Jackson, Miss. - Defendants who appear in this capital city’s dilapidated county courthouse often wait more than a year to have cases heard, a backlog that local officials blame on too few judges and a shortage of police and other resources.

Since January, though, some individuals charged under the same statutes have gotten their version of justice in a spacious new court nearby, a parallel operation created by the Republican-run legislature. It has a much smaller caseload, no delays and new computers.

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