THE GOVERNMENTAL PERSPECTIVE 487 placed in the central district and one county—Scott—was omitted altogether in the redistricting of 1839. The Civil War brought with it many disturbances more serious than that to the Mississippi judiciary, and it resulted in the work of the High Court of Errors and Appeals slowing to a crawl. The court decided fifteen cases in 1861, none in 1862, two in 1863, two in 1864, and none in 1865. With the end of the Civil War and the Union victory came the end of the Mississippi state government. All state officeholders vacated their offices. President Andrew Johnson installed William L. Sharkey, the former presiding judge of the High Court of Errors and Appeals, as the provisional governor. Pursuant to President Johnson’s plans for reconstruction, after 10 percent of Mississippi voters took an oath of allegiance to the United States, the citizens could convene a constitutional convention. After a sufficient number of oaths were made a convention was held. The constitutional convention held in 1865 essentially readopted the Constitution of 1832. The new state government would prove to be short- lived. In the remaining months of 1865 and until the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which stripped away any remaining vestige of state government control, Mississippi’s state courts and highest court clashed with the occupying Union forces. The three judges who served on the high court all resigned in protest of the Reconstruction Act in 1867, but only after issuing an opinion that upheld an act of Congress extending all rights enjoyed by white citizens to the freed, former slaves. The 1867 Act placed all civil authority in the hands of the American military, and General A.C. Gillem appointed three new members of the high court. The new court found itself confronted with several difficult issues in the years immediately following the war. For example, the court had to decide whether the acts of the secessionist government of the war years had any legal effect. The illegality of the secession had been established, in effect, by the result of the war. Arguably, therefore, none of the acts of the Mississippi government while it stood in rebellion against the Union had any legitimacy. The case of Hill v. Boyd addressed that issue, and the High Court of Errors and Appeals issued an opinion—ironically authored by a judge who had favored succession—that held that Mississippi had never in fact left the Union. If, the opinion reasoned, the Union had waged war to keep Mississippi in the Union, as some Union sources argued, then its successful conclusion meant the Union achieved its goal and Mississippi had never left the Union. The opinion thus found the acts of the government during the war years to be valid. However, a later court overruled the Hill result and held the opposite. With Reconstruction, came the end of the High Court of YEA OR NAY VOTES – The House of Representatives and the Senate voice vote allows the presiding officer to determine the majority’s wishes. Roll call voting is another way to vote where each member of the chamber will either cast a vocal vote or record it electronically. OFFICERS – The president and presiding officer of the Senate is the lieutenant governor and the second-in-command is the president pro tempore. The speaker of the house is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives and is elected to the position by fellow House members. The second-ranking representative is the speaker pro tempore and presides in the absence of the Speaker. ACCOUNTABILITY – The secretary of state publishes journals that contain all Senate and House proceedings. According to the Mississippi Constitution, the chamber doors stay open at all times “except in cases which may require secrecy.” PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE