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Attorneys for the state of Mississippi presented arguments on Thursday to dismiss a federal lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against the city of Jackson by withholding $36 million in pandemic recovery funds meant for infrastructure improvements.
On behalf of two Jackson residents and the city’s NAACP chapter, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed the complaint last summer. The lawsuit, which is asking the court to order the release of the funds to the city, focuses on extra barriers state lawmakers enacted for Jackson to access matching funds from the American Rescue Plan Act…