by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-06-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/22/judicial-candidate-violates-rules-conduct-committee-says/721093002/
A Jackson attorney running for the state Court of Appeals is in violation of the Judicial Code of Conduct by not attending a two-hour course on campaign practices, finance and ethics, a special committee on judicial elections says.
Attorney Brad Clanton is one of five candidates running for District 4, Position 2 in the southwest-south central part of Mississippi.
The Special Committee on Judicial Election Campaign Intervention said in a statement that it offered campaign seminars on May 18 and May 25. Also, the committee allowed candidates who were not able to attend either of these seminars an opportunity to view a video recording of the seminar to comply with this requirement.
Clanton didn't attend either scheduled seminar, the committee said. He was then contacted by Darlene Ballard, executive director of the Commission on Judicial Performance, and given an opportunity to appear and watch the video recording of the seminar.
Clanton made an appointment to come to the commission's ofice June 20 to watch the video recording but didn't show up.
Ballard said Thursday that she will continue to try to get Clanton to come in and view the seminar video.
Clanton said in an email message Friday that he has been sick and plans to make up the seminar.
Judicial Canon 5F, requiring judicial candidates to attend or view the seminar, applies to judicial candidates for the state Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Chancery Court, Circuit Court and County Court. Candidates without opposition are exempt from attending the course.
The rule says the candidates and their election committee chairpersons, or the chairpersons' designees, shall complete the seminar within 20 days after the qualifying date for candidates in the election.
Within 10 days of completing the course, candidates then shall certify to the committee that they have completed the course and understand fully the requirements of Mississippi law and the Code of Judicial Conduct concerning campaign practices for judicial office.
The Special Committee on Judicial Election Campaign Intervention convenes during years when there are judicial elections. It is designed to respond swiftly to allegations of judicial election campaign misconduct.
The five members appointed to the committee this year are Court of Appeals Presiding Judge T. Kenneth Griffis, Chancery Judge Ronald Doleac of Hattiesburg and attorneys Kimberly Campbell of Jackson, Thomas A. Wicker of Tupelo and Everett T. Sanders of Natchez.
The Supreme Court created the committee in a 2002 revision to the Code of Judicial Conduct. Canon 5 F says the committee's responsibility "shall be to issue advisory opinions and to deal expeditiously with allegations of ethical misconduct in campaigns for judicial office....The objective of the Special Committee shall be to alleviate unethical and unfair campaign practices in judicial elections...."
However, it doesn't appear the committee has any enforcement power and cannot force Clanton to take the seminar.
The committee can offer advisory opinions and investigate complaints of judicial campaign conduct. If it finds evidence of some campaigning impropriety, it may issue a confidential cease-and-desist request to the candidate.
If a cease-and-desist request is disregarded or if unethical or unfair campaign practices continue, the Special Committee may issue a public statement about violations. If campaign conduct appears to violate an election law or a canon of the Code of Judicial Conduct, the matter will be turned over to the Commission on Judicial Performance, according to the state Supreme Court website.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-06-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/22/mississippi-governor-keep-sending-troops-border-patrol-duty/725443002/
The head of the American Academy of Pediatrics says ending immigrant family separation "is a good place to start". But Dr. Colleen Kraft is also concerned for the impact separation could have on the overall health of immigrant children. (June 21) AP
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant vows to keep National Guard troops at the U.S. border despite black state lawmakers asking him to recall the troops and not to deploy additional ones.
"We, the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, urge you to recall all Mississippi National Guard troops from the southern border of the United States until the policy of family separation has ended. We also urged you to not deploy additional troops for this cause," wrote Rep. Sonya Williams Barnes, chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus.
While President Trump's executive order may temporarily pause the separation of families, the Black Caucus urged him to stand with governors across the country who, in a bipartisan manner, refuse to support the Trump administration immigration policy of separating children.
"We pray that you agree and that Mississippi will stand on the right side of history," Barnes said in the letter hand-delivered to the governor's office on Wednesday.
But Bryant referred Friday to the Black Caucus' letter as political grandstanding.
"I am proud of the men and women of the Mississippi National Guard who are helping to secure our border," Bryant said in a statement. "Their critical mission will continue and will not be subject to political grandstanding."
Several governors, both Democrats and Republicans, have indicated they won't send troops to the Mexican border.
Last month, 25 members of the Mississippi National Guards based out of Tupelo were sent to take part in security operations along the U.S. border with Mexico.
The group was said to be deploying for three weeks as a part of Operation Guardian Support, a joint security operation along the Southwest border. Three Mississippi UH-72 Lakota helicopters were to provide aerial surveillance support to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Mississippi National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Christian Patterson said Friday the same 25 soldiers are at the border. He said their orders to serve were extended until around the end of September.
Bryant has said he supports the Trump administration zero tolerance policy for immigrants illegally crossing into the United States.
The policy set off a firestorm of controversy when it led to children being separated from their parents.
Trump signed the executive order Wednesday ending the policy of separating children from their parents, but a question remains as to what will happen to children and parents already separated.
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-06-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/22/primary-runoff-elections-congress-tuesday/710891002/
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said voters can find out if they are registered and update their home addresses on the state's Y'All Vote website. Lici Beveridge/Hattiesburg American
Mississippi voters will decide two congressional primary runoffs on Tuesday.
Democrats state Rep. David Baria of Bay St. Louis and California-native venture capitalist Howard Sherman will face off for a U.S. Senate nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Roger Wicker.
Republicans Michael Guest, a district attorney, and business consultant Whit Hughes are vying for the open 3rd District U.S. House seat.
Sherman-Baria
Sherman, 63, squeezed out the lead in the June 5 primary against Baria, Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, and three other long-shot candidates. Sherman received nearly 32 percent of the vote to Baria's 31 percent and Scott's 24 percent.
The winner of the runoff will face Wicker in November.
Sherman — who loaned $650,000 to his own campaign and raised nearly $200,000 — has spent considerably more money campaigning than Baria.
Baria, 55, has raised nearly $300,000 without a personal loan as of June 6, according to data available on the Federal Election Commission website.
After the primary, Scott endorsed Sherman, saying the Democratic Party "said that we needed a nominee who could raise money. Howard Sherman can raise the money needed to defeat Roger Wicker in the fall."
Hollywood A-listers Robert De Niro and Alec Baldwin are among those who've hosted a fundraiser for Sherman, who is married to Meridiannative and Emmy-award winning actress Sela Ward.
Scott also said she endorsed Sherman for his electability — he received the most votes in the primary — and for his support of Medicaid expansion and Social Security.
Baria also supports these programs.
Sherman and Ward, who own a 500-acre farm in Meridian, helped save Weidmann's restaurant, build the Riley Center and restore the Opera House and founded Hope Village group home for foster children — all in Ward's hometown. Meridian Mayor Percy Bland endorsed Sherman.
But Baria picked up the endorsement of three Democrats from Lauderdale County, where Meridian is located: Weston Lindemann, John Flowers and Cornelius Parks, from the Lauderdale County Democratic Party Executive Committee.
Sherman is running on a platform of bringing public-private partnerships to Mississippi, particularly in the health care sector, and billed himself in this race as a "political outsider." "Outsider" could as easily refer to the fact that he voted in Mississippi for the first time in the Democratic primary three weeks ago.
"Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi in 36 years. I'm not a career politician, and I'm bringing new ideas and fresh thinking to take our state and our party forward," Sherman said in a statement early on in the campaign.
Baria is running on a platform of bolstering consumer protections, tax reform in favor of working families, equal pay, strengthening the Affordable Care Act and prioritizing infrastructure.
Sherman declined an invitation from Baria to debate.
Sherman has caught flak for his donations to Republican candidates, including $5,000 to his would-be opponent Wicker. Sherman did recently donate nearly $500 to one of the state's most prominent Democrats, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson from Bolton, but the sitting congressman said he is returning the donation.
"I didn't solicit it, first. And I'm supporting somebody else in the race and it really wouldn't have, in my mind, looked real good to take a contribution from someone you're not supporting," Thompson told the Clarion Ledger. "He (Baria) has never pushed back on being a Democrat."
Thompson recorded radio spots to play throughout his district, including the Delta, in support of Baria. Baria has also been endorsed by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, of which Scott is a member.
Baria, minority leader in the House, is a trial lawyer who has spent his career representing people against large companies.
"He's represented some people in cases that I'm familiar with and his work in the Legislature, as it relates to education and health care, is something that I feel near and dear to and for that I'm supportive of him," Thompson said.
Low voter turnout on Tuesday is generally expected, so both candidates are working to get-out-the-vote while attempting to court those who voted for Scott. Scott had heavy support from around her home in the Pine Belt region.
Hollywood to Hospitality State: How Sela Ward's husband became a U.S. Senate candidate
Michael Guest, left, and Whit Hughes (Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
Guest-Hughes
In a crowded field of six Republican candidates and relatively low voter turnout, neither Guest nor Hughes earned 50 percent of the vote in the June 6 GOP primary.
Guest secured 28,701 votes — or 44.86 percent — to Hughes' 14,229 votes, netting him 22.24 percent of the total vote.
Guest, 48, serves as district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties. He was elected to the position in 2008, after 12 years as an assistant district attorney. In addition to his position as DA, Guest is president of the Foundation for Rankin County Public Schools and serves on the board of the state and central Mississippi Crime Stoppers.
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bryant endorsed Guest, saying, "President Trump will make America great again, and Michael will be part of that team."
Hughes, 42, of Madison, was a member of one of Mississippi State University's standout basketball teams and served as former Gov. Haley Barbour's finance chairman in his 2003 gubernatorial campaign. He has since served as deputy director of the Mississippi Development Authority, then created his own business and development consulting firm.
The seat is being vacated by longtime Republican Rep. Gregg Harper who is not seeking re-election. While Harper has not publicly endorsed Guest, he did donate to Guest's campaign. Many of Harper's top campaign aides also joined Guest's team.
Hughes has challenged Guest to two debates in an effort to jump-start conversation around the runoff. The Guest campaign declined the invitation, noting Guest has participated in 12 debates and forums already during the course of the campaign.
Both candidates have run a clean campaign with neither running negative ads against the other. The two largely agree on federal spending and infrastructure. However, Hughes has expressed concerns over President Donald Trump's tariffs and children being separated at the border while Guest has been more cautious in his answers, saying he supported Trump.
The winner of Tuesday's runoff will face Democratic state Rep. Michael "Big Country" Evans of Preston in the general election in November. The district is heavily Republican and most political observers expect the Guest-Hughes runoff to decide the race.
A special election will appear on the same ticket in November to replace former longtime U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran following his resignation in April due to health concerns.
That election is a jungle primary including Cochran's temporary replacement Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, and Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. House representative and secretary of agriculture in the Clinton administration.
by: David Goodman
date: 2018-06-20
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/21/mississippi-parkland-legacy-youth-activism/721422002/
President Barack Obama gave the highest civilian honor Monday to three slain civil rights activists whose work with others 50 years ago helped pave the way for him to become the nation's first African-American president.
My older brother, Andrew Goodman, was murdered 54 years ago Thursday. Members of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi took his life, along with the lives of James Chaney and Michael Schwerner. The KKK’s intention was to maintain and uphold their racist power structure. They carefully preserved their old way of life through violence and intimidation designed to keep African-American voters out of the electoral system.
The black organizers and 1,000 young volunteers who joined Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, including my brother, worked to protect the self-evident truth that all people are created equal. By leaving their homes, traveling across the country, and risking their lives to help African Americans register to vote, these young people showed their devotion to preserving the ideals of our democracy. They believed in the right of every American to vote. The involvement of the Freedom Summer participants, those who marched from Selma to Montgomery, and the deaths of so many, including Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner, paved the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Despite the leadership of student activists and protesters during the 1960s, many young people since then have begun to feel their voices do not matter. Even as the youth share of the electorate approaches the total of eligible Baby Boomer voters, youth remain the least likely demographic to vote. Without the reliable participation of young voters, discriminatory and dangerous practices have reemerged.
That is all about to change.
Today’s youth will not fall into the trap of thinking things must remain how they always have been. Just like the violent and egregious civil rights violations in Mississippi that spurred Andrew and so many others to take action, the school shooting in Parkland, Florida acts as today’s impetus to shake youth out of complacency.
The organizers of the #NeverAgain movement have realized that too many elected officials create policies based on their own selfish interests. Like my brother’s peers who led sit-ins, boycotts, and protest marches, today’s students see some legislators financially benefitting from policies that cost youth their lives.
On June 15, 2018, just 6 days before the anniversary of my brother’s death, the students from Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School began a two-month summer tour to register voters in 20 states. On this “Road to Change” tour, they plan to help young people transform their passion into action through the ballot box.
Some opponents of student voting claim they do not deserve to vote until they have a permanent stake in society. They claim that their age and lack of experience prevent them from making sound decisions. These people are wrong. It is precisely these characteristics that make young people most fit to intervene and protect democracy. Without past allegiance to the established order, they see clearly enough to protect the principles our constitution holds dear.
The politicians looking to protect their own power remain devoted to preventing young voters from participating in elections. Just last week, the Supreme Court issued a decision upholding Ohio’s practice of purging individuals who miss federal elections from the voter rolls. Ohio’s purging practice has intentional design to discriminate against minorities, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and young people. This modern-day tactic is a throwback to the 1960s, when the white power structure denied certain groups the right to vote.
Ohio is far from the only state with demonstrated efforts to prevent youth voices from influencing elections. Florida Secretary of State, Kenneth Detzner has interpreted the state’s early-voting law to prohibit early-polling sites on state university property. The Andrew Goodman Foundation has joined other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Secretary Detzner. We aim to protect the rights of students and all American citizens to enjoy equal access to the electoral process.
David Goodman (Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
Today’s youth will rise to modern-day challenges by standing up against constitutional threats, just as my brother Andrew and his fellow civil rights workers did. They will defend the values of our democracy to protect themselves and others from oppression. The Andrew Goodman Foundation is prepared to help clear the way for young people to make change.
David Goodman is the brother of slain civil rights activist Andrew Goodman and president of The Andrew Goodman Foundation.
by: Emily Wagster Pettus
date: 2018-06-17
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/18/michael-guest-whit-hughes-runoff-cautious-over-trump-criticism/708162002/
JACKSON — Two candidates in a Republican primary runoff for a congressional race in central Mississippi agree on many big issues, including their overall support for President Donald Trump. Michael Guest and Whit Hughes are both cautious in any criticism of the man in the White House.
"His use of social media would be something I would disagree with the president on. I do support his policies," Guest, the district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties, said during an interview last week in Pearl.
During his own campaign event in Natchez, Hughes expressed concern that international trade disputes would affect Mississippi agriculture.
"If you're not careful with tariffs, you can get our farmers and our growers and our producers and our small business owners sideways in the marketplace," Hughes said.
Trump received about 58 percent of the vote in Mississippi in 2016, and many top Republicans in the state — including Gov. Phil Bryant — remain avid supporters.
Guest and Hughes emerged from a field of six candidates in the June 5 Republican primary in the 3rd Congressional District, where GOP Rep. Gregg Harper didn't seek re-election. Guest, who is the district attorney in Madison and Rankin counties, received 45 percent of the vote. Hughes, a former deputy director at the state economic development agency, received 22 percent.
The winner of the June 26 runoff will advance to the Nov. 6 general election and face Democratic state Rep. Michael Ted Evans of Preston and the Reform Party's Michael Holland of Hattiesburg.
Both Guest and Hughes praise the Trump administration for reducing federal regulations.
Both say they want to cut federal spending. Guest suggests reducing or eliminating federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and public broadcasting.
"I currently have hundreds of TV stations that I get through my local cable package — everything from music channels to sports channels to news channels," Guest said.
Hughes suggests reducing foreign aid but says the U.S should continue to provide aid to Israel.
Foreign aid was about 1.3 percent of the U.S. budget in 2015, according to the Council on Foreign Relations . Trump has proposed reducing foreign aid and eliminating federal funding for public broadcasting and the arts, which make up even smaller portions of the budget.
Hughes said it's wrong that the federal debt has grown by trillions of dollars and that Congress has been passing 2,200-page spending bills with little debate.
"The American people deserve better than that," Hughes said.
Hughes and Guest both say they want tighter security on the U.S.-Mexico border, an idea Trump has pushed since launching his presidential campaign.
Guest said he wants a border fence because he believes that even if more law enforcement agents are hired to guard the border, they could later be transferred.
"A new administration comes in, border security is no longer a priority for that administration. Those agents could be reassigned to different parts of the country or different divisions," Guest said. "So, I do believe it is important that we create some sort of physical barrier on our southwest border."
Hughes said he wants a fence in places where it would work and wants to use technology or other methods to beef up security in places where it would be difficult to build a fence.
"We have to keep the bad guys out and make sure the people that are coming to our country are doing it legally," Hughes said. "From that standpoint, where a wall makes sense, I do believe we need a wall."
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-06-17
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/18/mhp-pays-mississippi-state-kaelin-kersh-crash/710462002/
STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi Highway Patrol is paying $500,000 in a lawsuit over a fatal wreck that happened when a state trooper was driving fast on a dark highway without his blue lights flashing.
The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. on May 7, 2017, killing Kaelin Kersh, 22, a Mississippi State University track athlete who had just graduated. She was a front-seat passenger in a Toyota Corolla that was struck by a patrol car on Highway 182 near Starkville.
A lawsuit was filed by Kersh's survivors and two women who were in a car with her when it was struck by a patrol car. The suit says the trooper, Kyle Lee, was speeding.
The driver of the Corolla, Noel Collier, 21, of Madison, and another passenger, Tanequa Alexander, 22, of Ridgeland, were hospitalized with injuries. They were also Mississippi State University students at the time, the school said.
Circuit Judge Lee Coleman ordered the Highway Patrol to put the $500,000 into a court account, the Starkville Daily News reported. The money was paid June 6 and will be divided among those who filed suit. The state tort claims act says $500,000 is the maximum amount a government entity would have to pay in a lawsuit.
"The state bowed out and tendered to the tort limit," Trent Walker, an attorney representing the Kersh estate, told the Commercial Dispatch. "Now the next step will be to figure out who gets how much."
Walker said the plaintiffs will try to agree on how to divide the money.
Mississippi State University track star Kaelin Kersh graduated on May 5, 2017, celebrating with her mother, Toni.
Shortly after the wreck, a Highway Patrol spokesman said the trooper was eastbound on Highway 182 when the Toyota Corolla entered the highway. The spokesman, Master Sgt. Criss Turnipseed, said the trooper — whose name was not released at the time — was on the way to verify a report of another vehicle leaving the highway when the crash happened.
There's dispute about how fast Lee was driving when the crash occurred. Walker previously told the Commercial Dispatch that the accident report said Lee was traveling 68 mph in a 45 mph zone. However, Walker dash camera footage from Lee's patrol car showed the trooper was going 100 mph when the crash happened.
Mississippi legislators this year passed, and Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed, House Bill 1202, which requires emergency responders to turn on flashing lights when going more than 30 mph faster than the speed limit. It is called the Kaelin Kersh Act, and it becomes law July 1.
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-06-17
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/18/mississippi-flag-burns-governor-mansion-phil-bryant/710680002/
While chanting "no more hate in our state," members of the Poor People's Campaign burned a Mississippi flag and a Confederate battle flag outside the governor's mansion on Monday. Wochit
Poor People's Campaign organizers burned the Mississippi state flag outside the Governor's Mansion Monday afternoon.
Local organizer Valencia Robinson wrapped a Confederate flag around her neck while yelling "I can't breathe" — a nod to Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died in 2014 after a New York City police officer put him in a choke hold on a city sidewalk.
"This flag is a symbol of hatred in the state of Mississippi," she said.
One of the demonstrators crafted the Confederate battle emblem for the occasion. Robinson held the flag from a thin pole while another organizer took a blue long-reach butane lighter, held it to the flag, and set it ablaze. The Governor's Mansion was visible through the flame.
Another organizer held the Mississippi state flag, which also contains the Confederate battle emblem, into the flame, before the pile of cloth fell to the concrete. It smoldered while protesters of different ages and races laughed, cheered, and chanted, "No hate in our state."
The Poor People's Campaign gathered Monday, for the sixth week in a row, to protest white supremacy and racial inequity. The nation-wide demonstration is modeled after the 1968 anti-poverty campaign of the same name organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
While Poor People's Campaign demonstrations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and other states in recent weeks led to arrests, gatherings in Mississippi — the poorest state with one of the toughest racial pasts — have remained relatively tame.
The Monday demonstration attracted no counter-protesters, but one construction worker across the street did express dismay. "You're going to light it on fire?" he asked.
"This is an unfortunate instance of a group exercising their rights in a completely disrespectful and unproductive manner," Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement after the demonstration. "There are better ways to bring attention to one's opinions than burning the state of Mississippi flag on a public street corner."
