The courthouse housed in the building was the setting of many notable cases, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. On May 31, 1961, James Meredith filed a lawsuit in the Meridian court against the University of Mississippi, and the initial trial was held in the courthouse. The suit would eventually go to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Meredith's favor. The Meridian courthouse was also the site of the "United States v. Price" case, in which 19 men were charged with the murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman in October 1967. The trial resulted in the conviction of 7 people and was the first time an all-white jury in Mississippi convicted a white person on civil rights charges.