Apparently, not even the Mississippi Supreme Court has the authority to make state lawmakers treat one another with respect.

That was the takeaway from Thursday’s high court ruling that the court had no state constitutional authority over the Legislature’s procedural matters.

We do not doubt the court’s decision, but we had hoped arguments in the matter would have been allowed to be heard.

Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, filed the lawsuit in question after last year’s unprecedented political party rancor in Jackson.

The lawsuit stemmed from Republicans’ decision to use a rapidly talking computer voice to “read” bills aloud after Democrats opted to force the bills be read aloud after feeling like they were being ignored by the controlling Republicans.

The voice was high pitched and fast causing many lawmakers to refer to it as a “demon chipmunk.”

Both moves — forcing all bills to be read aloud and the decision to use the artificial, rapid voice to do so — were juvenile.

It was fifth-grade antics played out in the state’s highest, most prestigious chamber of government.

Of course the matter that started the whole dispute — Republican lawmakers simply choosing not to show respect for their political foes — was equally as juvenile.

While we regret the court sidestepped the issue, we trust that the matter may have caused this year’s Legislature to be more civil, which certainly was not difficult after last year’s spitball fight.