Mississippi has the highest rate of poverty — over 20 percent total and 34 percent of children — and lowest median household income — less than $42,000 — of any state.
This disproportionately affects African-American children in the state, almost half of whom live in poverty compared to 17 percent of white children.
"We have been organizing. We have been rallying. We have been doing civil disobedience because we know that a change is going to come," said Jackson resident and a Poor People's Campaign national organizer Danielle Holmes. "Our work is not in vain here. This is the dawn of a new day. We send word to the governor. To the policy makers. No more. We will not be silenced anymore."
Mississippi also has the lowest life expectancy and highest rate of infant mortality in the nation. Mississippi leaders chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to those living below 138 percent of the poverty line, many of whom fall into a health insurance coverage gap.
Mississippi also approved the lowest number of new applications — just 1.42 percent — for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families public assistance program in 2016. While the state's caseload for TANF decreased 48 percent between 2006 and 2015, the rate of poverty remained unchanged, hovering around 21 percent.
At the rally before the flag burning, demonstrators railed against capitalism for, they said, its role in perpetuating white supremacy.
Ernest Whitfield, a worker at the Nissan plant in Canton and Poor People's Campaign organizer, participated Monday. Whitfield helped lead the fight for worker representation inside the manufacturing plant last summer, but the workers voted not to unionize.
He called big business a "beast."
"They want to keep profits high and labor costs minuscule. That's what we're fighting, that ideology that in Mississippi, you can marginalize people because it's Mississippi," Whitfield said. "The Mississippi citizen needs to pay attention that the dollars that are assisting these companies to come here are coming out of your pocket. One, as just a general citizen, what benefits are you getting? Two, if you're a citizen that works for these companies, what benefits are you getting? You have to be mindful that you're not being taken advantage of.
"It's fantastic that the corporations move here. It's great, but you can't come with the attitude that we're going to minimize benefits to the people because it's Mississippi," Whitfield said.
The demonstration contained little regarding specific legislation protesters would like to see enacted to combat persistent poverty across the state. One speaker criticized the state's efforts to introduce privatization in education. Organizers also said they support long-debated policies such as expanding Medicaid and fully funding public schools.
But first, locals said they start with a call to remove the Confederate battle emblem — which Holmes said is "not a flag that preserves heritage" — from the state flag.
Mississippi Rising Coalition, a non-profit pushing to replace the flag, also joined in protest Monday.
"There's your flag, Phil," Mississippi Rising Coalition founder Lea Campbell yelled through the mansion fence, motioning over the burning pile.
by:
date: 2018-06-18
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/06/18/protesters-burn-mississippi-state-flag-confederate-flag/36156563/
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-06-18
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/19/fired-hinds-county-assistant-public-defender-sues-over-job-loss/709851002/
A former Hinds County assistant public defender fired in May after qualifying to run for county judge has filed a federal lawsuit against her boss.
Bridgette Marie Morgan says her rights were violated by the county and Public Defender Michele Purvis Harris.
Morgan filed her lawsuit in federal court in Jackson last week.
Harris responded Tuesday: “I recognize that when you are an unknown running for office you do whatever you can to get free publicity. But more importantly, having practiced law for over thirty years I know that cases are tried in a courtroom and evidence is only presented from the witness stand after you have been sworn to tell the truth. I welcome and look forward to my day in court so that the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth can be told.”
Morgan had worked as assistant public defender from Oct. 14,2015, until she was fired May 11, the same day she qualified to run for the Hinds County Court judge position held by incumbent Melvin Priester Sr.
Morgan said she was called into a meeting with Harris and handed a termination notice, effective immediately.
"Plaintiff asked Ms. Harris to provide an explanation as to why she was being terminated, and Ms. Harris' reply was, 'Well because you serve at the will and pleasure of the public defender. So I really don't have to give you a reason,'" according to Morgan's lawsuit.
Morgan said Purvis then told her she was 'self-centered, selfish, deceitful and disrespectful.'
After being rebuffed with no explanation and then a vague explanation, Morgan said she asked Harris if her firing was due to her running for judge. She said Harris replied: "I would say that is the straw that broke the camel's back."
When contacted in May, Harris said it was a personnel matter and wouldn't go into details about why Morgan was no longer employed with her office. She confirmed that Morgan was no longer employed with her office as of May 11.
Morgan was paid about $60,000 a year. In her role as a public defender. She provided representation to indigent defendants in criminal cases. Many preliminary hearings are conducted in County Court.
Morgan's lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
More: Did assistant public defender lose job for qualifying to run for Hinds County judge?
More: Court case tries to answer whether British citizens' personal data ended up in Mississippi
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-18
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/19/mississippi-officer-allegedly-submits-600-hours-overtime-year/715803002/
A former Greenwood police officer has been indicted after an investigation led to evidence that she had allegedly submitted over 600 fraudulent hours in one year.
Erica Scott, 44, turned herself in Monday on a two-count indictment charging her with defrauding the city by submitting false time sheets, according to Attorney General Jim Hood.
Scott was indicted on one count of embezzlement and one count of fraudulent statements, which are both felonies. The indictment states Scott submitted more than 600 hours on her time sheets in 2016 that she did not work, resulting in a fraudulent gain of more than $10,000.
If convicted, Scott faces up to 25 years in jail—20 years on the embezzlement charge and five years on the fraudulent statements charge. A charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Her arraignment is set for June 28 at 8:30 a.m. in Leflore County Circuit Court.
This case was investigated by the State Auditor’s Office as well as Attorney General Investigator Kenneth West of the AG’s Public Integrity Division. It will be prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Stan Alexander.
by: Bracey Harris
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/20/how-gov-phil-bryant-wants-tackle-school-safety/716141002/
Ridgeland High School was built with the Pearl and Columbine shootings in mind, said Madison County Schools Superintendent Ronnie McGehee. On Tuesday, Mississippi's Senate Judiciary Committee pushed forward a bill to allow teachers and other staff members to carry concealed weapons. Sarah Warnock/Clarion Ledger
Gov. Phil Bryant has signed an executive order charging a group of law enforcement, educators and mental health professionals with developing school safety recommendations.
“Protecting our schoolchildren as part of our overall mission to ensure public safety will remain my highest priority,” Bryant wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
The creation of the Mississippi School Safety Task Force comes amid several high-profile school shootings, most notably the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Florida’s Majory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed the lives of 17 people, that have reignited a national discussion about the best measures to prevent gun violence from occurring in the nation’s schools.
In the aftermath, Bryant, a Republican, quickly aligned with President Donald Trump’s proposal to allow educators to carry weapons in the classroom.
While attending the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., media outlets reported that Bryant recounted the 1997 shooting at Pearl High School that ended in the deaths of two students.
Bryant referenced the actions of Joel Myrick, a then assistant principal at the high school, who is widely credited with halting the shooting.
During the assault, Myrick went to his car where he kept his Colt. 45 and ultimately detained the gunman Luke Woodham, a 16-year-old student at the school.
At the association meeting, Bryant said he envisioned a similar scenario occurring in classrooms where educators are allowed to carry.
In February, the New York Times reported that Myrick said he was against arming school staff.
During the 2018 legislative session, Bryant supported legislation that would have allowed districts to adopt firearms training policies for employees holding enhanced carry permits.
He acknowledged on social media, however, that the policy proposal was “not a one-size-fits-all solution.”
When the measure died, Bryant took to social media to express his frustration.
A list of members serving on the task force was not immediately available.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/20/mississippi-elected-officials-border-crisis-children-families/699236002/
Members of Congress Visit Texas to Look in to Family Separation Policy at Border Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times
As the situation on the border continues to draw national and international attention, the Clarion Ledger asked Mississippi's elected officials their thoughts on the matter, specifically on children being separated from their parents. These are their responses.
Story continues below gallery.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
“It is heartbreaking whenever children are separated from their families. This sad situation is a result of a border that is not secure and policies that have encouraged people to break our immigration laws. We need to enforce our borders and our laws while ensuring that everyone in U.S. custody is always treated fairly and humanely. I hope we can find a solution to this problem soon. There must be a better solution than a simple choice between ‘catch and release’ and separating children from their parents.”
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)
“The Trump administration has made no secret of its intention to secure our borders, and I support that goal. The implementation of the zero-tolerance policy and the separation of children from their parents is distressing to me as a mother, but we cannot lose sight that U.S. immigration laws must be enforced. This detention issue highlights that fact that both Democrats and Republicans need to get serious about properly securing our borders so that we can avoid these types of situations.”
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
(Thompson traveled to Brownsville, Texas, Monday)
“After visiting the south Texas border and seeing children separated from their parents firsthand, it is abundantly clear that President Trump must put an end to his family separation policy. As a member of Congress, a grandfather and an American, it is obvious to me that this horrific policy goes against everything our country and the American people stand for. Families belong together, and babies and children should never be used as political pawns in the immigration debate.
“It is also clear that this policy was not well thought out and has led to chaos and crowding in facilities along the border. Poor government coordination has led to confusion and families not knowing where their loved ones are or if they are safe. These problems will only escalate if President Trump’s policy continues.
“Attempting to use Scripture to defend the indefensible — needlessly breaking up families — is not compatible with the teachings of any church I know. I call on President Trump to rescind his terrible policy and ensure that parents and children are together as their immigration proceedings move forward.”
U.S. border and immigration officers have separated about 2,000 migrant children from their parents at the Southern Border under the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy.
U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo
U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss (Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry/USA TODAY)
“Overall, it’s a terrible, sad situation that unfortunately has been created by years of liberal policies that lead illegal immigrants to believe they can freely stroll through our borders. There is no law requiring separation of families at the border. In April, Attorney General (Jeff) Sessions implemented a zero-tolerance policy that mandates that each person caught illegally crossing the U.S. border be criminally prosecuted. I stand firmly behind that policy.
“However, the separation we are seeing now is due to interpretation of previous legal agreements that state the government is required to release immigrant children without necessary delay. That (policy) was established by the Clinton administration and has been used as a loophole for years so that adults entering illegally might avoid prosecution. Now that our current attorney general is enforcing the prosecution of these adults, this separation of families is the adverse effect created by a past liberal policy. I believe there should be a solution to this problem, but not prosecuting these adults who illegally cross the border is out of the question. And I will not allow the Democrats and liberal media to use this issue to push amnesty or other unsafe immigration policies down the throats of the American people.“
U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper
U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper (Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY)
"The Trump Administration is making the enforcement of our immigration laws a priority. President Trump made immigration a priority in his campaign for presidency, and I believe that a substantial portion of voters support existing immigration laws. The goal is to guarantee border security for the American people, enforce the existing rule of law, and close loopholes that currently exist within our immigration system.
"I believe, along with many Americans, in the rule of law. While it is disheartening to see children separated from their families, it is a direct result of their parents' decision to break federal law and bring them across the border illegally.
"The vast majority of children that are crossing the border are unaccompanied minors, meaning that the majority of families crossing the border have already made the decision to self-separate.
"The Department of Homeland Security has taken custody of approximately 2,000 children who were brought across the border illegally by their parents. Federal law does not allow for children to be held in ICE detention centers with their parents. It would also be inhumane for us to release the children to fend for themselves or for the children to be sent back to their country without their families with them.
"This is a daunting problem that both Presidents Bush and Obama faced as well. I am opposed to illegal immigration, but we should be discussing a way to change the law so that these families with young children won't be separated even in a zero-tolerance environment."
Gov. Phil Bryant
Gov. Phil Bryant (Photo: Joe Ellis/For the Clarion Ledger)
"Like I shared with President Trump at the White House recently, America is a nation of laws, and I am grateful his administration is enforcing them. Every state must make similar decisions when removing a child who has been neglected or abused by their parents. It is an unfortunate reality of our justice system."
Congressional candidate Michael Guest
Michael Guest (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
“This is a complicated, complex issue that was not caused by President Trump, but he and his administration have inherited it and are working on a solution that is humane but also keeps in the forefront that we must do more to secure our border to stop illegal immigration.”
Congressional candidate Whit Hughes
Whit Hughes (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
"In America, we must enforce our laws, but at the same time not tear families apart. I support Sen. Ted Cruz’s new emergency, legislative plan that would immediately resolve this problem at the border. His plan keeps families together while they are awaiting their immigration hearing and at the same time provides our agents and officials on the border the resources they need to take control of this process. This much needed reform is a good first step to fixing the broken immigration system, and I hope Congress will act quickly on passing his language. I appreciate Sen. Cruz’s common sense response to this problem."
U.S. Senate candidate David Baria
David Baria (Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
"The situation unfolding at the border is heartbreaking. Who would not be moved by the images of children crying behind chain-link, cage fencing and disgusted that this could take place in the United States?
"I applaud groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics for taking a stand and have urged the Mississippi congressional delegation to immediately speak out against this immoral and un-American action.
"Many people are confused by this new policy and maintain that immigration law has required this action for years. While the letter of the law may not have changed, this new administration policy of separation only began when implemented by (White House Chief of Staff) John Kelly in April 2017 when he was secretary of Homeland Security. There are some who applaud the Trump Administration for this enforcement action. I am not among them. Americans should never use innocent children as leverage to address a policy matter — even one as important as fixing our broken immigration system.
"In the wake of this tragedy, legislation has been proposed that would bar border agents from taking children from their parents. If I were in the United States Senate today, I would sponsor and support such a bill."
U.S. Senate candidate Howard Sherman
Howard Sherman (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
"The manner in which kids at the border are being treated is disgraceful. When you rip a child away from its parents, you do irreparable harm to the child. We see this everyday at Hope Village. (Note: Hope Village is a group home for foster children founded by Sherman and his wife, Sela Ward.) Return the children to their parents and deal with the issue in a humane way.
"'Mr. Sessions, tear down the cages, and return these kids to their mothers and fathers.' Honor the heritage of America by treating people humanely, even when enforcing the law.
"Separating children from their parents to create negotiating leverage is nothing more than resorting to hostage taking. The U.S. has a stated policy of not negotiating with hostage takers. So why would we assume the role of the kidnapper if we reject similar actions when Americans are detained against their will? That is not who we are!
"Laws need to be enforced until they are changed. But policies need to be consistent with the soul and heart of America. We don’t treat our own children who are caught up in an unfortunate situation that way. Applying a different standard of 'humanity' to children who were not fortunate to be born here is cruel, unnecessary and is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
"Let’s stop treating the immigration issue like it is a political football. It is not a game. Our safety and security needs to be honored. Our borders need to be secure. And a policy for who is admitted to this country and under what circumstances should be something both political parties should be able to come together on. America has led the world in creating moral standards that other countries can look up to. The solution needs to be consistent with our heritage and playbook because in the current moment, we are looking up and not down at other countries that are humanely working to solve the problem of displaced individuals."
U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy
Mike Espy (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
“We must work to find common ground on immigration. The policy of separating children from their families is misguided. America can do better —we can have secure borders WITHOUT punishing innocent children. A senator must be strong enough to stand up to our president when he is mistaken and at the same time willing to seek common ground on these important issues. We can solve this issue with the right combination of common sense and compassion.”
U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel
Chris McDaniel (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
"I agree with President Trump.
"First, we need to expedite the process of determining whether an immigrant traveling with a child who is making an asylum claim meets the definition under the law. That will require hiring more judges to handle the caseload but would relieve the requirement of caring for thousands of minor children while their parents whose cases are pending are incarcerated.
"Moreover, anyone denied asylum should be deported with their children. We simply cannot absorb thousands more children without legal status which is happening under the current policy.
"President Trump is right. Illegal immigration is a serious matter. Our laws must be enforced."
Editor's note: When reached Monday and Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly's office said he could not immediately provide a comment.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/20/mississippi-mom-faces-murder-charge-childs-hot-car-death/717393002/
(Photo: Jackson Co. Adult Detention Cent)
No one knows how long 10-month-old Kash Barhonovich was left in the hot car parked outside a home in Vancleave, Miss. on June 14.
After a preliminary autopsy showed the boy's death was consistent with hyperthermia, an elevated body temperature, authorities charged Kash's mother, Elizabeth Marie Barhonovich, with second-degree murder. On Wednesday a judge set bond for Elizabeth Barhonovich, 28, at $50,000, the Sun Herald reported. Bond was revoked for Barhonovich in a separate case in Harrison County.
In September 2013, Barhonovich served time in the Harrison County jail following her conviction on a charge of second-offense DUI, according to jail records. In March 2015, she was back in the Harrison County jail after she was indicted for auto burglary. In January 2016, she served time after being convicted of auto burglary.
Barhonovich is the mother of other children.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/20/scripture-justify-border-policy-out-context-mississippi-pastor-says/718553002/
OKLAHOMA CITY — The United States' largest black denomination has convened its annual meeting in Oklahoma City, and its leaders are denouncing the separation of immigrant children from families at the border.
The Rev. Jerry Young, who is president of the National Baptist Convention USA, criticized U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' use of scripture to justify the policy, saying Wednesday that it was out of context. Young is the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss.
Rev. Young says up to 16,000 delegates are attending the 113th annual meeting, which runs through Friday. The denomination has about 7.5 million members.
National social issues also dominated the recent national meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. A series of sexual misconduct cases prompted the all-male leadership of the nation's largest Protestant denomination to seek forgiveness for the mistreatment of women and vow to combat it.
Dr. Jerry Young on Immigration
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by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/20/starkville-teen-arrested-kidnapping-charges/719140002/
(Photo: Starkville Police Department)
A Starkville 14-year-old has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals Task Force on two counts of kidnapping, officials said.
Starkville Police Department posted on their Facebook page that they and the task force arrested Jaquiores Boyd on two kidnapping warrants Tuesday.
Authorities say there was an incident at Brooksville Garden Apartments on Everglade Avenue on Monday in which Boyd held two people at gunpoint against their wills.
No further details have yet been released.
Anyone with any information into this incident is asked to contact the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131 or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151.
by: Geoff Pender
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/20/gov-phil-bryant-makes-endorsement-u-s-house-gop-runoff/718672002/
Gov. Phil Bryant has made an eleventh-hour endorsement of Republican Michael Guest in his Tuesday GOP primary runoff against Whit Hughes for the U.S. House 3rd District seat.
"It is important that we keep a strong leader in the Third District in the U.S. Congress," Bryant said in a statement posted on the Guest campaign website. "That's why I am supporting Michael Guest. President Trump will make America great again, and Michael will be part of that team."
Hughes in response reiterated his call for Guest to debate him, which Guest has refused since the first June 5 primary vote pushed the race to a runoff.
It's somewhat unusual for a sitting governor to make an endorsement in a primary with no incumbent. Bryant did not make an endorsement before the first primary vote June 5, when Guest was one of six Republicans vying for the seat. Guest led with 45 percent of the vote, with Hughes second at 22 percent. Because no one received more than 50 percent, the race was forced into a runoff.
The winner of Tuesday's runoff will face Democratic state Rep. Michael Evans in November. But the seat is expected to remain Republican with Tuesday's runoff essentially picking the winner.
The race is to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, who decided not to seek another term.
More: Mississippi U.S. House election: Whit Hughes
Hughes in a statement Wednesday said voters will have a choice "between a businessman and a career politician." Hughes is a health care executive who formerly worked for the state's economic development agency and worked on former Gov. Haley Barbour's campaign.
"... Mississippians in the Third District deserve a debate about issues such as job creation, protecting out constitutional rights, stopping illegal immigration and changing the way we are spending and borrowing money in Washington, D.C.," Hughes said.
Guest, who is district attorney for Rankin and Madison counties, has responded that Hughes had ample time to debate him in at least a dozen forums and debates held before the first primary vote June 5.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/20/where-does-church-stand-family-separations-border-crisis/717349002/
President Donald Trump says he will be signing an executive order later Wednesday that would end the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the border illegally. (June 20) AP
In Washington, D.C., near the Capitol a sign outside a local Methodist church reads: "'I was a stranger and you ripped my child from me' Wait a second ..."
The numbers of migrant children being taken from their families at the U.S. border rose with each passing day prior to the order President Trump, facing an outcry over the policy, signed Wednesday ending the policy. As of Wednesday, a reported 2,342 children had been separated from their parents, placed in detention centers, tent cities and "tender age" shelters and scattered across the country in foster care.
Churches across the country have been speaking out.
Tuesday, the United Methodist Church brought church charges against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Methodist, for child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination and dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church. Church charges are not legal charges in a court of law but "demand some degree of accountably."
The president of the National Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest black congregation, also spoke out against Sessions and the policy. Jerry Young, president of the National Southern Baptist Convention and a Mississippi pastor, said Sessions' use of the Bible to support the separations was "simply not wrong but a misinterpretation of the Scriptures."
