Court En Banc Courtroom. “We are honored that you Chief Judge Joe Lee administers the court interpreter’s oath to Galina Lobodina. have successfully completed this program and that you are ly trained and credentialed in who preceded Gordon as co- ment I realized what it might here today,” Judge Lee said other states, then accepted ordinator of the interpreter be like to be someone who before administering the oath. through reciprocity in Missis- program, said that Mississip- cannot speak English, who “This is just such a pivotal sippi. Among those was pi saw a 105 percent increase has a limited knowledge of moment here in Mississippi Hernan Augusto Silva Zetina, in Spanish speakers and a the English language, sitting for our courts,” said Admin- who drove from his home in more than 40 percent increase in the courtroom having their istrative Office of the Courts Memphis to attend the cere- in Asian language speakers fate decided for them and Deputy Director Ta’Shia S. mony. Three other interpret- between 2000 and 2010. they are not understanding Gordon, who oversees the ers certified in Mississippi “We are a growing, diverse what is going on.” court interpreter certification also live in Tennessee. state and we need this” inter- AOC developed the Mis- program. “ I’m just happy Four recently registered preter program, she said. sissippi Court Interpreter that we have such great, qual- court interpreters also were Counts said she experi- Credentialing Program to ified interpreters here in Mis- recognized at the ceremony. enced what it might be like to assist the courts in their en- sissippi.” They are Luis E. Diaz of be a person of limited Eng- deavor to provide equal ac- Twelve interpreters are Jackson, Herminia Leal of lish proficiency when she put cess to justice for limited currently credentialed by the Gulfport, Blanca Love of on a training seminar for pro- English proficiency individu- Administrative Office of Brandon and John D. Mora spective interpreters. During als. The AOC program pro- Courts. Among the others, of Noxapater. All are regis- lunch, she was surrounded by vides judges in state courts 10 speak Spanish, and one tered Spanish language inter- about 30 people. Everyone with a list of language inter- speaks Mandarin Chinese. preters. chatted in Spanish – except preters who have demonstrat- Seven interpreters who were Mississippi Electronic her. “It was very humbling to ed proficiency in oral inter- certified earlier were original- Courts Director Lisa Counts, me,” she said. “At that mo- pretation of court proceedings April 2015 Page 5 Judge Roberts receives MSU Distinguished Jurist Award Circuit Judge James L. degree from the University of which would have begun in Roberts Jr. of Pontotoc was Mississippi School of Law. January 1993, but took office honored as the 2014 recipient Judge Roberts’ career of early by gubernatorial ap- of Mississippi State Universi- public service began shortly pointment. He resigned from ty’s Distinguished Jurist after he graduated from law the Supreme Court in 1999 to Award. The annual award is school. He was county pros- make an unsuccessful run for given by the MSU Pre-Law ecutor for 12 years. Gov. Bill governor. He then served as Society. Allain appointed him Com- Pontotoc Municipal Judge. Judge Roberts earned a missioner of Public Safety in He considered it a service to Masters of Business Admin- 1984. He was appointed his community. istration from Mississippi chancellor of the 1st Chancery He has served as Circuit State University in 1968. He Court District in 1988. He Judge of the seven-county 1st has a Bachelor of Arts from was elected to the Supreme Circuit District since January Millsaps College and a law Court in 1992 for a term 2007.