Michael Lefton v. The City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

This proceeding involves the access of litigants to the federal courts. Over forty defendants in criminal prosecutions in a state court of Mississippi seek to remove the causes into the United States District Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1446. The clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, acting under "local court rules, refuses to accept for filing the single removal petition covering all 40-odd state prosecutions, and the defendants seek a mandamus against the judge of the District Court to require that such filing be…