Wednesday, Pope Francis told Reuters he supported recent statements by U.S. Catholic bishops who called the separation of children from their parents “contrary to our Catholic values” and “immoral."
The Clarion Ledger spoke with local faith leaders for their thoughts on what is unfolding at the border. These are their responses.
Mississippi Baptist Convention
William Perkins (Photo: Brian Albert Broom, Clarion Ledger)
The Mississippi Baptist Convention meets in the fall for their annual meeting so an official statement or position has not yet been voted on or collectively discussed among the approximately 2,100 churches. However, many of the churches often participate in outreach or disaster relief efforts.
William Perkins, editor of The Baptist Record for the Mississippi Baptist Convention, said he could not give an official statement on behalf of the convention but said he has heard concerns from several of the church bodies.
"I do know, from my dealings with churches since this issue came up that there are a lot of brokenhearted Mississippi Baptists out there that want to get involved in reaching out to the children without getting involved in the politics of the situation," Perkins said.
"With the politics involved, a lot of folks have an aversion to getting involved with so I think the children have been harmed in the fact that this had been made into a political issue. There are no Mississippi Baptist Convention churches that have staked a position because of the politicians who would pick it up and twist it for their purposes.
"If it were purely a human rights issues, as it should be, I know that Mississippi Baptists, as well as many, many other groups would be pouring into this situation to help.
"If the politicians will remove themselves from making this a political issue, I think not only that this could be addressed it could be resolved. I'm speaking of the human rights issue, not what's going on in Congress, not what happened in past administrations, purely as the need of human beings to get some help from somewhere."
Catholic Diocese of Jackson
Bishop Joseph Kopacz (Photo: Elijah Baylis/The Clarion-Ledger)
Bishop Joseph Kopacz is not releasing his own statement but "is supporting and reiterating the statement released by the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during their general assembly last week," according to spokeswoman Maureen Smith.
The statement read, in part:
“At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life. The Attorney General’s recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection. These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country.
"This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence. Unless overturned, the decision will erode the capacity of asylum to save lives, particularly in cases that involve asylum seekers who are persecuted by private actors. We urge courts and policy makers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.
"Additionally, I join Bishop Joe Vásquez, chairman of USCCB’s Committee on Migration, in condemning the continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration’s zero tolerance policy. Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma.
"Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together. While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral.”
Jerry Young, president, National Baptist Convention
Rev. Jerry Young (Photo: Jeff Roberson, AP)
"I don't think there is any question that, those of us who are Christians, vehemently disagree with that policy, I don't think there's any question," the Rev. Jerry Young said on a video clip shared on his Facebook page.
"One of the things that we argue, as a church and as a denomination, Christ, whenever he saw people who were hurting, there was a word he used to describe Christ's attitude ... it says compassion. Christ is moved with compassion to move the misery that created the problem. I believe with all my heart that it is a travesty for our government to take that position (of using Scripture to justify separations).
"And may I also add, that when the Scripture says that God has ordained government he has ordained good government. That does not mean that he has ordained the person who's in the government.
"I want to be sure that it is absolutely clear that it ought not ever be a time when our government would use children as a political pawn because you want to achieve some other goal...
"I am diametrically opposed to that and I do not understand how any person who claims to be a Christian can declare it with their lips but deny it and don't demonstrate it with what they do in life."
John P. Perkins, Common Ground Covenant Church
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
"I believe that the crisis has been manufactured. ... anytime a political person running for office starts off their candidacy with an attack against the poor people, the most marginalized people in America, as they attempt to come to America and work, and say they bring over their worst and they're rapists as if those words are true, as if those words are concrete and finite, I believe we've got a justice issue on are hands.
"Those words are meant to desensitize for a day like today to keep those who have a moral conscience, the fabric and backbone within this country, from speaking out, and I really think it was to prepare us for a day like today.
"When the religious right are in cahoots, are in bed with such a side show, I think it's a shame, it's a travesty because those who are supposed to have a voice towards justice, a voice of righteousness, aren't able to speak out ... It's a sad day for America and it's also a sad day to know that this, almost like this wonderful reign in America is coming to an end because there is heightened sense of hypocrisy.
"The fruits and vegetables and things that we eat are coming form these people's hands. There are millions of dollars made off the back of immigrants yet we want to take the children away at the border."
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/20/behindthescenesjpd-episode-5-tell-truth/719395002/
One important message the Gun Crimes Interdiction Team is trying to impress on citizens: Just tell the truth. Just be honest. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Members of the Jackson Police Department Gun Crimes Interdiction Team regularly have to tell people to just be honest.
If it's drugs in your pants, whether you know someone, or whether your mom knows you're out past curfew, you'll get to go home a lot faster if you just tell the truth. In today's Behind the Scenes, the driver of a car admits to his mistakes. He's met both Detective Anthony Fox and Detective Tarik Williams before.
His friend, however, swears he's never dealt with police before and tells them that he doesn't have drugs in his pants.
See what happens next.
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-06-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/20/curtis-flowers-quickly-became-main-suspect-4-murders-why/719997002/
Jackson resident Cedric Willis discusses his life since being released from prison after serving 12 years for a crime he didn't commit. DNA evidence exonerated Willis 10 years ago. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Reporters for “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, have spent a year digging into the case of Curtis Flowers, who’s on death row. We found no direct evidence that Flowers murdered four people in 1996 at the Tardy Furniture in Winona, Mississippi.
But after reexamining all evidence in the case, we had one lingering question: How did Flowers become the main suspect just days after the murders? Why would investigators focus so much on Flowers based on so little evidence? In short, why Flowers? For the ninth episode of the 11-episode season, we decided to find out.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
by: Bill Goodykoontz
date: 2018-06-18
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/19/children-cages-made-media-finally-call-trump-out-lies/713419002/
Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker reversed a decision to send a state National Guard helicopter to the U.S.-Mexico border, citing what he called the administration's "cruel and inhumane" policy of separating children and parents. (June 19) AP
Maybe there is a tipping point.
It's certainly looking that way. Outrage over the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the border is clearly growing, and it looks as if the media are a driving force behind it. Social media, mainstream news media, you name it: Media outlets have finally gone all Howard Beale (no doubt because their audiences have). They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore.
It may have taken the sickening treatment of children to make that happen, but better late than never.
Let's hope.
Finally, we seem willing to call a lie a lie — sorry, a falsehood if you're The New York Times — something that's been carefully avoided since President Donald Trump first began running for office. Finally, we seem willing to look beyond he said, she said false equivalencies, the anchor that's been dragging down meaningful reporting for far too long.
More: Crisis on the border: Immigration attorney describes families being separated, torn apart
More: On Donald Trump: Yes, this is the president I want
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is rejecting criticism accusing her department of inhuman and immoral actions when it comes to separating immigrant children from their parents when they cross the U.S. border illegally. (June 18) AP
Finally, we're saying what everyone has known for so long: Trump is lying. A lot. And it's hurting the country.
But will this newfound courage matter?
Trump and various administration officials have, in the past few days, defended the family-separation policy, blamed it on Democrats, said it was impossible to overturn without congressional action, justified it with biblical passages and denied it existed. Debate has raged over whether to call the chain-link-ringed areas the kids are being kept in "cages." The Border Patrol has acknowledged the accuracy of the word but is "uncomfortable" with it.
Continue reading after gallery
It's probably pretty uncomfortable in those cages, too, no matter what you call them.
For many people, this is just too much.
And how do they know about it? The media, of course.
The breaking point?
Trump can put a stop to the separations himself; there's no need for Congress to act. He's told this kind of lie before, but this time, the media are willing to call him on it. Why? Perhaps it's because it involves children, and everyone is rightly horrified. Republicans, who have sometimes complained about Trump's policies but generally voted for them, complained. On Monday, ProPublica released an eight-minute tape of children crying while being separated from their parents and family members (listen above). Sen. John McCain tweeted that the policy is "an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded."
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas introduced legislation he says would help keep families together. Every living first lady has expressed concern; Laura Bush's opinion piece in The Washington Post put it best: “I live in a border state,” Bush wrote. “I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.”
And, of course, by Monday night, that one clarion signal of desperation rang: Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, treating the truth like a piñata and their Fox News shows like a stick, doled out blame everywhere but at the president's feet. (The president's favorite show, Fox & Friends, had earlier led the fake-blame charge. Ann Coulter, on a Fox News panel Sunday night, called the children seen crying in photos "child actors," but it's best not to dignify anything she says with reaction.)
What's next?
Again, though, the question: Will it matter? Won't the Fox News-watching, MAGA-hat-wearing crowd continue to look past the lies, the distortions, the blame game and continue to orbit around Planet Trump?
Probably.
So what? Let 'em. This gradual media awakening won't solve all of the problems with Trump. It may not even solve this one. It won't convert the non-believers who think of "media" as a five-letter word more obscene than all the four-letter ones they know.
But it's a start.
Bill Goodykoontz is a film critic and columnist at The Arizona Republic, where this column first appeared.
by: Mac Gordon
date: 2018-06-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/17/world-mississippi-newspapers-changing-fast/701577002/
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
The old-line legends of Mississippi daily newspaper publishing must be happy they aren’t around to experience the chaotic circumstances of today’s media world.
I’m talking the likes of George McLean of Tupelo, Oliver Emmerich of McComb, the various Hedermans of Jackson, Hodding Carter Jr. of Greenville, Lewis Cashman of Vicksburg, Joe Ellis of Clarksdale, Big Jimmy Skewes of Meridian and dozens more successful owners, editors and publishers from the era of the early 1900s to just before the start of the 21st Century mark.
That crowd saw circulation and advertising revenue grow steadily in their locales for most of the years after they either inherited or purchased the news-gathering businesses from another family. Their news staffs often included what was known then as “personality reporters,” well-known and experienced men and ladies whose stories and opinion columns were eagerly anticipated each day by morning and afternoon readers. As a child, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Jackson papers to read sports columnists Carl Walters and Lee Baker.
Anyone who had a love for that golden age of Mississippi newspapering can only hope the current downturn is cyclical and another period of prosperity will someday, somehow, arise.
Jackson-based Emmerich Newspapers Inc., the state’s largest chain of locally-owned publications with more than 20 properties in the state and a few elsewhere, represents a case study of today’s publishing difficulties. Owner Wyatt Emmerich has changed the delivery mode of his daily newspapers from carriers to the U.S. mail. The only carriers needed for the immediate future will be postal route personnel.
More: Drill, baby, drill: Oil activity heats up in southwest Mississippi
McComb, where his grandfather, the widely-respected editor Oliver Emmerich Sr., began the family dynasty in the early 1940s with the Enterprise-Journal (and where my father was a 35-year reporter), is in an uproar over that decision. Readers are aggrieved that their cherished carriers will soon be unemployed. There’s also a fear that the news itself cannot possibly be as timely under the new arrangement.
Some Emmerich papers will soon be publishing five days a week, down from six, including the McComb paper, the Greenwood Commonwealth and the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times. Others under his ownership publish only two or three times a week (Columbian-Progress, and Yazoo Herald), while the Clarksdale Press-Register has been reduced to once weekly. A prime indicator of reduced business activity overall in Clarksdale is the recent closure of Kroger. Several papers in the Emmerich chain were already once-weekly operations.
Emmerich’s mainstay operation seems to be the “Northside Sun.” That paper never lacks for advertising dollars and often runs glitzy full-page ads rarely seen anywhere else. His staff proves weekly that a lively publication can be produced with news emanating almost entirely from their circulation territory of moneyed northeast Jackson and adjacent suburbs in Madison County.
Continue reading after gallery
Always in the forefront in the Sun are picture groups from high-end social gatherings in that affluent area of the capital city. I contend that such reportage is sopped up like fried-chicken gravy on rice by both participants in such events and those folks on the outside looking in. The Sun’s deep understanding of its audience is on target and seemingly profitable.
The 23 newspapers in Mississippi published by Emmerich are not alone in stirring unease among subscribers. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal at Tupelo is in upheaval after severe budget cuts forced the layoff of several top reporters. Directors of a board that guides the revered regional paper are in flux over its future. They’ve hired a new publisher to right the ship, William H. Bronson III, coming from the Daily Citizen-News in Dalton, Georgia. Bronson is an Ole Miss graduate and four-year tennis letterman. The ball is in his court.
There’s only one organization that even remotely could be happy to see this down cycle in the Mississippi newspaper world: The United States Postal Service.
Mac Gordon is a part-time resident of McComb. He is a former reporter for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.
by: Staff reports
date: 2018-06-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/16/clarion-ledger-best-large-newspaper-mississippi-mpa-awards/707948002/
Download The Clarion-Ledger app for free on the Apple app store or Google Play. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
The Clarion Ledger was named the best large newspaper in the state at the annual Mississippi Press Association convention in Biloxi Saturday, winning 26 awards.
Investigative reporter Anna Wolfe was honored with the Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting for her work on food insecurity throughout the state.
Sarah Fowler also won second place for the Daniel M. Phillips Freedom of Information Award for her work on the gender wage gap among government employees.
During the event, the Associated Press also presented its Mississippi Photo of the Year award to Therese Apel for her image of the arrest of shooting rampage suspect Willie Corey Godbolt.
“The Clarion Ledger has a long history of award-winning journalism, and I’m tremendously proud of the journalists who are continuing that tradition,” Executive Editor Sam R. Hall said. “It’s also humbling to be honored in this manner. We take our work seriously and love what we do, so it’s nice to be recognized by our peers.”
The Clarion Ledger and staff won the following MPA awards:
• General Excellence: Staff, first place
• General News Story: Sarah Fowler, first place
• General News Story: Bracey Harris, second place
• Breaking News Story: Therese Apel, first place
• In-depth or Investigative Reporting: Anna Wolfe, first place
• In-depth, or Investigative Reporting: Geoff Pender, third place
• Planned Series: staff, second place
• Business News Story: Anna Wolfe, second place
• Sports News Story: Antonio Morales, second place
• Sports Column: Hugh Kellenberger, second place
• Sports Feature: Annie Costabile, first place
• Sports Feature: Will Sammon, second place
• Game Story: Will Sammon, first place
• Commentary Column: Sam R. Hall, third place
• Front Page: Staff, first place
• Editorial Page, Staff, first place
• Editorial Cartoon: Marshall Ramsey, first place
• Editorial Cartoon: Marshall Ramsey, second place
• Sports Section, Staff, second place
• Lifestyles Section: Staff, first place
• Special Section: Staff, first place
• Design: Staff, first place
• Website: Staff, third place
• Video: Justin Sellers and Annie Costabile, third place
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-06-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/14/border-crisis-separating-families-mississippi-attorney/690945002/
Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive director of Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley, and Genin Rodas from Sabá, Honduras speak about U.S. Immigration officials separating families at detention centers. Casey Jackson/Caller-Times
In towns along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, a crisis is unfolding.
Seeking asylum in the United States — often from violence — men, women and children, mostly from Central America, wait in line for days in the sweltering heat. They sleep on concrete floors. If not for donations from Good Samaritans who regularly visit the area, they would be without fresh food or water.
“These are horrible stories, but I feel like their nightmare might just be starting,” a Mexican official told Amelia McGowan, program director and immigration attorney at Migrants Support Center though Catholic Charities in Jackson. McGowan went to the border — specifically Nogales, Mexico, about an hour south of Tucson, Arizona —- to see the situation for herself.
Conversing in Spanish to many of the people seeking asylum, McGowan discovered they had heard rumors about U.S. officials separating children from their parents. And yet they stayed. At the time, the news was not widely reported.
"It seemed like this was a choice they had to make, they had no other choice — for their own survival and for their children’s survival," McGowan said.
Many of those seeking asylum have traveled for days, seeking legal refuge from abuse or gang violence. With the Monday announcement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the U.S. would no longer provide asylum to victims of domestic abuse or gang violence, the refuge they seek will likely not be found in the U.S.
Many are being turned away at the border and told to come back another day. Under a new "zero tolerance" policy, the ones who cross the border without papers or authorization are immediately separated from their children, charged with a misdemeanor crime and sent to detention centers before their deportation hearing. They face up to six months in prison.
Where are the children?
Reports have surfaced of border agents telling parents their children are being taken to bathe. Only hours later do they realize their children are not coming back.
The children are categorized as "unaccompanied minors." They are held in detention centers, in cages, or placed in foster care around the country, according to observations U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, gave NBC Nightly News.
Jackson-based Bethany Christian Services, which contracts with the federal government to provide children with foster home, would not say Tuesday if any children were in foster care in Mississippi, citing privacy concerns.
If a parent is in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a misdemeanor crime and a child in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. does not attempt reunification. Parents could be deported while their children remain in the U.S. Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian told a federal judge last month that the government tries instead to place the child with another relative in the United States — if the child has one, The Boston Globe reported.
Less than two weeks after the policy was adopted by the Trump administration in early May, more than 650 children had been separated from their parents, according to Senate testimony.
The United Nations human rights office called on the Trump administration last week to “immediately halt” its accelerated policy of separating children from their parents after they cross the U.S. border with Mexico, insisting there is “nothing normal about detaining children," the AP reported.
While in Nogales, McGowan spoke with dozens of people in line, many of whom had been waiting to speak with officials for days. She talked with people in the first week of June, days before news stories went public of family separations.
"While turning yourself in at a port of entry is a lawful and proper means of seeking asylum protection under U.S. law, these families and children now face days of languishing at the border, and traumatized children are likely to be torn from the arms of their only protectors in a policy aimed at 'deterring' people from seeking this lawful protection, which is enshrined in U.S. law.
"Demoralized and retraumatized, these families will then face the arduous and unforgiving asylum process alone and from detention, where their access to legal counsel and other forms of support will be severely limited."
Here is McGowan's first-hand account of her experience, as told to the Clarion Ledger.
The scene at the border
Amelia McGowan (Photo: Mississippi College School of Law)
I met up with a relief worker taking supplies to people in line. I didn’t know what to expect. They had no toiletries, no extra clothes and no food. Towels were the most requested items because a local church had come and taken some (people) to get showers. Toothbrushes and toothpaste were requested, too.
We parked in a McDonald’s parking lot on the U.S. side of the border and took bags filled with supplies. We crossed over the land bridge, and going into Mexico was a very easy process. We went through the scanner and walked on through. On either side of the border there is a covered facility, open air, where people usually wait in the ques.
There were two lines; one really was for asylum seekers and one for everyone else entering the U.S. including permanent residents, tourists and business people. It was really kind of a catch all for everybody. That line, for non-asylum traffic, was moving fairly quickly.
There was a bar separating the two lines, and on the other side of the bar was a line of about 80 people who had been waiting for days to seek asylum in the U.S.
There was yellow tape, kind of like caution tape, mats and towels on the ground. The eeriest thing was there were children’s toys scattered. There were supplies lined up against the walls, these mats, and children playing on the floor. It was a very stark contrast between the two lines. It was kind of harrowing.
On one side, you have these tourists, carrying their souvenirs, their big sombreros coming back from Mexico. These were tourists who had gone to Mexico for the day. On the other side you had this police tape. There were families, some single men and single women, young mostly. About half the people there were children, under the age of 18. There were a few infants to 2 years old. There were a lot of toddlers and even more young children, I would say 5 to 10 years old.
I met a couple teenagers, a girl and a boy, from Guatemala. Both were unaccompanied minors. The boy was 14. He told me his father had been recently murdered in front of him. I don’t know how old the girl was, I would say about 12, she looked a lot younger.
A new border community
McGowan said she was struck by the sense of community that had formed among those seeking asylum.
Something that was really, really phenomenal to see, as soon as we got there I was immediately sort of struck by the two lines, very different two lines. The volunteer I was with had actually made friends in the line, he had been coming there everyday. There was a family from El Salvador, a mom and dad and three kids, that he had gotten to know very well because they had been in line for days.
It was interesting to see how community forms in line. People had made a list of where others were in the line so they could walk around.
As soon as we got there with the supplies, two women (from the line) came up and started helping. People were clearly watching other people’s children when their parents went to bring food or snacks.
Tourists would bring food. Random people would just bring food. There was this one tourist, he and his daughter I guess brought two gallons of milk and a bunch of cups for the kids. These other people bought bags of tamales for everybody. It was interesting to see that work and see the support of people in the line for everybody else.
It was really something to see how this community developed. People were looking out for the unaccompanied minors, making sure they had food first or supplies first. Then they would make sure people with small children would have a chance to get (supplies) first. There were adults who would watch the big groups of kids.
'What's going to happen to my children?'
Men, women and children line up along border in Nogales, Mexico, seeking asylum in the United States.
After handing out supplies, McGowan began talking with people in Spanish, asking about their travels and what they experienced getting to Nogales. Talking to a Mexican policeman, McGowan realized many of the people in line still had a long journey in ahead of them.
