Mississippi’s Federal Courts
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.
Hargrove covers a range of topics—not only appointments, dockets, and decisions but also the structure of the courts and the construction of courthouses—with considerable skill.
Hargrove should be commended for compiling such a comprehensive treatment of the federal court history in Mississippi. His ability to capture the influence of policies and personalities on historical development is impressive. Mississippi’s Federal Courts: A Historyis well written and insightful, and it will be a good resource for scholars searching for the ways in which federal policies affected local events.
David M. Hargrove offers a sweeping history of the federal courts and judges who have served Mississippi. Subtly and gracefully, he also tells a story about the state and the nation.
David M. Hargroveisdirector 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.