I started asking people how long they’d been there. We were kind of in the middle of the line and people had been there four days or five days.
On their faces I could just see utter exhaustion. A few were actually from Mexico. Mostly though, they were from Central America, some from Guatemala and some from El Salvador so their trip was even longer.
It was absolute exhaustion and absolute fear.
Some kind of official from Mexico, I think was a policeman, was walking around asking if everyone was OK. He had some cough syrup and Band-Aids. I asked him how long people had been in the line, kind of from his side, what he had seen. He’d been there for quite some time. He had taken people at night (to a small space provided by a local charity for women and children) and to the doctor. He had a really good idea of how long people were there. He started telling me their stories.
“I hear all these stories of what people are going through, what happened,” he said. “These are horrible stories but I feel like their nightmare might just be starting.”
That was obviously eerie to hear. That was the week before you really started hearing about families being separated.
Then, people in line found out McGowan is an attorney who focuses on asylum claims. She started giving small presentations, answering what questions she could. Rumors had started to spread that families were being separated. The one question on everyone’s mind was the fate of his or her children.
Almost everybody to a 't' said, 'What’s going to happen to my children?' because they had all heard about what was happening and they were all terrified but at the same time, they showed a real sense of urgency like ‘"this is our only chance to survive.’"
It was striking because they had this realization and this understanding that this was a possibility but it seemed like this was a choice they had to make, they had no other choice. For their own survival and for their children’s survival.
Children raped, beaten
Men, women and children line up along in Nogales, Mexico, seeking asylum in the United States.
As McGowan moved up and down the line, she began talking with people one on one.
That’s when I started to hear individual stories. What was really chilling was there were several women, overwhelming women, with children.
Near the front of the line was a woman with five or six children. One child was very small. Her husband had abused her for several years. She had gone to the police to try to report it two or three times. She had gotten custody of the kids, and her husband continued to abuse her.
She said, ‘He’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill my kids.’ She knew about the possibility that this protection for victims of non-state perpetrators could be changed. She knew about that, I told her, ‘For now, that is a form of asylum protection but it could change anytime.’
Another woman was from El Salvador. She came with her 13-year-old daughter. She told me what happened to her. She was coming home from school and these guys from MS13 took an interest in her. They called out to her, and she ignored them. Finally, one day they grabbed her and ended up raping her. It sounded like it was more than one because she said ‘they.’
I noticed something about her daughter. I tried to talk to her, and she didn’t really say anything. Her mother said that she used to be very talkative, very outgoing, the top of her class. As soon as it happened, she stopped talking and she quit going to school. It was sort of a vacant look in her eye. She used to get really excited about school and now she can’t even talk. That’s another case that will no longer be protected.
Another woman from Guatemala, I don’t know how old she was but she looked very young. She had a 15-month-old. She was on the floor breastfeeding, she had nowhere to go. The little girl, they both look like skeletons. I asked her how long they had been traveling. ‘15 days and two of those days we rode on La Beasti (the freight train frequently used by migrants) and we didn’t have food or water. My daughter is really sick.’ Her daughter was sort of eating but she couldn’t even cry. She was so lifeless. She had been there five or six days, but the baby was just lifeless.
There was another little boy whose mother was fleeing an abusive situation, a boyfriend. The little boy was about 3. As I was talking to the mom, he came and sat in my lap and went to sleep. His father, the mother’s boyfriend, beat him and beat her and raped her. That’s when she decided she had to leave.
An unknown fate
Men, women and children line up along in Nogales, Mexico, seeking asylum in the United States.
When it came time to leave, McGowan said it was not lost on her how easily she crossed the border back into the United States while others were left behind. She wonders about those on the other side.
Leaving was an emotional experience. Obviously you’ve connected with these families.
You think about this poor little boy that you just met, and they ask for protection. Not only are they not going to get it but I think that police officer was right. This might just be the beginning, unfortunately.
All we had to do, this sounds so cliché, but all we had to do was take out our passports and come back home. We had safety. To leave people and know what they were going to have to face this uncertainty and this terror, it was really something to jump in this line and come back home. It was kind of surreal.
We had not yet heard of family separation and then to know what happened days later, undoubtedly, I’m sure it happened to at least some of those families. To know that that happened, you wonder what their fate was after we so easily left them.
We hope and pray for the best, but we know the reality.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/14/4-plead-guilty-conspiracy-traffic-drugs-mexico/701715002/
There was talk during the last legislative session about bringing back pseudoephedrine over the counter, which would resurrect meth labs in Mississippi. This is a grave concern, officials said. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
Three Jackson men and a Honduran man pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges in federal court earlier this week.
Court documents show that Allen Sims, 41; Vincent Taylor McGee, 30; Keith Mullen, 46; and Jose Pacheco, 41; were involved with others in a scheme to traffic methamphetamine from a supplier in Mexico. The case was the result of an extensive investigation, dubbed “Rock Bottom” which began as an operation targeting illegal narcotics distribution — especially cocaine, crack and methamphetamine — in central Mississippi.
More: Mississippians are still using meth, but they're not manufacturing it
Sims, of Jackson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a detectable amount of methamphetamine and 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine. From November 2015 to February 2016, Sims arranged the purchase and delivery of more than 30 kilograms of methamphetamine from a source of supply in Mexico.
McGee, of Jackson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a detectable amount of methamphetamine. In November 2015, McGee picked up 1 kilogram of a detectable amount of methamphetamine from a Mexican source of supply in Atlanta and delivered it to a co-conspirator in Jackson.
Mullen, of Jackson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. From November 2015 to February 2016, and while in federal prison at Yazoo City, Mississippi, Mullen assisted co-conspirators in arranging the purchase and delivery of 30 kilograms of methamphetamine from a source of supply in Mexico. The drugs were intended for distribution in Central Mississippi.
More: 'Historic results': DOJ's Operation Triple Beam brings in 270 arrests in central and south Mississippi
Pacheco, of Honduras, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a detectable amount of methamphetamine. In November 2015, Pacheco assisted co-conspirators in arranging the purchase and delivery of 1 kilogram of methamphetamine from a source of supply in Mexico.
The men entered guilty pleas this week before U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour, Jr., to drug conspiracy charges, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge J. Derryle Smith.
The defendants will be sentenced by Barbour on September 11, at 9:30 a.m. They each face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, Ridgeland Police Department, Jackson Police Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Brandon Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Department of Corrections, Pearl Police Department, Flowood Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the DEA - Houston Field Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wansley.
by: Anna Gibbs
date: 2018-06-14
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/15/family-man-lynched-lafayette-county-finds-answers/687636002/
The lynchings that killed thousands of people and terrorized generations of blacks in the U.S. are solemnly commemorated in a new memorial in Alabama's capital city. Warning: Graphic Images (April 23) AP
OXFORD — For 83 years, elders of the Higginbottom family held onto one secret — their patriarch, Elwood Higginbottom, was lynched in Lafayette County after killing a white man, Glen D. Roberts, in self-defense.
The events of Sept. 17, 1935, played in the back of his family's mind for years after they fled from Oxford to Memphis, but no one ever spoke about it, according to Elwood's granddaughter, Delois Wright.
"Nobody ever said anything about my grandfather. I knew he had gotten lynched, but I didn't know why. That's what they'd say, 'That's a subject we don't discuss,'" Wright said. "The only thing I'm longing for is to know what my grandfather looked like. I don't even know how many siblings he had."
Then, in spring of last year, Kyleen Burke, a law student with the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University, discussed the case at the William Winter Institute on the Ole Miss campus. Burke was given the assignment to uncover the stories behind two lynching victims, one of whom was Elwood Higginbottom.
She found the family through Ancestry.com, and from then on, the Higginbottoms have worked toward telling their ancestor's story.
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According to reports from the Sept. 19, 1935, edition of the EAGLE, a mob of 75 men with dirt-smudged faces cut the telephone wires of the jail, held the sheriff down and kidnapped Higginbottom, beating him within an inch of his life and hanging him.
"Court was still in session, with court officials present, waiting for the jury to come in when word reached town that there was no need for further court action in the case of state versus Elwood Higginbottom, negro," the report said.
Higginbottom was 29, and his wife, May Lissie, was not yet 25 years old. She fled with their three children to Tupelo, and then to Memphis, where much of the Higginbottom family remains today.
In this Saturday, March 24, 2018 photo, E.W. Higginbottom, center, son of Elwood Higginbottom, gathers dirt from an area just north of Oxford where it is believed his father was lynched in 1935, in Oxford, Miss. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP)
Since discovering the truth, the Higginbottom family has traveled back to Oxford twice, once to meet with the William Winter Institute, and again to travel to the suspected site of the lynching to collect soil to be sent to the Equal Justice Initiative's National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which honors lynching victims across the United States. The memorial, which opened in April, is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and features 800 hanging pillars, representing the 800 counties that have come forward and acknowledged lynchings that have taken place in their histories.
Traveling back to Oxford, Wright said, was difficult, but it was important to her to understand what really happened to her grandfather. Her father, E.W., was only 4 years old at the time of his father's death, and Wright said it was especially hard to get him to agree to return.
In this Saturday, March 24, 2018 photo, E.W. Higginbottom, son of Elwood Higginbottom, holds a jar of dirt collected from an area just north of Oxford where it is believed his father was lynched in 1935, in Oxford, Miss. Two jars of dirt were gathered by Elwood Higginbottom's descendants, one of which was sent to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, in Montgomery, Ala. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP)
"It was so hard for us to get Daddy to come and cross over to Mississippi. He said, 'I'm not going down there. They killed my daddy,'" she said. "The first time we went, I wondered about granddaddy's last thoughts before it happened. And I know that, according to the information, he struggled to not leave here. He tried his best to not leave his family."
Wright said, at times, she wonders what life would have been like if her grandfather wasn't murdered. Her father was forced to leave school at just 9 years old and go to work, but what if his father had been there to guide him?
Wright also admits that, at times, it feels as though the dark cloud her grandfather's death cast over the family isn't leaving.
"I lost my husband and my son at an early age. My son was 29 and my husband was 33 when he died. And my son left three kids as well," Wright said. "It's like it's a cycle because my granddaddy was 29 when he died. We often pray on just breaking that curse over the men in our family."
However, she added that coming to terms with what happened and finding closure for the family has led to a positive change. The fact that the story has come to light, that people are talking about it and acknowledging lives lost, gives her hope, she said.
There are seven recorded lynching cases in Lafayette County, but presumably, there are many more that will never be uncovered. Although it may be painful, Wright said she's thankful her grandfather's story is out there for people to learn.
"I am grateful (it was documented) so the kids will know what happened to their great- and great-great-grandfather. They can take that information, it's like a keepsake," she said. "I think it's an important part of history in that era. People should know about it."
For more information on the story of Elwood Higginbottom and the EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice, visit https://eji.org/racial-justice/legacy-lynching.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-06-14
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/15/mississippi-man-accused-assaulting-3-deputies/706600002/
Jackson Weather Forecast, Friday, June 15, 2018 Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Jackson County Jail)
MOSS POINT, Miss. — A Mississippi man faces charges for assaulting three sheriff deputies.
The Mississippi Press reports it happened Tuesday as 28-year-old Joshua Omar Mosley, of Moss Point, was attending a divorce hearing at the Jackson County Chancery Court.
Sheriff Mike Ezell says Mosley was a bystander at the hearing involving his brother. According to sheriff deputies, Mosley argued with a woman who also attended the hearing. When a deputy intervened, Ezell says Mosley assaulted him and knocked him to the ground. The deputy sustained a head injury. He was treated and later released from Singing River Hospital.
Two other deputies stepped in and suffered minor injuries.
Mosley is being held on three counts of simple assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. It's unknown if he has an attorney.
More: Honey buns on the highway: Snack truck crash closes I-20 West for hours in Brandon
by: Joe Wallace
date: 2018-06-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/14/mississippi-universities-innovative-enough/701319002/
Twin brothers Steve and Nick Tidball have created a solar-powered glow-in-the-dark, waterproof jacket that they hope will allow late-night runners and cyclists to safely exercise for up to twelve hours in the pitch black. Jim Drury reports. Video provided by Reuters Newslook
(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
With college football season just around the corner, Mississippians will soon renew old rivalries with neighboring states. But on the field of innovation, how well do Mississippi’s universities play versus their Southeastern Conference competitors?
Last month, the Clarion Ledger published my column identifying the inventors’ gap between Mississippi and the rest of the nation. No single factor explains Mississippi’s abysmal rate of registered patents per capita, but universities traditionally serve as leading institutions in technological innovation.
In the SEC’s innovation bracket, however, the last half-century provides an ugly highlight reel of Mississippi’s failures. Neighboring states’ research institutions ran roughshod over both Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. Statistics from the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the National Science Foundation reveal that our playbook needs a serious update if we want our universities to compete with peer institutions.
Between 1969 and 2012, MSU and Ole Miss scored only 95 and 83 patents, respectively. By contrast, our twelve SEC rivals racked up big leads over us with triple- or quadruple-digit patent registrations. Even the next lowest performer, the University of South Carolina, banked 126 patents. A deficit of thirty or forty patents seems small, but current rates of innovation mean that MSU and Ole Miss need five to ten years of pause time, respectively, just to catch up with South Carolina. To reach parity with the rest of the pack, we may need decades, if not centuries. Rounding out the bottom four, for instance, Auburn’s 175 patents in the last half century nearly equals the combined tally of Ole Miss and MSU.
Every other SEC institution beat Ole Miss and MSU combined by massive margins. Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and LSU surpassed 300 patents each, while Arkansas, Alabama, and Kentucky each registered more than 400 patents. Texas A&M accumulated over 500 patents in the half century before it joined the SEC in 2012. But at the top of the conference, the University of Florida reigns supreme with 1,238 patents—drubbing MSU by a factor of more than thirteen and Ole Miss by a factor of almost fifteen.
In 2012, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, the gap between Mississippi’s research institutions and their SEC rivals grew much larger. In that one year, Arkansas more than quintupled the combined innovation rate of all four research universities in Mississippi. The Razorbacks scored 34 patents against MSU’s 4, Ole Miss’s 1, the University of Southern Mississippi’s 1, and Jackson State’s 0. And Arkansas spent only 252 million dollars on research in 2012 compared to combined research expenditures of 354 million dollars for Ole Miss and MSU.
To be sure, financial resources play a major role in determining innovation rates, and Mississippi’s universities spend modest amounts on research. On average, the University of Mississippi ranks last in the SEC, despite hosting a medical school, while MSU ranks tenth out of fourteen for research expenditures.
Continue reading after gallery
But budget disparities fail to explain the extent of our underperformance. The University of Mississippi spends far more on research than all but two SEC counterparts on a dollar per patent basis, while Mississippi State spends more per patent than any SEC institution. From 2010 to 2012, Ole Miss more than quadrupled and MSU more than sextupled the research dollars spent per patent by either the University of Tennessee or the University of Arkansas.
University officials may respond that not all valuable research aims toward patentable technology. This is true, but decades of trends in patent registration are still the most objective measure of institutional innovation. I also acknowledge that not all patents are created equal, and universities should avoid creating useless patents just to boost their stats. But in light of Mississippi’s unique situation as the least innovative state, our universities should audit the value of their research to determine if additional federal, state, or private funding may be diverted to increase their levels of patentable innovations.
I am not alone in gauging university performance based on patents. Each year, the National Academy of Inventors publishes the “Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents.” Half of the SEC ranked in the top 100 for the last five years straight, while the remaining institutions of the conference except MSU, Ole Miss, and LSU ranked at least once. But we should take no comfort in LSU also failing to make the cut of internationally renowned innovators, since LSU more than quadruples Ole Miss’s and almost triples MSU’s patent rate between 2000 and 2012.
Patents rarely generate significant revenue for universities, but the value of university innovations far exceeds any profits from commercial licensing of patents. Mississippi needs its universities to help lead an effort to boost innovation and close the inventors’ gap. To paraphrase an ancient proverb, a Mississippi catfish rots from the head down. To improve the economic health of Mississippi, we need more innovative institutions.
There are not enough aspiring innovators — engineers, patent professionals, inventors, or would-be founders of tech startups — in the talent pipeline of Mississippi. To grasp the scope of Mississippi’s deficit of human capital in the field of innovation, consider that only twenty-three patent agents and attorneys are registered in this state. On a per capita basis, over half of the other states beat us by more than a factor of ten, including thirteen states where the average person is more than twenty times as likely to be a patent professional. The state with the next lowest rate (Alaska) more than doubles our rate of patent professionals per capita. Among neighbors, Tennessee boasts 588 percent more, while Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama beat us by 425 percent, 250 percent, and 388 percent, respectively.
To address the inventors’ gap, universities should help policymakers, philanthropists, and industry leaders form a Mississippi Innovation Commission. Such a commission may track university research outcomes, create and fund scholarships and fellowships for promising innovators, host training sessions for tech startups, and facilitate entrepreneurial collaboration to boost innovation in the private sector.
Joe Wallace is a Corinth native, attorney and PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University. Contact him at jwalla44@jhu.edu.
by: Erick Erickson
date: 2018-06-14
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/15/gop-has-lost-its-way-but-liberal-progressives-saving-them/704769002/
North Koreans are getting a new look at President Donald Trump after his summit with Kim Jong Un and it's a far cry from the 'Dotard' label their government slapped on him last year. But how long will it last? (June 14) AP
(Photo: Submitted photo)
I have been pretty critical of the Republican Party even though I was, for a time, an elected Republican. I criticized George W. Bush vocally for being what some branded a "big government conservative." Under Bush, the size and scope of the federal government grew at a reckless rate, not for war, but for domestic public policy. When Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, many more conservatives became vocal about Bush. Miers really was the beginning of the end of the Republican love affair with Bush. Then immigration reform broke up what was left of the relationship.
When running in 2008, John McCain refought many of the fights started when he ran in 2000. Old wounds were opened. I was critical then, too. The party could handle the criticism. When Mitt Romney ran in 2012, they could handle my criticism of him as well. Consistently, whether with Bush, McCain or even Romney, I praised when I thought it was warranted and criticized when I thought it was warranted.
But now the Republican Party has become much like the Democrats during the Obama years. No criticism of their precious is allowed. He must be protected at all costs. It is why people like Bob Corker, a man I do not care for, is right to say the party is becoming cult-like. Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Congressman, abandoned his wife, his children and even the Governor's office in South Carolina to take up with his Argentinian mistress. Voters eventually forgave him and put him in Congress. He served there, despite all the scandal, until he spoke up against Donald Trump. That was too much for the voters of South Carolina.
More: The media's bias is showing and Trump's followers are sick of it
Republicans seem to have lost confidence in their ideas. They do not want to debate. They cannot tolerate criticism from within or from the outside of the party. President Trump, on Fox News, dismissed concerns over the North Korean leader engaging in mass murder and the genocide of his people. Trump's supporters brushed it all away. The Trump supporters who savaged Obama for bowing to kings excused their own leader saluting a ruthless communist general from North Korea. The party that long attacked Democrats for being unwilling to speak freely and think independently now operates with a herd mentality unbecoming the party of Ronald Reagan.
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The political party that formed to free slaves and set about freeing the world from the iron grip of Soviet communism should rethink turning a blind eye to North Korea's monsters all for the sake of a nuclear disarmament plan the monsters have repeatedly promised and failed to deliver. Freedom's flame is always only a generation away from being extinguished and the GOP is playing a dangerous game coddling a man whose behavior mirrors Hitler and Stalin.
For all of that, though, the GOP has a saving grace — the American progressives. Every time President Trump does something cringeworthy, the modern American progressive reminds everyone they are as totalitarian as the North Koreans and as intolerant as ISIS. They just, on both fronts, are not as violent. It is this very reason many Americans with deep reservations about President Trump continue to stand with him. It is this very reason that many Americans, who would prefer a sane alternative, will quietly vote Republican.
It is not Donald Trump shaming people for eating at Chick-fil-A. It is not Donald Trump seeking to confiscate your guns. It is not Donald Trump making excuses for Planned Parenthood employees turning a blind eye to human trafficking. It is not Donald Trump demanding tax dollars be used to exterminate children. It is not Donald Trump demanding businessmen and women be driven out of business for trying to do business as Christians. It is not Donald Trump demanding Christian small businesses pay for abortions. It is not Donald Trump demanding cakes be baked or the baker be ruined.
Republicans in America today may want to silence all criticism of Donald Trump, but the progressives want to not just silence, but destroy, anyone with whom they disagree on anything. The GOP will hang on as the only thing standing between progressive mobs and our liberties.
Erick Erickson is a nationally syndicated columnist and conservative commentator.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/12/doj-operation-triple-beam-270-arrests-mississippi/686943002/
The nationwide initiative was nicknamed "Operation Shark Tank" in Mississippi and targeted drugs, gangs, sex offenders and violent crime. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: U.S. Marshals Service)
For six weeks in several cities around the southern half of the state, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force pounded the streets.
While it started off in the secrecy and silence of early morning, it wasn't their regular work, which usually comes after a crime is committed and they're searching for a fugitive. It was a proactive initiative called Operation Triple Beam, which led to 270 arrests of alleged violent fugitives and criminal offenders who authorities said had committed high-profile crimes around the state such as homicide, felony assault and sexual assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, robbery and arson.
"Almost everything we do is reactive, but this is one operation we do that we put a proactive cap on," said Mike Quarles, commander of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force. "We're trying to prevent crime from getting any worse and trying to do everything we can to be selective and get our top-tier offenders out of the communities to make our communities safer here in Mississippi."
What it led to, he said, ended up being momentous for the state and the country.
"Historically, this is the most successful Triple Beam of this scale ever done," Quarles said.
The strategy used in Operation Triple Beam has been applied in 47 other cities across the country since 2010.
Mississippi law enforcement nicknamed the initiative "Operation Shark Tank" to give it a local identity. The focal points were Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi, Meridian, Hattiesburg, and the surrounding areas and fugitive apprehension investigations, firearms and narcotics investigations, gang-related intelligence gathering and proactive sex-offender compliance initiatives within those areas.
During the operation, 50 guns were seized, including military-style assault rifles. There were illegal drugs worth around $7,500, and approximately $26,000 in cash.
(See the end of the story for a list of the arrests and agencies involved in Operation Triple Beam, as well as the press conference at the Federal Courthouse.)
"This is an operation that focuses on our nation's most violent cities. It's a national initiative led by the U.S. Marshal Service," said Chief Inspector Don Snider, who oversees the Virginia-based U.S. Marshals Gang and Organized Crime Enforcement Unit. "We're targeting the most violent gang members in each city, and it's done in a full collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors' offices and it's effective because everyone's working together focused on one mission."
High-crime areas and specific violent offenders were the starting point, said U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, and in the end the information gained was a valuable addition.
“Operation Triple Beam was able to aggressively and proactively target certain ‘hot spot’ areas in our district," said Hurst. "In addition, the operation collected much needed intelligence about other criminal activity in Mississippi and increased cooperation and trust among all levels of law enforcement throughout the state.”
Many of the cases will be prosecuted federally under Project EJECT, officials said. Project EJECT aims to reduce violent crime in an effort to make Jackson neighborhoods safer.
"We’re not asleep anymore. We see what you’re doing, we see how you're terrorizing our communities and our neighbors, and we're not going to take it anymore," Hurst said Tuesday, flanked by federal, state and local law enforcement leaders on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson. "...Our citizens need to remember that when we stand up and stand together, we can put the bad guys out of business."
On April 10, alleged Vice Lord Tommy Kendrick was arrested on charges from the Jackson Police Department for shooting into an occupied dwelling. During Kendrick’s arrest, he was found to be in possession of a military-style assault weapon, as well as in possession of marijuana.
His story was just the beginning.
On May 7, Jackson resident Joshua Hannah was arrested for the stabbing death April 2 of his girlfriend’s mother, Serenthia Harris, 61.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force serve a search warrant during Operation Triple Beam.
Alleged Gangster Disciple Jaquon Cater of Gulfport was arrested in possession of a semi-automatic pistol and a military-style assault rifle.
Reginald Scott, who allegedly holds the rank of general with the Bloods street gang, was arrested April 17 for failure to register as a sex offender.
Three alleged Guap Gang Empire members — Javon Byrd, Walter Williams and Christopher Rush — were arrested in Gulfport on April 18 for federal firearms violations. They were found to have illegal weapons and narcotics at the time of their arrests.
On April 19, task force officers arrested Marcus Dortch in Forest with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. He was wanted out of Newark, New Jersey, on two counts of aggravated assault, robbery and weapon possession charges.
In the counties of Simpson, Pearl River, Hancock, and Jefferson Davis, approximately 300 registered sex offenders were individually checked for compliance, resulting in approximately 20 arrests for sex offender registry violations.
Approximately 90 of all those arrested were alleged gang members with affiliations to groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood, Gangster Disciples, Simon City Royals, Latin Kings and Vice Lords.
The Jackson initiative was aimed at street gangs in the capital city. Forty-five people were arrested in the first week the marshals task force ran the streets with warrants, and some were arrested on outstanding warrants and indictments at the end of Triple Beam as well.
Members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrest alleged gang members during Operation Triple Beam.
Snider was in Jackson for part of the operation.
"The city of Jackson is a Public Safety Partnership site which has gotten the attention of the Department of Justice that the crime rate is to the point to where it needs a little help," Snider said. "With Operation Triple Beam, we've tried to target the most violent street gang members, targeting the trigger pullers and the leadership, and by doing that, we're disrupting the whole organizational structure of the gangs we’re focusing on."
The Hattiesburg leg of the project was named "Operation Shark Tank." It led to 45 arrests by the end of the week, with some warrants outstanding for followup in the weeks afterward.
George White, a U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi, praised the collaboration between the many federal and state law enforcement agencies that took part in the operation to “make a difference in our communities."
“I couldn’t be more proud of the men and women who worked diligently during this highly effective operation. This all-hands-on-deck approach was pivotal in the success of this operation," White said. "Many of these cases will be prosecuted in federal court. Furthermore, many of these investigations will lead to future arrests in the pursuit of dismantling the criminal element in the Southern District of Mississippi.”
*259 arrests are shown. The remaining have not been released because of ongoing investigations.
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Posted by Clarion Ledger
Operation Triple Beam (OTB) was a joint crime reduction initiative of the following agencies:
• U.S. Marshals Service
• Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
by: Daniel Connolly
date: 2018-06-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/12/autopsy-complete-ismael-lopez-case-southaven-police/695800002/
Officials are investigating a fatal shooting by Southaven police officers who may have gone to the wrong address.
(Photo: Daniel Connolly / The Commercial Appeal)
Authorities have completed the autopsy report for Ismael Lopez, the man shot and killed last year by Southaven police officers, who apparently came to his house by mistake.
The completion of the autopsy report brings the official investigation of the case closer to a conclusion. A prosecutor could charge the police officers with a crime.
Separate from the official investigation, a civil lawsuit appears likely.
More: Lawyer identifies Southaven police he believes were involved in fatal Ismael Lopez shooting
Prosecutor John Champion said he received the report from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's office this week and hopes to complete his own review of the case soon.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation did the initial review of the shooting.
Reached by phone Thursday, Champion said he'll discuss the autopsy and other findings with investigators, but he wouldn't comment about action he might take, or when precisely he might take it.
“It will be sooner than later," he said. Champion wouldn't release the autopsy report, and efforts to reach the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's office were unsuccessful Thursday.
July 28, 2017 - Loved ones comfort Claudia Linares at her Surrey Lane home during a candlelight vigil honoring her late husband, Ismael Lopez, in Southaven on Friday night. Lopez, 41, was an auto mechanic who was fatally shot by Southaven police on Sunday night. The officers were on the street to serve a search warrant to a domestic violence suspect but went to the wrong house.
(Photo: Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)
The killing drew immediate criticism from the man's family and friends, as well as public protests.
More: Letter to Jeff Sessions seeks Justice Department investigation of Ismael Lopez death in Southaven
Authorities have said the Southaven police officers were looking for another man in a domestic violence case and ended up at Lopez the house of Lopez, an auto mechanic who had no arrest warrants.
What happened after that is disputed. The prosecutor said early on that it was his understanding the man inside the house was holding a gun through an open door and refused commands to drop it.
A close family friend and lawyers representing the family have said Lopez was shot through the closed front door of his home, and that while he owned guns, he wasn't holding a gun at the time of the shooting.
And the long delay between Lopez's July 23 death and the completion of the autopsy drew critical coverage from media outlets including WMC-TV.
Champion said the specialist in charge of completing the autopsy report, Dr. Lisa Funte, moved to work as a medical examiner in Maine and has a large backlog of Mississippi work she's still completing.
“I’ve still got two more she’s supposed to complete,” Champion said.
Champion said long delays in Mississippi autopsies are common these days, and that they put investigations on hold. "And it’s ridiculous.”
Efforts to reach Funte in Maine were unsuccessful.
"Our office or Dr. Funte has no comment of this issue," Mark Belserene, administrator of Maine's Office of Chief Medical Examiner, wrote in an email. He referred questions to the medical examiner's office in Mississippi.
Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-06-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/12/does-da-curtis-flowers-case-seek-strike-black-potential-jurors/692156002/
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
During his time as district attorney, Doug Evans and his office have struck black potential jurors at more than four times the rate as white potential jurors, an analysis by APM Reports concluded.
The news organization produces the “In the Dark” podcast, which this season is focusing on Curtis Flowers, whom Evans has prosecuted six times for murder. Flowers is now on Mississippi’s death row.
Between 1992 and 2017, Evans’ office handled 418 criminals trials. APM Reports obtained jury information on 225 of those trials.
In those trials, prosecutors struck half of all black potential jurors, compared to 11 percent of white potential jurors.
APM Reports concluded that “even when controlling for race-neutral factors raised during juror questioning, black jurors were still far more likely to be struck than white jurors who answered in the same way.”
APM Reports said its analysis “does not prove the jurors were struck because they were black. Why not? Because of too many other factors, some unknown. It simply shows potential jurors who are black in the 5th Judicial District were struck at a rate 4½ times that of potential white jurors.”
The Clarion Ledger could not reach Evans for comment.
On the morning of July 16, 1996, someone walked into the Tardy Furniture store in Winona, murdered four employees execution-style and stole nearly $400.
Eight months after the killings, police arrested Flowers in Texas. He had worked for the store and had no prior criminal record.
Evans portrayed Flowers as a disgruntled employee who had been fired and now had revenge on his mind. A state police investigator testified that authorities found $235 hidden in Flowers’ headboard and that he wore a 10.5 shoe — the same size that matched a bloody footprint at the store.
Authorities found no murder weapon. Instead, they pointed to his relative’s gun, which was reportedly stolen that day. According to authorities, Flowers tested positive for a particle of gunpowder residue on the back of his right hand.
He was convicted and sentenced to death in three trials by all-white or nearly all-white juries.
In each case, the state Supreme Court overturned the convictions and ordered new trials.
Both the high court and the trial judge questioned Evans’ dismissals of black potential jurors. (In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors can’t strike potential jurors strictly because of race.)
In the fourth trial, the jury deadlocked, splitting along racial lines. Seven white jurors voted to convict, and five black jurors voted to acquit.
In the fifth trial, the jury deadlocked again, this time 11-1 in favor of guilt. The nine white jurors voted in favor of guilt, along with two black jurors.
One black juror voted to acquit, concluding the prosecution failed to prove its case. He told fellow jurors that he was in the alley not long before the killings and didn’t see anything.
The judge had the juror arrested, insisting he lied during jury questioning because he failed to say he had personal knowledge about the case.
A grand jury indicted the juror for perjury, but the charges were dropped after it was discovered that none of the jurors was ever asked whether they had personal knowledge of the crime.
In the sixth trial, there was one black juror; the rest were white. That jury convicted Flowers and sentenced him to death.
In 2014, the state Supreme Court upheld that conviction.
Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court told state justices to review whether there was discrimination in how some black potential jurors were excluded. In November, state justices said they found no discrimination.
Earlier this year, Mississippi’s high court reaffirmed its decision, refusing to reconsider Flowers’ death sentence.
Of the 72 jurors who have deliberated Flowers’ fate, 61 have been white. All have voted to convict him.
Of the 11 black jurors, five have voted to convict, and six have voted to acquit.
The podcast has raised questions about Flowers’ case. For instance, a key prosecution witness against Flowers, Odell Hallmon, now admits he lied.
“As far as him telling me he killed some people, hell, naw, he ain't ever told me that. That was a lie,” he told APM Reports on a contraband cellphone from his prison cell. “It was all make believe. Everything was all make believe on my part. … All of it was just a fantasy, that's all. A bunch of fantasies. A bunch of lies.”
He lied about the Flowers’ case to get out of trouble for drug dealing, he said. “Doug Evans say he would rather have a murderer in prison than a drug dealer. He'd rather see a murderer in prison than a drug dealer, right? This is what Doug said. I used them son of a bitches just like they used me.”
The district attorney told APM Reports this is why a judge instructs a jury that “a jailhouse informant is not very reliable, because they can change their statements very easily, for any reason.”
What Hallmon testified to in court was the truth, Evans said. In a meeting with the judge during the sixth trial, Evans said he made sure Hallmon was telling the truth by administering a lie detector test, according to court records.
Lie detector tests are not admissible in court because of their unreliability.
After testifying against Flowers in the sixth trial, Hallmon killed three people and injured a fourth. He is now serving three life sentences for the slayings, plus 20 years for the assault and another 10 years for possessing a gun as a felon.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-06-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/13/quitting-without-warning-pelahatchie-town-attorney-resigns/695044002/
The first African American mayor of Pelahatchie, Mayor-elect Ryshonda Harper Beechem, speaks about her upcoming first term as Mayor of Pelahatchie. Elijah Baylis/The Clarion-Ledger
Pelahatchie's town attorney, Brad Mills, resigned Monday night amid a state auditor's probe and a town embroiled in controversy.
Mills announced his resignation about midway through a special meeting to discuss town business and after the second agenda item which read:
"Discuss, consider and vote to grant the city attorney authority to take actions necessary regarding legal matters, including but not limited to the proper administration of this town."
Afterward, Mills told the board he needed to pay more attention to his private practice.
Calls to Mills' Brandon-based business, the Mills Law Firm, for comment were not returned.
The resignation came without warning but wasn't unexpected, Alderwoman Margie Warren said.
"I had no idea he was going to resign. I think he's tired of fighting," she said. The board and Mayor Ryshonda Harper Beechem have been mired in a seemingly unending feud since Beechem took office last June. They've rarely seen eye to eye, and little has gotten accomplished. Nearly every veto Beechem has issued, the board has overridden.
In fact, Beechem said she was only made aware of Monday's special meeting about four hours before it began and couldn't make it because of a previous commitment.
Mills had been tasked as the arbiter between the two sides.
Beechem said she hasn't talked to Mills in at least five to six days.
"I haven't spoken with him or the board in a long time. I've been out of the loop on legal matters," she said.
Pelahatchie special meeting agenda for June 11, 2018.
Mills was also dealing with a state auditor's office investigation that concluded the town misspent $500,000 in drug forfeiture funds, most of it dating from the previous administration of Knox Ross.
He had said in a memo to the mayor that the town's use of the funds wasn't "illegal or improper."
More: Is it about race? Pelahatchie mayor and aldermen in power struggle
Warren said the board hired Mills as town attorney upon the recommendation of Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon.
She said it would be difficult to find an attorney to work for the town, but had some prospects lined up.
Said Beechem: "I will continue to do my job, but it's ultimately the board decision. All I can do is recommend."
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-06-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/13/curtis-flowers-investigation-turns-da-who-prosecuted-case/697637002/
Jackson resident Cedric Willis discusses his life since being released from prison after serving 12 years for a crime he didn't commit. DNA evidence exonerated Willis 10 years ago. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
After examining every aspect of the Curtis Flowers capital murder case, reporters for APM Reports were nearly ready to present what they’d found to District Attorney Doug Evans.
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by no direct evidence. Flowers has been tried six times for the 1996 murders of four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona, Mississippi. He remains on death row.
Doug Evans (Photo: File Photo/The Greenwood Commonw)
For the eighth episode, reporters researched Evans’ past: his high school years during school desegregation in Grenada, his tenure in law enforcement and his record as district attorney. Reporters also analyzed the composition of juries in hundreds of trials during Evans’ 26 years in office. The analysis found that Evans’ office was 4½ times more likely to strike black prospective jurors than white ones.
Then, finally, the journalists met with the man who's spent more than two decades trying to have Flowers executed.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes
by: Ross K. Baker
date: 2018-06-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/11/canada-im-sorry-you-deserve-better-than-donald-trumps-rudeness/690531002/
The fallout between President Donald Trump's administration and the prime minister of Canada continues. A White House trade adviser has tough words for Justin Trudeau. Buzz60
Dear Canada, I know that it’s presumptuous of me to apologize to you for the crude and unmannerly behavior of our president, but even as a private citizen I feel that you deserve better than to have your prime minister treated harshly and disrespectfully. The minimum of simple courtesy, not just diplomatic protocol, entitles him to be addressed respectfully by his title and not by the condescending use of his first name.
But that’s just one bit of human decency that the president forgot to have his valet pack for him when he left for Quebec. He also neglected to include a briefing book on the sturdy bonds of history that have marked us among the nations of the world as the best of neighbors.
Our president who purports to revere the military has forgotten that we and the Canadians have been comrades in arms since World War I. Maybe it slipped his mind —or perhaps he never learned — about the blood of Americans and Canadians mixing on the stony beaches at Dieppe in 1942 or our joint sacrifices on D-Day in Normandy beaches and across Northern Europe in 1944 and 1945.
More: 'The Great Revolt' explains how Trump wound up in the White House
Americans fought and died together in Korea, and after the attacks on the United States in September 2001, Canadians didn’t even need to be asked to be part of the NATO effort against the fanatics who had murdered our people. A friend like you deserves better from a president of the United States, and a dispute over tariffs just isn’t an important enough matter to call forth his disrespect.
But it is more than our military partnership over the years that brings us together. We also share the joys and beauty of our respective countries. Canadians are our guests at Old Orchard Beach in Maine in the summer and in Florida in winter. Americans visit Banff and Whistler. They go hunting in the woods of northern Ontario and sail in Nova Scotia. We are bound together both in sacrifice and joy. We have made Canadians into baseball fans and they have given us hockey including a Stanley Cup for a team in our own capital city.
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We enjoy a peaceful border with you, and along the frontier the American and Canadian towns are indistinguishable and in many places our currencies are interchangeable. We poke gentle fun at you for being “Canadian nice” but any U.S citizen who has visited your country knows the underlying reality of that stereotype. You are the best neighbors an American can have.
There is no satisfactory explanation for our president’s rudeness. He was a bad guest: he arrived late and left early and never said thanks. Worse than that, he petulantly refused to sign the joint communique and pouted because Russia hadn’t been included and suggested that the reason for Moscow’s absence was because of some vague minor incident rather than its armed invasion of an adjacent country. How sad it would be if President Trump’s understanding of neighborliness was patterned after Vladimir Putin’s.
I hope that our friends in Canada will overlook this singular act of rudeness and disrespect to their leader. Canadians, being who they are, probably will. I also hope that Americans will continue to recognize the rare privilege we enjoy in having Canada as our neighbor.
Ross K. Baker (Photo: File photo)
For our part, my wife and I are looking forward to visiting Quebec with our grandchildren in August and if the occasion arises, we will offer some words of apology although, knowing the Canadians, they’ll probably just politely dismiss it as a minor incident.
I am less charitable. Our president behaved badly and although atonement does not come easily to him, it is owed to our good friends north of the border.
Most sincerely,
A grateful American citizen.
Ross K. Baker is a distinguished professor of political science at Rutgers University and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/11/mbi-investigating-officer-involved-shooting-madison-county/690118002/
Jackson Weather Forecast, Monday, June 11, 2018 Clarion Ledger
(Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
A Madison County deputy shot and killed a man on Friday, officials said.
Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland said Michael Renfroe, 36, died of gunshot wounds in an incident involving a deputy.
It occurred on Old Natchez Trace Road, Breeland said, and he was called to the scene around 10:45 p.m. Friday.
Renfroe's wife Amanda told WLBT's Amber Gerard that her husband had gotten out of his car to pick up a "staff stick" he had dropped out the window when the deputy allegedly pulled up behind their truck without his lights on.
According to Amanda Renfroe's story, the complete interaction between the deputy and Renfroe is not clear, but she said the deputy told Michael Renfroe to stop, and he didn't because "he didn't know who it was because they didn't have any blue lights on."
Amanda Renfroe told WLBT that the deputy then tased her husband and that when he tried to turn over on the ground, the deputy allegedly shot him three times.
Sheriff Randy Tucker said he can't comment on the investigation except to say that Michael Renfroe did physically attack his deputy.
Also, he said, there is video of the incident.
"The truth is on video. At such time that MBI completes their investigation and are satisfied with the facts of the case, and once there’s a determination by the grand jury, we’ll release it," he said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the probe into the shooting, while the Madison County Sheriff's Department is looking into what happened leading up to the shooting.
This case is ongoing, authorities said.
This is a developing story.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-06-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/06/11/civil-rights-history-medgar-evers-assassinated/690346002/
June 11, 1864: A month after Louisiana abolished slavery, a celebration takes place. Since the late 17th century, African Americans who were enslaved had gathered at the Congo Square in New Orleans, singing, dancing and drumming. But now thousands of African Americans, many of whom had just been freed, pack the square and fill it with their celebrations.
June 11, 1963: Alabama Gov. George Wallace stands in front of a schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama in an attempt to stop desegregation by the enrollment of two African-American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. Wallace stands aside after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the Alabama National Guard. Later in life, Wallace apologizes for his opposition to racial integration.
President John F. Kennedy delivered his first radio-television address to the nation on civil rights on June 11, 1963 in Washington.
(Photo: Charles Gorry/AP)
June 11, 1963: After George Wallace’s action, President John F. Kennedy decides to deliver a civil rights speech — against his senior staffers’ advice. His speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, finishes with less than five minutes before Kennedy goes on the air at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Kennedy had jotted down a few notes in case he had to speak extemporaneously. He tells the nation that “every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated” and promises a bill to Congress the next week.
June 12, 1928: From June 12th to the 15th, the Democratic National Convention is held in Houston, Texas. One hundred black delegates are segregated from the white delegates by chicken wire.
June 12, 1963: NAACP leader Medgar Evers is assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. White supremacist Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, but each trial ends in a hung jury. In 1989, the case is reopened, and Beckwith is convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2001.
Medgar Evers, the NAACP's first field secretary for Mississippi, stands near a Mississippi state sign in this 1958 photo. He was assassinated in the driveway of his Jackson home in 1963, and his death helped to inspire changes in both Mississippi and the nation.
(Photo: Francis H. Mitchell/AP)
June 12, 1967: In Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that prohibiting interracial marriage violates the 14th Amendment. In 1958, an interracial couple that moved to Virginia had been sentenced to a year in prison. Their appeal led to the decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren: “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” A 2016 film captured the couple’s journey.
Mildred Loving and her husband, Richard P. Loving, are shown in this Jan. 26, 1965, photo. The couple's challenge of Virginia law banning interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court decision.
(Photo: Associated Press)
June 13, 1967: President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints the first African American, Thurgood Marshall, to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former NAACP lawyer, he had won 14 of the 19 cases he had argued before the high court. Marshall, then solicitor general of the United States, had been the lead attorney in the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended legal segregation in the schools.
June 14, 1963: Maryland Gov. J. Millard Tawes declares martial law and sends National Guard troops to Cambridge to quell protests there after segregationists clash with the 500 protesters marching downtown. Weeks after the National Guard has left, protesters are assaulted again, leading to more protests. The National Guard returns.
June 14, 1966: When the March Against Fear comes through Grenada, Mississippi, 600 gather at the foot of the town’s Confederate monument, culminating in Dr. Robert Green planting a U.S. flag on the statue. That event helps spawn a series of protests, including boycotts of still-segregated businesses. When protesters try to sit in the “white” section of the local movie theater, police arrest them.
June 14, 2007: A jury convicts James Ford Seale of taking part in the Klan’s 1964 abduction, beatings and killings of two black teenagers, Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore. Seale receives three life sentences on kidnapping and conspiracy charges.
June 15, 1864: Congress makes pay of black Union soldiers ($10 per month for all ranks) equal to that of white Union soldiers ($13 per month for privates, larger amounts for higher ranks) in the Civil War.
June 15, 1877: Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is given a dishonorable discharge from the Army in 1882 on charges later questioned as racially motivated. In 1999, President Clinton grants him a posthumous pardon.
June 15, 1943: The Congress of Racial Equality is founded in Chicago by a group of students including James Farmer and Bayard Rustin. They find inspiration in Mahatma Gandhi and his nonviolent victory over British colonial rule of India for their struggle to achieve full legal rights for African Americans.
June 16, 1822: Denmark Vesey, who bought his own freedom after winning $1,500 from the Charleston lottery, organizes a plot to revolt and liberate African Americans enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina. When news leaks about what is happening, Vesey and more than 30 others are executed. The church where Vesey is a leader, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, is burned to the ground. In the years that followed, Vesey remains a symbol of resistance, and the rebuilt church becomes a haven for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. speaking there in 1962. In 2015, it becomes the site of a massacre when a young white man shoots to death nine members.
June 17, 1966: Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, gives a speech at a rally in Greenwood, Mississippi, calling for “black power.” Television cameras catch the moment, and the slogan spreads rapidly, marking a turn in the civil rights movement. Carmichael and SNCC leader Willie Ricks have been credited with creating the slogan that helped fuel the push for self-determinism.
June 17, 1968: In Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., the U.S. Supreme Court rules 7-2 that racial discrimination in housing sales violates the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
by: Dave Mann
date: 2018-06-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/10/curtis-flowers-case-prosecution-witness-says-he-lied/685575002/
Jackson resident Cedric Willis discusses his life since being released from prison after serving 12 years for a crime he didn't commit. DNA evidence exonerated Willis 10 years ago. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
This story is the third in a five-part series, produced in collaboration with APM Reports, examining the case of Curtis Flowers. This series is adapted from “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast produced by APM Reports.
On June 15, 2010, Odell Hallmon took the witness stand to help send Curtis Flowers to death row.
Hallmon was himself a prisoner, serving a 14-year sentence in the State Penitentiary at Parchman for drug dealing.
That morning in the Montgomery County Courthouse, he was the star witness in the most notorious murder case the town has ever seen: the sixth trial of Flowers who was accused of killing four people at the Tardy Furniture store, in 1996.
Odell Hallmon (Photo: Carroll-Montgomery County Correctional Facility)
Hallmon testified that while they were in prison together, Flowers had confessed to committing the murders. It was powerful, compelling testimony that was critical to the jury convicting Flowers and sentencing him to death.
And, as Hallmon has now admitted, it wasn’t true. Flowers never confessed.
Hallmon’s stunning admission is part of a yearlong investigation of the Flowers case by a team of journalists from APM Reports. It also found that Hallmon — who has an extensive criminal history dating to the late 1980s — had seven felony charges against him dropped or dismissed after he became a witness for the prosecution in the Flowers case.
APM Reports has previously reported that Flowers’ conviction and death sentence are not supported by any direct evidence.
Flowers’ defense team has filed an appeal asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to examine new evidence in the case. They would likely include Hallmon’s recanting in that appeal, though it’s not clear if that would lead the court to overturn Flowers’ conviction.
Flowers has been tried five times previously for the Tardy Furniture murders. His first three convictions were overturned on appeal, and two other trials ended with hung juries.
Hallmon initially testified for the defense in Flowers’ second trial, in 1999. But he soon switched sides.
Odell Hallmon, testifying at Curtis Flowers' sixth and final murder trial, said the defendant admitting to the Tardy Furniture Store slayings.
In 2001, he told prosecutors in a letter and a videotaped statement, that his testimony in Flowers’ defense wasn’t true and that Flowers had committed the murders. He then testified for the prosecution in Flowers’ four subsequent trials, in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010. The latest conviction has so far been upheld on appeal.
On the witness stand in that sixth trial, in June 2010, Hallmon said that he and Flowers had been in neighboring cells in the late 1990s after Flowers had arrived at Parchman following his first conviction.
Hallmon said that over a series of conversations Flowers “admitted that he killed the people at Tardy Furniture,” according to the transcript. In court, he’d maintained that he never received preferential treatment for his testimony, that he’d come forward about Flowers’ confession because it had been weighing on his conscience.
Hallmon’s testimony was a key component of the case because it was the only direct evidence of Flowers’ guilt. In earlier stories APM Reports reported that no other witnesses can put Flowers at the crime scene and that there’s no evidence that Flowers ever possessed the murder weapon. Additionally two other jailhouse informants have claimed that Flowers confessed to them have since recanted.
Hallmon has now recanted, too.
‘A bunch of lies’
“As far as him telling me he killed some people, hell, naw, he ain't ever told me that. That was a lie,” Hallmon told APM Reports in an interview on a contraband cellphone from his prison cell. “It was all make believe. Everything was all make believe on my part. … All of it was just a fantasy, that's all. A bunch of fantasies. A bunch of lies.”
Clemmie Flemming points out to prosecutor Doug Evans, center, where she spotted Curtis Giovanni Flowers on the morning of four slayings at Tardy Furniture in Winona on July 16, 1996, onJune 14, 2010 in Greenwood, Miss. This was the sixth time Flowers, then 40, was tried for the slayings.
Asked about Hallmon’s recantation, District Attorney Doug Evans, who’s prosecuted Flowers in all six trials, said, “That's why the judge instructs the jury that a jailhouse informant is not very reliable, because they can change their statements very easily, for any reason.
“He told us the truth … The statement that he gave in court I made sure was the truth before we used it,” Evans said, refusing to elaborate. “I'm not going to tell you the facts. All I can tell you is that I made sure it was the truth, and I know it was true.”
In a meeting with the judge during the sixth trial, Evans said he made sure Hallmon was telling the truth by administering a lie detector test, according to court records. Lie detector tests are widely considered unreliable and easily manipulated, which is why they can’t be admitted as evidence in court.
Hallmon told APM Reports that he became a prosecution witness in spring 2001 after being arrested on multiple drug charges. He said that while in jail he talked to Evans about the Flowers case, and he saw a chance to gain his freedom.
Court records verify Hallmon’s account. By March 2001, he was in county jail with four charges pending against him for robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon, and two for selling drugs. After he told prosecutors that Flowers confessed to him, Hallmon saw three of his four charges go away. He pleaded guilty to the firearms charge and served a year in jail.
Hallmon said that after he became a prosecution witness, he escaped punishment for numerous arrests.
“You know, I was a criminal. I'm a criminal,” he said. “I was doing stuff out there in the streets, selling drugs, and a lot of times, police stopped me, and they would search my car. I used to get jammed up like every month. I was a local drug dealer, so they locked me up. I get locked up. I call Doug Evans. ‘Doug, they locked me up for some (expletive]).’
“Doug Evans say he would rather have a murderer in prison than a drug dealer. He'd rather see a murderer in prison than a drug dealer, right? This is what Doug said. I used them son of a bitches just like they used me.”
Felony charges dropped
An APM Reports investigation of Hallmon’s criminal history shows that at least seven felony charges against him fell away between 2001 and 2016.
In May 2005, Hallmon was facing five charges in two separate drug dealing incidents. Indicted as a habitual offender, Hallmon could have received 46 years in prison. Instead, he pleaded guilty to one drug charge and received a 14-year sentence; he served 8 1/2 years in prison, according to court records.
Following his release on Oct. 27, 2013, Hallmon returned to a life of crime. Six months after his release, Hallmon tried to run over a Carroll County sheriff’s deputy while escaping a drug bust. He was arrested on April 10, 2014, and charged with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, which, had he been convicted, could have landed him in prison for life.
But the case was delayed more than two years. While the case was pending, Hallmon was released from jail. On April 27, 2016, Hallmon murdered three people, including his ex-girlfriend, Marquita Hill, and her mother. He also tried to shoot his own 12-year-old son who was hiding in a closet, though the boy survived.
Hallmon pleaded guilty to the three murders and is serving three life sentences in Parchman. He will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. He now says that he lied about Flowers’ confession in exchange for favorable treatment from prosecutors.
“I helped them. They helped me,” he said. “That what’s it all boiled down to.”
More: Curtis Flowers: On death row, tried 6 times for same crime, but is he guilty?
The fourth story in this series will appear June 24. You can download episodes of “In the Dark” on iTunes. You can also read more about the Flowers case at inthedarkpodcast.org. APM Reports is the investigative and documentary reporting team at American Public Media, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
by: Emily Wagster Pettus
date: 2018-06-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/11/analysis-gun-ruling-includes-mississippi-history-lesson/687892002/
Two citizens outside the Chancery Court building give their opinion on whether guns should be allowed in courthouses. Jimmie E. Gates
A Mississippi Supreme Court decision about guns in courthouses provided different perspectives from several justices, including a history lesson about gun rights from Justice Leslie King, the only African-American currently serving on the nine-member court.
The majority of justices ruled Thursday that some chancery judges were wrong to ban people with enhanced concealed-carry licenses from taking guns into courthouses. The ruling said judges in the 14th Chancery District overstepped their authority because the Mississippi Constitution specifies that only the Legislature "may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons."
The Legislature enacted a law in July 2011 saying that people with enhanced concealed-carry licenses may take guns into courthouses, although not into courtrooms. Judges in the 14th Chancery District issued an order in November 2011 banning anyone other than law enforcement officers from having concealed guns in and around all parts of courthouses in the district in Chickasaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Webster counties.
A resident with an enhanced concealed-carry license challenged the chancery judges' ban, and the matter made its way to the state Supreme Court.
In a dissenting opinion Thursday, King provided a different perspective about which branch of government had intruded on the powers of another branch. King wrote that the Mississippi Constitution specifies the judicial branch is in charge of the administration of justice, and he said the Legislature had encroached on judges' responsibility to regulate what is allowed in courthouses.
Justice Leslie King (Photo: Special to the Clarion-Ledger)
King, a former state legislator from Greenville, also wrote about the constitutional right to bear arms, saying that the original intent of a concealed-carry provision in Section 12 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 "was to allow the Legislature to restrict and prohibit concealed carry, not to expand it."
King pointed out that Mississippi has a long record of restricting black people from owning or carrying guns.
"While a review of Mississippi law does not reveal any general restrictions or prohibitions on concealed carry of weapons prior to the late 1800s, African-Americans, both slave and free, were restricted from carrying or owning weapons," King wrote. "Slaves were generally banned from carrying weapons, absent permission from a justice of the peace on application of his master, and then the slave was only allowed to carry and use a weapon within the limits of his master's land."
He also wrote: "After the Civil War ended, Mississippi passed 'Black Codes' in 1865, which continued the prohibition against black people owning a gun without a special license."
During the early years of Reconstruction, communities of free black people "were often well-armed, and able to defend their rights.... White Southern entities consequently began to systematically disarm African-Americans," King wrote.
Historians broadly acknowledge that the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 — which the state still uses in amended form — was written to restrict African-Americans from participating in the political process and from enjoying full rights as citizens. Some of the provisions that have since been struck down included segregated schools, poll taxes and a ban on interracial marriage.
"Section 12 of the 1890 Constitution changed the right to bear arms back from 'all persons' to 'citizens,' and allowed the Legislature to regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons. This alteration was one of several 'craftily designed to obstruct or deny certain rights to African-Americans,'" King wrote, citing historian Westley F. Busbee Jr. "Such measures regulating or prohibiting concealed carry could be selectively enforced."
During debates in recent years, members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus have mentioned selective enforcement, raising concerns that African-Americans who are legally carrying guns could be questioned or treated more harshly than white people.
Also of interest: Gun on the floor: Mississippi lawmaker displays pistol to protest legislation
Also of interest: How to carry a gun in Mississippi: New laws explained
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-06-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/09/mayor-prayer-students-freedom-religion-constitution/687520002/
We all know about the First Amendment, but some Coloradoan reporters help clarify some misconceptions you might have about it. Cody Frohman
(Photo: Courtesy photo)
LONG BEACH — A national organization says the mayor of a coastal Mississippi city violated the constitution when he led high school students in a prayer last month.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation makes the accusation in a letter to Long Beach Mayor George Bass.
WLOX-TV reports that the letter says Bass acted in his official government role when he led students in prayer at an awards ceremony. It says the prayer “sends an official message of endorsement of religion over non-religion and Christianity over all other faiths, that excludes many Long Beach residents, including some of the students being awarded.”
The letter cites the First Amendment clause forbidding laws “respecting an establishment of religion.”
The foundation asks Bass, and the local school district, to specify steps that will be taken to address the foundation’s concerns.
A city official declined comment when contacted by WLOX.
Last year, the foundation sent a letter to school officials in Moss Point after a youth summit honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was held at Moss Point High on a Saturday. In 2016, Biloxi Schools received a letter from the organization about possible promotion of religion at events held at two Biloxi schools. A community-wide prayer service held before school starts each year in Ocean Springs also was brought to the attention of the Foundation in 2016, causing the event to be moved to a nearby church.
by: Mac Gordon
date: 2018-06-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/06/09/prison-problems-put-mississippis-bottle-tree-movement-risk/685427002/
Horticulturist Felder Rushing talks about his temporary exhibit of bottle trees now on display at the Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger
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Mississippi Prison Industries Corp.’s bottle tree farm and its reputation for turning out some of the most durable barbecue grills anywhere are in jeopardy after a recent scathing review by a legislative watchdog agency.
The state’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee, long known simply as PEER, has decided after a look at the industrial operations at several inmate campuses that the non-profit outfit should immediately get its finances straightened out or cease to do business.
That would be awful for the “bottle tree movement” that has captured my hometown of McComb and other municipalities in the state seeking to put an artsy look on otherwise drab surroundings.
Sunlight glistening through dark blue Milk of Magnesia bottles has brightened up residences for years in this state, mostly in the frontier areas, but a recent trend shows them coming to town — downtown — ready or not.
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Bottle trees first appeared in the Congo about a thousand years ago, according to one history. The African people, it is said, believed they could capture a bad vibe in a bottle during the night, cork it in the morning and toss it into the sea or river to end an evil spell.
Bottles of many colors have adorned dead trees and metal ones in rural areas for years. The renowned Mississippi Extension Service horticulturist Felder Rushing probably has done more to popularize their use in all locales and locations, and his 2013 book, simply titled "Bottle Trees," has inspired their planting almost everywhere. Rushing has more than a dozen in the yard of his Jackson home and was reportedly even blooming one in the back of his ancient pickup truck seen scooting around the city.
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Festivals featuring the decorative art of bottle trees have become de rigueur in several locations, as Mississippi tries to capitalize on a new sense of the cultural arts to carry it forward. I have noticed advertisements for sales of bottle trees from numerous floral and lawn and garden firms. They likely won’t be happy in my saying the best bottle tree skeletons of sure-to-last rebar (you can find the necessary bottles at flea markets and online) I know of are sold at the imperiled Mississippi Prison Industries’ retail shop on the west side of State Street in Jackson, half a block north of High Street.
PEER is not pleased with the overall performance of MPIC, whose cash balance has dropped from about $6 million to a fifth of that in just two years. The organization’s board has scheduled a special meeting this month to discuss PEER’s findings and respond to them in some fashion. How they’ll explain the financial incertitude will be interesting to follow.
Mississippi Prison Industries was formed almost 30 years ago as a way to teach inmates skills to utilize after their release and to hopefully reduce recidivism. Products ranging from bottle tree skeletons to heavy-duty barbecue grills to spools of surgical suture have been manufactured on prison grounds. My first barbecue grill from MPIC was one of those barrel jobs that lasted a decade or more, and I tendered one as a friend’s wedding gift.
MPIC’s charge to reduce the number of prisoners returning to prison is admirable, although the PEER report says it is impossible to tell the effectiveness of that program because MPIC has been derelict in tracking inmate participation.
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Considering recent-year findings of ethical shortcomings among the state prison system’s former leadership and the fact that inmates themselves are an integral part of this program, no one should be too astonished at these revelations.
Mac Gordon is a part-time resident of McComb. He is a former reporter for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-06-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/08/dickie-scruggs-recidivism/685067002/
Zach and Dickie Scruggs have been working to raise funds for and awareness of adult literacy. Their work is starting to pay off. Lici Beveridge/Hattiesburg American
Disbarred lawyer Dickie Scruggs will be the keynote speaker at an event to help former convicts assimilate into the community.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections is sponsoring the meeting at Christ United Methodist Church on Thursday, June 21 in Jackson.
The event is free, and lunch will be served.
Scruggs is known for participating in one of the most shocking legal scandals in Mississippi history. At one time he was one of the richest and most successful trial lawyers in the state, if not the nation. Scruggs spent six years in prison for bribery.
Scruggs now works with Second Chance Mississippi, a nonprofit he founded to raise awareness and funds for adult education and job skills training for Mississippians who lack a high school diploma.
Registration for the event is required. Go here to register. Contact Matthew L. Riley at 601-359-5294 for any questions.
Encouraged to attend are elected officials, members of the criminal justice system and the law enforcement community, mental health professionals, business leaders, non-profit organization leaders, faith-based organization members, and other community stakeholders.
by: Clarion ledger
date: 2018-06-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/06/08/journalism-role-democracy-summit/686029002/
A new study by MindEdge reveals that your critical thinking skills may not be as good as you think? Tony Spitz has the details. Buzz60
(Photo: News Media Alliance)
Nationally known reporters, political commentators and a host of Mississippi journalists will take part in a special day-long summit focusing on the vital role of journalism in democracy and the challenges it faces in the modern age of politics and social media.
"People, Politics, and the Press" will be held Saturday, July 14 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The summit is presented by the Mississippi Humanities Council, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the Mississippi Press Association Education Foundation, the Clarion Ledger, and Mississippi Today.
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
Confirmed speakers and moderators for the event include PBS NewsHour White House correspondent and NBC News contributor Yamiche Alcindor, Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith, New York Times national political correspondent Jonathan Martin, and longtime CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston, a native Mississippian.
"This program is part of a special initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation and administered by state humanities councils to explore the crucial role journalism plays in creating informed citizens and a healthy democracy," said Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director of the Mississippi Humanities Council.
In addition to keynote addresses, the agenda includes panel discussions on the work of and challenges to local newspapers in Mississippi, covering politics at the state capitol, and the debate over "fake news' and public trust in the media.
"This initiative is a response to the challenges the mainstream news media has faced in our current political and cultural climate," said MPB Executive Director Ronnie Agnew.
NBC News contributor Yamiche Alcindor (Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
Over a dozen Mississippi journalists representing organizations such as the Associated Press, Clarion Ledger, Mississippi Today, the Sun Herald, and several community newspapers are scheduled to participate.
Admission is free but registration is required. Lunch will be available for a fee of $14 at the time of registration. For a complete agenda, speaker and panelist biographies, and to register, visit the event website at peoplepoliticspress.com.
Ronnie Agnew is executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-06
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/07/gang-member-sentenced-federal-gun-and-drug-charges/681225002/
Federal, state and local officials address the gang presence in the Magnolia State. Therese Apel/ The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Harrison County Adult Detention Center)
A validated member of the Simon City Royals street gang was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in federal prison on gun and drug charges.
Chuck Mordecai Cumberland, 31, of Waveland, was arrested on July 27, 2016, by Waveland police officers as a felon in possession of three handguns and related ammunition. Police also seized less than one ounce of marijuana, a paraphernalia pipe, and three pills of prescription pain killers for which Cumberland did not have a prescription.
Cumberland had previously been convicted of felony driving under the influence by the Hancock County Circuit Court in February 2016 and was on state supervision after serving his prison sentence. After his arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm, his state supervision was revoked and he was returned to state prison.
After Cumberland’s release from the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Cumberland in the Saucier community in January 2017 during an attempted narcotics transaction.
Cumberland attempted to flee and, when caught by deputies, he was found with a loaded .38 caliber revolver, three plastic baggies of methamphetamine and a digital scale on his person. A fourth baggie of methamphetamine had fallen to the ground next to the vehicle Cumberland had been using.
The Mississippi State Crime Lab determined that the four baggies contained a total weight of approximately 2.9 grams of methamphetamine.
Cumberland pled guilty on February 23, 2018. Wednesday’s sentence will run consecutive to Cumberland’s current sentence for which he is now in prison on an unrelated state conviction.
Cumberland was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 39 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years supervised release, for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols.
Cumberland also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Waveland Police Department and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.
by: Jeff Clark
date: 2018-06-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/06/transgender-high-school-graduate-makes-history-mississippi/667191002/
According to the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 40 percent of high school students who are considered sexual minorities, LGBQ teens, consider suicide. Wochit
(Photo: Amanda McCoy/The Sun Herald)
PASS CHRISTIAN — Jorden Blosser walked across the stage at Pass Christian High and made history when he received his diploma.
Not because Jorden graduated at 16. Not because he is an honor graduate. Not because he got accepted into a prestigious private college in Kentucky.
Jorden is the first out transgender student to receive a diploma from Pass High, which has a total student body of less than 600 students.
"Overall, the student body has been really lovely and supportive," Jorden said of his classmates. "It's been a very welcoming community, but, yes, there are people there who don't like what I'm doing and think it's wrong but you're going to get that anywhere — the support I've received at Pass High has been amazing."
Although Jorden speaks highly of his school and its staff and students for supporting his decision to live as a man, things weren't always so easy.
"Growing up, my mom tried to make sure I was always being true to myself, and then I hit eighth grade and I just kept lying to myself," Jorden said during an interview for "Out Here in America," a podcast by the Sun Herald and McClatchy that explores what it's like being LGBTQ in the Deep South and in other areas of America's heartland.
Jorden said that he became "unhappy with the body I was in" when he was a freshman at Gulfport High School. He said he became depressed and stopped eating.
"I would feel really guilty if I ate more than 300 calories," he said. "I thought if I lost weight, I would look more masculine." His mother, Suzi Blosser, watched her child suffer.
"Jorden was battling anorexia, depression, and suicidal thoughts in the ninth grade as he was figuring out who he was," she said. "He did not finish ninth grade."
Depression, eating disorder
He said his depression was so severe that while he did not contemplate suicide, he had lost his will to live.
"It was a very hard time for me because I was struggling internally as I was coming to terms as who I as a person," Jorden said. "I had known the people I was going to school with for years before I knew who I was, so coming out to them was really hard."
Gulfport High also has a much larger student population compared to Pass High. Jorden said there were far more LGBTQ students at Gulfport, but there was also a much larger group of students who were not supportive of them.
"While I had relatively more support, I had double the amount of hate, but it was not fun," Jorden said on "Out Here in America."
His family decided home school was the best option for Jorden for the remainder of his freshman year. The next year he transferred to Pass Christian High. Although he was out to his friends, he was not out to everyone else and presented as female.
'The scariest part'
The depression and eating disorder took a toll on Jorden and he eventually came out to his parents.
"The scariest part was watching him suffer because I really thought I might lose my child," Suzi Blosser said. "People don't realize that when it comes to transgender children, the risk of losing them to suicide or depression is very high, and I wasn't willing to take that risk and not be supportive. When you have a child, you are supposed to do what's necessary to help them be happy, healthy and successful — and you have to deal with the child you are given and not the one you thought you had."
She said Jorden's transition took some getting used to for his family.
"I wish I could sit here and tell you we were immediately accepting, but that's not how it went," Suzi Blosser said. "But once we realized it wasn't a phase or something that was brought on by puberty, then we wanted to know as much about transgender children as we could."
The Blosser family attended a gender non-conforming conference in New Orleans.
"We all went, even his brother, who had the worst reaction to it of any of us," she said. "But, if you really love someone, you make the effort, and by the end of the day, his brother was calling Jorden his brother."
Jorden came out to his classmates as a male at the beginning of his junior year.
"It was a lot easier coming out at a new school instead of an old school," he said. He also started a Pass High chapter of the Gender and Sexualities Alliance Network and became the group's president.
Suzi Blosser said she loved to watch her son flourish, especially during his senior year.
Jorden became an activist and he was asked by people in the community to be on a public panel to discuss transgender issues — he did one at University of Southern Mississippi and he did one that was organized by the ACLU that also had representatives from the Department of Justice there, she said. "He brought up his GPA to a 3.5 and he achieved a score of 32 on the ACT."
College ahead
Jorden will attend Berea College in Kentucky in the fall. The college was the first in the South to become coeducational and racially integrated. The college, which is just outside of Lexington, provides students with full-tuition scholarships.
It only accepts about 33 percent of its applicants.
"I'm excited to be taking the next step in my life but I'm also nervous because I'm taking the next step in my life," he said. The college is also LGBT-friendly.
While Jorden will miss the beach, he said he's very excited that there is a Waffle House, one of his favorite hangout spots, about 20 minutes from campus.
Berea's student handbook says the following regarding personal conduct: "In light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, Berea College welcomes all peoples of the earth to learn and work here. This means that the College welcomes all students and staff who seek to live and to learn at Berea in the context of our mission as expressed in the Great Commitments; but this does not mean that all behavior is considered acceptable. Given Berea's inclusive welcome to all peoples of the earth, the College will not tolerate speech and acts that are harassing to anyone regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or other such distinguishing characteristics."
"One thing I noticed about Berea is that many of its restrooms are gender neutral," Suzi Blosser said. "They had already put these things in place for transgender kids and that was one of the things I was looking for as a mom because I certainly don't want him to have to deal with those types of things as well as dealing with college because college is hard enough."
But the college is 13 hours away, meaning Jorden is another young person that will be leaving Mississippi.
"I didn't want to go into debt for the rest of my life and I also wanted to go somewhere where I will be accepted," he said. "But the college I'm going to is very much like Pass High where I will be accepted and allowed to succeed — I'll be placed in a dorm with another trans man and I'll eventually be placed into transgender housing."
Jorden plans to become a lawyer.
"I want to become a civil rights lawyer and help other people," he said. "It makes sense."
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-06-03
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/04/robert-shuler-smith-hinds-da-impact-four-judicial-races/659097002/
Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith faces charges again in a new case. Anna Wolfe, The Clarion-Ledger
Could Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith influence the outcome of four judicial races in the metro area?
Four assistant district attorneys in Smith’s office are running for judicial posts including two against incumbent judges who filed Mississippi Bar complaints against Smith that are still pending.
A third is running to fill the seat of retiring Madison-Rankin Circuit Judge William Chapman. Smith is scheduled to be retried in Rankin County in September on a criminal charge involving a dispute with a former girlfriend. Another assistant DA is running for the seat of retiring Circuit Judge Jeff Weill, against whom Smith had planned to seek an indictment before he was indicted.
Smith said Friday he didn't influence his assistants to run for judicial posts. He said it was a personal decision each one made.
However, Smith said the public has recognized serious issues with some of the incumbent judges in Hinds County.
"It's a crisis and an emergency; some of the judges aren't fair and impartial to everyone," Smith said."The public is crying out for people to have a choice."
Smith said dangerous criminals are being released with no bond or low bond and his office is locked out of the process.
In some cases, prosecutors or public defenders will take a leave of absence to run for elected office, but Smith said his assistants are doing a great job of balancing their jobs with campaigning. He said he won't ask them to take a leave of absence.
In District 2, longtime Circuit Judge Tomie Green is facing a challenge from Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Kimalon Campbell.
Green said it's plain to see that a lot of candidates from Smith's office are running for judicial posts, but she said it is a free world and they have that right.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie T. Green (Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
Green said when voters are considering candidates, she encourages them to review "their honesty, their trustworthiness, their ability to be impartial and fair, and decide whether the people are really qualified for the position regardless of who is running."
Green wouldn't comment on whether she believes Smith encouraged Campbell to run against her.
Campbell hasn't responded to a request for comment about why she decided to seek the post.
In 2016, a formal Bar complaint was filed against Smith based on information Green provided.
The complaint said Green appointed Amy Whitten as special master to hear a petition from the attorney general to quash certain grand jury subpoenas Smith issued.
"Smith attempted to contact the special master ex parte requiring Judge Green to issue an order clarifying that ex parte communication with the special master was prohibited," the complaint reads.
On Feb. 12, 2016, Smith held a news conference in which he claimed Green had improper ex-parte communications with attorney Faye Peterson, who was district attorney prior to Smith, and other attorneys. He also accused Green of improperly setting bond and dismissing criminal cases "behind his back."
"I am appalled at your malicious and unprofessional statements made during a February 12, 2016, news conference," Green wrote in a letter to Smith on Feb. 17. "Your conduct was intentional, retaliatory and improperly coercive at a time when I had under advisement an issue dealing with the impropriety of subpoenas you issued,"
In a race for Hinds County Court judge, one of the challengers facing incumbent Melvin Priester is Assistant DA Greta Harris.
Bridgette Marie Morgan, a former Hinds County public defender, is also running for that post.
Harris said she decided to seek the post "after much prayer and thoughtful consideration."
"Quite frankly, assistant DA’s move on to judicial posts all the time," Harris said. "Our current senior judge was an ADA at one time, and so was retiring circuit judge Jeff Weill.
"The voting public for years has been complaining about a system that is broken. My grandma use to say that it is a poor wind that never changes."
When asked if he thought Smith may have encouraged the assistants to run against him and other judges, Priester would only say "they have the right to run."
In 2016, Priester filed a complaint with the Bar against Smith, stemming in part from the DA's allegedly "raucous" courtroom behavior in a hearing on March 3, 2016, for Christopher Butler.
In June 2016, Smith was charged in a six-count misdemeanor affidavit of providing information to assist criminal defendants, including Butler. Those charges were dropped and Smith was indicted on felony charges in September 2016 involving Butler's case.
In 2011, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents raided Butler's Jackson home and found four gallon-sized bags of marijuana and almost $80,000. He was subsequently convicted. Butler maintained MBN agents planted the drugs, and Smith believed him.
"Mr. Robert Smith, District Attorney for Hinds County, appeared before me in my courtroom and proceeded to act irrational, manic, and virtually out of control," Priester wrote to the Mississippi Bar March 14, 2016. "While I regret having to file this report, Mr. Smith's behavior was so bizarre, I am required to do so."
The Mississippi Bar then filed the formal complaint with the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Pat McNamara, another assistant district attorney, is running In the District 1 Hinds County Circuit Court judge race to replace Weill, who is running for a seat on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. McNamara said Monday that it was strictly his decision to run.
"I know I'm the most qualified and most knowledgeable of the candidates," McNamara said.
McNamara said he has 18 years of legal experience with 17 of those years as a prosecutor. He was a former assistant with the state attorney general's office and a former police officer before becoming an attorney.
Others running in that race are Matt Allen, Minor Buchanan, Bruce Burton, Bill Walker and Adrienne Wooten.
Smith wanted to indict Weill, who was presiding over Butler's case, and two assistant attorneys general prosecuting one of Butler's cases, for preventing him from dismissing charges against Butler. On the day Smith planned to present cases against them to a grand jury, the attorney general's office had Smith arrested. Weill filed a six-page order barring Smith from the grand jury just one day after that.
In a race for Circuit Court for Madison and Rankin counties, voters will choose a successor to retiring Circuit Judge William Chapman. The candidates include Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Jamie McBride.
McBride was indicted with Smith on felony charges that the two conspired to hinder the prosecution of Butler. The charges against McBride were dropped a couple of months later. Smith was eventually tried on the charges, but a jury cleared him.
McBride said Friday that he has 28 years of legal experience and has served as a prosecutor for more than 20 years in the metro area.
"I think I'm well qualified and have the most experience of the candidates running for the post," McBride said.
Other candidates in that race are Dewey Arthur, who is an assistant district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties, and attorneys Dan Jones, Bruce McKinley and Andy Stewart.
McBride said he hasn't talked with the other prosecutors about their decision to run. He said Smith wished them well, but had no role in his decision to run.
"The time was right with Judge Chapman retiring," McBride said. "It's tough to run against an incumbent judge."
McBride said he didn't know why he was initially charged in the Butler case and believes he was completely vindicated when the charges were dropped.
In July 2017, Butler received a 30-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine for possession of marijuana.
More: Qualifying deadline: 5 judges in Hinds County not seeking re-election
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-03
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/04/new-assistant-u-s-attorneys-hired-assist-mississippis-violent-crime/670128002/
In conjunction with Project Eject, the U.S. Marshals task force arrested 45 people in an anti-gang operation in Jackson the week of April 9, 2018. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
Five new assistant United States attorneys will be hired in the Southern District, according to a Monday release from U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.
The effort is aimed at increasing resources to combat violent crime, enforcing immigration laws, and helping roll back the opioid crisis.
“The Department of Justice is going on offense against violent crime, illegal immigration, and the opioid crisis—and today we are sending in reinforcements,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The increase in manpower across the country is the largest in decades as the U.S. Department of Justice is allocating 311 new AUSAs to assist in priority areas. Overall they will be hiring 190 violent crime prosecutors, 86 civil enforcement prosecutors, and 35 additional immigration prosecutors.
Many of the civil enforcement AUSAs will support the newly created Prescription Interdiction & Litigation Task Force that targets the opioid crisis at every level of the distribution system.
“I want to thank Attorney General Sessions for these new federal prosecutors, which will allow us to do even more good work under Project EJECT in the City of Jackson and will help us expand our crime fighting abilities exponentially throughout the Southern District of Mississippi,” Hurst said in the news release.
EJECT stands for “Empower Jackson Expel Crime Together.”
In December, Hurst launched Project EJECT, a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime in Jackson through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. Project EJECT is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Sessions reinvigorated Project Safe Neighborhood in 2017 as part of the department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. attorney’s offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
During the first six months of Project EJECT, the U.S. attorney’s office has indicted over 50 criminals in Jackson, ranging from carjacking to business robberies to felons illegally possessing firearms to illegal drugs. According to recent statistics released by the Jackson Police Department, the violent crime numbers for Jackson have significantly decreased, dropping almost 25 percent from this same time last year.
In the Southern District, four of the new AUSAs will focus on violent crime and one on affirmative civil enforcement.
“The addition of a new civil prosecutor will also help us go on the offensive in attacking the opioid crisis here at home, as well as holding those who defraud the American taxpayer accountable in our courts," Hurst said.
To see more information on the locations of the 311 Assistant United States Attorney positions, visit www.justice.gov.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-03
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/04/man-serve-more-than-24-years-federal-drug-charges/670873002/
A man has been sentenced to more than 24 years in federal prison on drug charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Demetrius Darnell Mason, 40, of Moss Point, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to serve 24 years and four months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was convicted on possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, said U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam in Monday's release.
On November 29 after receiving information involving drug trafficking activity, DEA agents observed FedEx deliver a package to a residence in Biloxi.
Mason retrieved the package from the residence and then led police on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood. DEA agents arrested Mason and found almost a kilogram of methamphetamine in the package.
Mason was also ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shundral H. Cole.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-06-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/05/jackson-police-officers-not-indicted-fatal-shootings/672619002/
Crystalline Barnes was shot and killed in January after hitting a patrol car and attempting to run over officers, according to the Jackson Police Dept. Harold Gater
A Hinds County grand jury voted not to indict Jackson police officers involved in three recent shooting deaths in the city.
The report of the April Hinds County grand jury shows 32 no bills, a legal term for not indicting individuals.
District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said Tuesday some of the cases are still under review by his office although the grand jury didn't indict.
The Jackson Police Department hasn't named the officers involved in the shootings.
Attorneys recently filed a petition in federal court in Jackson seeking to force JPD to provide the names of the officers involved in the January shooting death of 21-year-old Crystalline Barnes.
Attorneys for Barnes' family said in court papers they believe one of the officers is Rakasha Adams. They didn't have a name for the other officer involved in the Jan. 27 shooting of the mother of two small children.
The grand jury report lists the other officer in the Barnes case as Albert Taylor.
Police reports said officers had been responding to a call of a vehicle running another car off the road. They pulled Barnes' over.
"After stopping the suspect vehicle and requesting an additional unit for assistance, the vehicle pulls away," the news release on the incident reads.
According to police reports, after stopping, Barnes turned the car around to escape the responding unit. She then allegedly began driving backward toward an officer who had gotten out of the car.
The officer fired shots, but was able to get out of the way before Barnes' car hit a patrol car. According to police, Barnes then began driving forward again, toward the first officer, who also fired shots.
Barnes' car came to rest against a utility pole just off the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Attorneys for Barnes' family also said they believe Adams was the officer involved in a Nov. 15 officer-involved shooting death.
The grand jury report doesn't list the specific cases, but shows the grand jury also didn't indict Adams for homicide in a 2018 case and a 2017 homicide.
The report shows Albert Taylor as the name of a person believed to be an officer not indicted in the same 2018 case number with Adams.
The report also includes the names of two known JPD officers, Roy Dickerson and Warren Hull, not indicted for homicide in a case earlier this year.
They are the officers believed to have been involved in the February shooting death of , Lee Edward Bonner, 37. Bonner was fatally shot by Jackson police in the 1300 block of Deer Park Street and later died.
JPD officials said narcotics officers were in the area investigating possible drug activity when they came in contact with two men who immediately ran.
Officers chased both suspects on foot to a nearby abandoned house. One man escaped while the other man produced a handgun and fired at the officers. They returned fire, striking the suspect. Bonner was transported to an area hospital. His weapon was recovered and was later determined to be stolen, according to JPD.
Standard procedure for officers in police-involved shooting deaths to be placed on administrative leave with pay, and that was the case in the separate shootings.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba recently put together a task force that will help him decide whether the city should make public the identities of police officers in officer-involved shooting deaths.
Also, the Jackson City Council voted last month to require all shootings involving Jackson Police Department officers be investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
More: Court petition seeks to force JPD to divulge the name of 2 officers in fatal shooting
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-06-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/05/runoff-determine-wickers-opponent-mississippi-senate-race/642965002/
Sela Ward's husband is running for U.S. Senate in the state of Mississippi. But it's not the first time he has considered running for office. sarah warnock/clarion ledger
(Photo: Clarion Ledger file photo)
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker comfortably won his Republican primary Tuesday, as expected, with Democrats David Baria and Howard Sherman headed to a runoff to choose Wicker's opponent in the November general election.
Baria, a state representative from Bay St. Louis and House minority leader, will face Sherman, a Los Angeles-native venture capitalist and husband of Emmy Award-winning actress Sela Ward of Meridian.
Sherman had a tight lead with 31.9 percent of the vote to Baria's 31.2 percent, according to incomplete and unofficial results Tuesday night.
MS03: Michael Guest hold strong edge heading into runoff with Whit Hughes
"For all the things said about me and to come forth as a guy with solutions — it's clear my focus on a real plan, accountability and real world solutions instead of politics as usual, the state responded to in spades," said Sherman, whose allegiance to the Democratic party was questioned when it was revealed he donated $5,000 to Wicker last summer.
Sherman said he's excited for the upcoming June 26 runoff, which will illustrate "the old versus the new."
Baria said in a statement he's ready for the race, adding, "I look forward to three more weeks of talking to the Mississippians I grew up with and have lived and worked with all my life."
Baria and Sherman ran Tuesday in a field of six Democrats that included state Rep. Omeria Scott, of Laurel. None garnered more than 50 percent of the total vote, forcing a runoff.
Baria's connections inside the Democratic party and Sherman's celebrity and funding gave them an edge over Scott, the candidate with the longest political career of 25 years.
Either Baria or Sherman will face an uphill battle against the well-funded incumbent, and if successful, would be the first Mississippi Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in over 35 years.
Wicker, endorsed by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, raised almost $5 million since the beginning of 2017, according to the latest data available on the Federal Election Commission website.
He raised more than five times the combined total raised by all other candidates in the race so far. The two-term Senator already had more than $1 million in his campaign fund.
Without a viable opponent, Wicker spent $3.2 million before the primary, leaving him with a $3.4 million war chest for the general election in November.
Sherman had the largest campaign fund of any Democrat at $628,215. He had loaned $500,000 to his own campaign and raised the remaining $128,215 from individual donors, many from California and New York. He spent $386,876, including $220,183 to Joe Trippi, who managed Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones' successful Senate run in 2017.
"You can't buy an election in Mississippi," Baria said in his statement.
Baria raised $251,004 and spent $96,169.
Wicker initially bought ads critical of political firebrand state Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, who qualified to run against the incumbent but ended up switching to the special election to replace recently retired longtime U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.
Baria had jumped into the race for Wicker's seat with hopes he would eventually face McDaniel, the tea party candidate whom Cochran narrowly defeated in a Republican primary runoff in 2014.
Baria chose not to follow McDaniel to run in the special election, saying he wouldn't leave the race in which he already committed to run.
Scott entered the race shortly after arriving back to Mississippi from Texas, where she had been receiving treatment for breast cancer. She reported just one $20,000 contribution from herself to her campaign and expenditures totaling $15,808, according to the FEC website.
Baria's campaign manager and law partner Brandon Jones commended Scott on her showing in the race — pulling nearly 24 percent of the vote, unofficially — considering her shoestring campaign budget.
"I have served with Rep. Scott and I appreciate her leadership," Baria said in his statement. "...The race now will be between a Mississippi Democrat and a California Republican."
Sherman said the election shows people are receptive to him, however unconventional a candidate. "I'm thankful to the state of Mississippi that they opened their arms to change and possibility and a new way," he said.
Other Democratic candidates with little campaign funds — a former school teacher, a chemist and school bus driver and a concrete layer — received a combined roughly 13 percent of the vote Tuesday. Those candidates delivered a familiar underdog message during their campaigns, expressing frustrations with the nation's political climate as they sought representation for Everyman.
Asked if he could be reached on his pre-paid cell phone late election night, candidate Jensen Bohren said, "Nope. I'm going to be in Natchez trying to poll vault the Mississippi river using a cement truck and a dozen trained penguins."
Wicker's similarly unfeasible Republican opponent, 68-year-old businessman Richard Boyanton, called for a "re-do" of the primary five days before the election in an email to dozens of members of the news media. He said Facebook had been denying his advertisements and the social networking site "should pay for the new election." Boyanton gave himself a $60,000 loan to run his campaign.
Wicker's victory was clear before 8 p.m., less than an hour after polls closed.
"We will keep talking to voters about what we've been able to accomplish and our plans for continuing to promote policies that will grow our economy, secure our borders, and keep Americans safe," Wicker said in a statement.
The general election for U.S. Senate will take place November 6, the same day as the special election to replace Cochran following his resignation in April due to health concerns.
That election is a jungle primary including McDaniel, Cochran's temporary replacement Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, former U.S. House Representative and secretary of agriculture in the Clinton administration.
Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, speaks about the importance of this year's mid-term federal election for the GOP, during a media sit-down in Ridgeland, Miss., Tuesday, May 1, 2018. He was joined by Republican U.S. Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi. Thune was in Mississippi participating in fundraising events for the Republican Party.
State Rep. David Baria walks to the Hancock County Library in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, with his son, Max, 10, and wife, Marice, to vote. Baria is running in the Democratic primary for Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker's seat.
Howard Sherman, Democratic candidate for his party's nomination for the U.S. senate seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, right and his wife, actress Sela Ward, discuss election issues in a Jackson, Miss., soul food restaurant, with customer Earnest Clincy during a working lunch, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Sherman and his wife campaigned through central Mississippi, stumping for votes in today's party primary. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-06-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/06/curtis-flowers-did-prosecutors-strike-black-jurors-get-conviction/672531002/
A death row inmate’s final words set two men, wrongfully convicted of a murder, free. Veuer's Nick Cardona (@nickcardona93) has that story. Buzz60
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
Curtis Flowers has been tried six times for the murders of four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona in 1996. In those six trials, a clear pattern emerged. When the jury was all white, or nearly all white, Flowers was convicted. In the two trials that had more than one African-American juror, the result was a hung jury.
His fourth and most recent conviction, in 2010, was handed down by 11 white jurors and only 1 black juror. That panel wasn't representative of Montgomery County's population, which is about 45 percent black. So how did it end up that way? How did Flowers get all-white or nearly all-white juries four times?
The courtroom where a panel of 11 white and one black jurors convicted Curtis Flowers of capital murder and sent him to death row.
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by no direct evidence.
In the seventh episode of the 10-episode season, we look at the juries that judged the evidence in the case. We dug through thousands of pages of jury selection transcripts in Flowers’ trials. Our examination revealed that prosecutors routinely struck African Americans from the jury pools.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-06-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/06/06/inmate-death-investigated-rankin-county/676788002/
(Photo: Rankin County jail)
The death of an inmate in the Rankin County jail is under investigation by the sheriff's dept. and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
William Aycock IV, 35, died Tuesday night. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said around 10 p.m. a detention officer alerted the staff of a medical emergency. An ambulance was called and Aycock was taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center where he died.
Authorities are working to determine the cause of death.
by: Rachel James-Terry
date: 2018-06-01
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2018/06/02/trump-and-kim-kardashian-talk-prison-reform/665068002/
Donald Trump may have postponed his meeting with Kim Jong Un but he did meet another famous Kim: Kim Kardashian West Time
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
This used to be a funhouse
But now it's full of evil clowns
It's time to start the countdown
I'm gonna burn it down down down
I'm gonna burn it down — Pink
Life will never be the same. Nope. Never. Nor will my eyes. It’s the picture that I cannot un-see. Kim Kardashian West standing next to Donald Trump in the oval office as if they are the president and first lady of the alternate-universe.
She is reminiscent of Morticia Adams with her long, tousled waves of hair complete with a signature part. Clad in all black attire, Kardashian West is either mourning her visit or dressed for her virtual funeral. (Trump supporters seem to be killing their careers as of late.) Her expression sedate as if the photographer suggested: ‘Give me face. Give me wilted flower.’
In stark and clownish contrast, Trump is seated at the Resolute desk. His cheeks jut outward from the force of his broad sneer, or maybe that was a smile. Because you know, prison reform is happy stuff.
President Trump and Kim Kardashian West. (Photo: AP)
It is easy to understand why Kardashian West was moved by the story of Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old great-grandmother sentenced, in 1996 to life with no parole for drug charges. She is a non-violent, first-time offender who has spent over two decades in a cage. It was widely reported that Kardashian West’s visit to the White House was to request clemency for Johnson. Kudos to Kim K. Yes, our (un)justice system is more than problematic.
At the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown, a sex-trafficking victim, shot and killed, in self-defense, the 43-year-old man who paid to have sex with her. Tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison, Brown has been incarcerated for a little over 10 years. Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z brought us the documentary on 16-year-old Kalief Browder. Accused of stealing a backpack, the teen spent three years in Riker’s Island without a trial and committed suicide not long after his release. Then there is honor student Dayonn Davis, 15, who is riding out five years in prison after being tried as an adult for stealing a pair of Nike Air Jordan’s. Stories like these are plentiful and non-stop.
The skin color of the inmates is one conspicuous common thread that weaves them together. It is widely known that mass incarceration has plagued communities of color since the abolishment of slavery. It started with the black Jim Crow codes, and once those were overturned a white America, witnessing and fearing the progress and advancements of African Americans, began to heavily enforce or manufacture crimes against black people. It’s a relentless system whose purposeful imbalance, devastation and havoc have grown. Someone needs to snatch that blindfold off the eyes of Lady Justice and, if it happens to be a reality TV star-beauty magnate and the orange-skinned president, well, so be it.
Based on the demographics of the “criminals” Trump has pardoned thus far, I don’t think he has the — let’s just say — stomach for this. Perhaps Jared Kushner, who I hear is in charge of prison reform among a litany of odd jobs that he is not qualified for, will have more empathy and intellect. Maybe not.
And while I believe Kardashian West is sincere in her journey to right the wrongs of the law, I was slightly agitated watching an interview where she explained that her motivation for prison reform stemmed from no longer being fulfilled by material things. She wants to pour a percentage of her multimillion-dollar empire into something that would make her feel whole. She spoke as if she had been flipping through a catalog for a passion project and had found one. Does the term “white savior complex” sound familiar?
See, watching the young black men and women I grew up with being harassed by police, carted off to jail, unable to make bail, and children left fatherless or motherless to fend for themselves is a reality none should face. I, too, have personal accounts of police and injustice trauma that have been sentenced to life in my memories.
What we need is sincere, combined bipartisan efforts to reform the prison industry and dismantle prison for profit. I hope for Kardashian West; this will be more than a hobby that loses its appeal when she realizes how much hard work is required. What we do not need is photo opp’s for Trump to share on Twitter giving the illusion that he cares about something other than his ego.
A false sense of hope only momentarily pacifies while families, futures and lives blow in the wind. And since Kardashian West exposed our eyes to the odd spectacle of her with the president-in-creep, please make the sacrifice worthwhile.
James-Terry: Starbucks incident serves as a barometer for America
More from James-Terry: MLK, 50 years later and still no economic justice
by: Marshall Ramsey
date: 2018-06-01
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2018/06/02/marshall-ramsey-puerto-rico/660935002/
The revised hurricane death toll in Puerto Rico is staggering.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-02
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/03/2-accused-killers-allegedly-beaten-recent-jail-fights/667526002/
Jackson police, along with several federal, state, and local agencies, took Booker Tarvin into custody Thursday night on a traffic stop. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
At least two men accused in fatal shootings have allegedly been assaulted by other inmates inside the Raymond Detention Center during the course of recent jail fights.
Jamie Hoard, 25, was charged with capital murder and aggravated assault in a double shooting that left a mother dead and her daughter critically wounded on April 30.
Officers responded to a burglary-in-progress call on Wingfield Street, where they found the front door of a house had been forced open.
Evvie Williams, 57, had been shot and fled to a neighbor’s home, where she later died. Williams' daughter Jaalyn, 24, was shot in the face.
JPD identified Jamie Hoard as their suspect in the case and he surrendered to police when his name and photo began to circulate in the media.
Hinds County Sheriff's Department Maj. Pete Luke confirmed that Hoard was injured in a fight in the jail at Raymond Saturday night and is being treated at a local hospital.
Last week, the Clarion Ledger received an email about 22-year-old Booker Tarvin, who was accused in the shooting death of Terry Jordan, 33. The email, which claims to be from his mother, stated that he also had been assaulted by other inmates.
Booker Orlandus Tarvin Jr., 22, is accused in the shooting death of Terry Jordan, 33.
"Broken nose and stitches all for being considered guilty before proven innocent," the email stated.
Luke said he was not aware of that fight but that he would look into it and gather more information.
Jordan was found shot to death in his vehicle at around 11 p.m. May 20 at an apartment complex. Authorities said he had been shot several times.
Tarvin was arrested by Jackson police on the night of May 24 following a traffic stop. He had been riding with a family member and a female passenger when they were pulled over by authorities from multiple agencies.
Tarvin's father, Booker "Shanky" Tarvin Sr., of Jackson, was sentenced to more than 12 and a half years in federal prison in 2013 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine hydrochloride and “crack” cocaine. Tarvin Sr.'s arrest was part of Operation Paperchase, an extensive investigation targeting illegal narcotics distribution in Jackson.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-06-02
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/03/canton-man-found-dead-behind-abandoned-house/667611002/
A 41-year-old Canton man is dead and police are searching for a suspect after a Saturday evening shooting.
Authorities say Thaddeus Hamblin was found in the backyard of an abandoned house on Martin Luther King Drive.
According to WJTV, police say Hamblin might have been fleeing from someone on Isabella Street, and was cutting through the yard when he died of his wounds.
Multiple shell casings were found on some adjacent property, authorities said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is assisting the Canton Police Department in the case, officials said.
by: Marshall Ramsey
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2018/05/31/marshall-ramsey-jpd/660384002/
JPD officer accused of abuse fired.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/31/11-charged-federal-drug-trafficking-operation-highlife/659674002/
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Ten people from east central Mississippi and one from Texas are facing federal indictments for drug trafficking after authorities targeted a multi-state drug trafficking operation.
“Illegal drugs are killing our youth, destroying families, and fueling violent crime across our state and our country," said U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.
The indictments were unsealed Wednesday and resulted from an extensive Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation dubbed "Operation Highlife."
Hurst said the drug network included elements in Texas, California, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. It involved the distribution of over 40 kilograms of methamphetamine, over 3 kilograms of cocaine and over 100 pounds of marijuana.
"This trafficking organization is not just in Mississippi, but it's encompassed in several states. Instead of just going after the individual purchasers or the individual dealers, we have to hit the whole network in order to dismantle it and stop the supply of it and end it from harming our citizens in our communities," Hurst said.
Eight of the 11 indicted were from Philadelphia.
"This criminal organization is responsible for a significant portion of the illegal narcotics coming into not only Philadelphia but east central Mississippi as well," said Philadelphia Police Chief Grant Myers. "Almost all of the crimes we deal with, from assaults to thefts, and everything in between, can be traced back to illegal narcotics. Taking down an organization of this size will have a significant impact on crime in our area.”
The following individuals have been indicted as a result of Operation Highlife:
• Brandon Deshanta Miller, 32, of Dallas, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, Miller faces up to life in prison and a $30.25 million fine.
• Shandlette Hudson, 42, of Philadelphia, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Hudson faces up to life in prison and a $20 million fine.
• Dijon James Seales, a/k/a “DJ,” 28, of Philadelphia, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted, Seales faces up to life in prison and a $25.5 million fine.
• Lorenzo Dyrell Hickman, 32, of Philadelphia, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams or more of cocaine. If convicted, Hickman faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and up to a $20 million fine.
• Latrice Cherrrell Boler, 29, of Philadelphia, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Boler faces up to life in prison and to a $10 million fine.
• Chaddis Demond McAfee, 36, of Philadelphia, is charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. If convicted, McAfee faces up to life in prison and a $10.5 million fine.
• Courtny Orlando Campbell, 27, of Philadelphia, is charged with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Campbell faces up to life in prison and a $10 million fine.
• Danny L. Drake, 43, of Philadelphia, is charged with possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Drake faces up to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
• Kevin Ashley Wells, a/k/a “Big 50,” 37, of Philadelphia, is charged with possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Wells faces up to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
• Jimmie Terrell Harrison, 43, of Forest, is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, Harrison faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
• Tray Beamon, 32, of Louisville, is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. If convicted, Beamon faces up to life in prison and a $20 million fine.
“As a result of these arrests, Mississippi is a safer place to live, work and raise a family,” said MBN Director John Dowdy.
Jere T. Miles, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, oversees a five-state area of operations that includes Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
“Methamphetamine has devastated countless communities due to the dramatic health and public safety consequences that typically accompany its introduction into an area,” Miles said.
Since Hurst has been in office, there have been several multi-level busts and operations that have targeted drug trafficking organizations and gangs. Many of those have been tied to Project EJECT, a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary initiative that stands for: Empower Jackson Expel Crime Together.
"The message is clear that we're not going to stop. we're going to work together across county lines, across district lines, and there's no one who can avoid us, who can hide from us, and we're going to make sure we put an end to this type of criminal activity in southern Mississippi," Hurst said.
Arraignments are scheduled for Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Ball at 9 a.m. and before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda R. Anderson at 9:30 a.m.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the MBN. Assisting agencies include the police departments of Philadelphia, Flowood, Carthage, Louisvill and Union; the Neshoba County, Scott County, Rankin County and Hinds County sheriff’s departments, Neshoba County District Attorney’s Office; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Mississippi Highway Patrol; U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi; and the U.S. Marshal Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk is prosecuting the case.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/31/fundraising-totals-congressional-races-mississippi/659314002/
Mississippi state rep. David Baria has jumped into the Senate race with a mission focused on social justice and David prevailing over Goliath.
A low-key and likely fruitless U.S. Senate primary is drawing big bucks from Hollywood stars, while an unusually quiet GOP primary for Congress is shaping up to be quite an expensive election.
Howard Sherman, a venture capitalist and husband of Meridian-native actress Sela Ward, has the largest campaign chest of any Democratic candidate with more than $628,000 on hand.
However, he loaned his campaign $500,000 at the start of his candidacy.
From donors, Sherman has raised only half that of his opponent, state House Democratic minority leader Rep. David Baria.
Baria, who represents Bay St. Louis, raised just over $251,000 and spent $95,670, leaving him with over $154,800 cash-on-hand three weeks before the election, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, which cover fundraising and spending through May 15.
Howard Sherman: How Sela Ward's husband became a U.S. Senate candidate
Sherman raised $128,215, over three-fourths of which came from Democratic campaign donation conduit ActBlue. Because donors gave to ActBlue instead of directly to Sherman, the names of the individuals are not included on the reports.
Many of the other individual donations came from donors in California and New York — no surprise, considering Sherman was raised and lived most of his life in Los Angeles, and celebrities Robert De Niro and Alex Baldwin hosted a fundraiser for him in Manhattan.
Sherman has spent $386,876, the majority of which is attributed to political consultants for campaign management and media buys. That includes $220,183 to Joe Trippi, who managed Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones’ successful Senate run in 2017.
Little-known candidates Jensen Bohren and Jerone Garland have raised $1,800 and $600, respectively, according to the latest data on the FEC website. Reports for candidates Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel and Victor Maurice were not available online.
Maurice said he has not taken any donations, but has spent some of his own money. Scott did not return calls seeking comment.
The winner of the June 5 primary will likely face incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker in the general election. Wicker, who has no serious Republican primary challenger, has raised more than $5.5 million. He has $3.4 million cash on hand.
An updated campaign finance report for Republican Richard Boyanton was not available on the FEC website.
Congressional race more expensive
In the District 3 congressional race, Whit Hughes led the pack in fundraising with $430,577, giving him a financial edge against GOP primary opponent Michael Guest, who raised $396,411.
The majority of contributions to Guest, who is district attorney for Rankin and Madison counties, appear to come from attorneys and other professionals as well as from political action committees.
Both candidates are seen as the likely favorites in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, who is supporting Guest. A runoff is expected June 26.
Sid Salter: What will it take to win the Mississippi U.S. House race?
Fellow Republican Perry Parker led in money in April with the help of a $240,000 loan from himself to his campaign. He has since slipped to third in fundraising totals, trailing $6,000 behind Guest.
Story continues below graph.
With the winner of the Republican primary the heavy favorite to win the general election, there was little to report in the Democratic primary.
Michael Aycox reported raising just over $1,500 with $31.46 cash on hand. Information for Michael Evans was not available, but he said he has filed his report. He said he raised about $8,000 and spent "pretty much all of it."
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/31/jackson-police-officer-firing-reaction/659685002/
A Jackson Police Department press conference on officer misconduct. Officer Vincent Lampkin was terminated. Therese Apel, Clarion Ledger
The father of a Jackson high school student-athlete, who said he was abused by a police officer, went on Facebook to express his gratitude for "how swiftly justice was served."
In a news conference on Wednesday evening, it was announced that Vincent Lampkin was fired from the Jackson Police Department following an internal affairs investigation into allegations he assaulted 19-year-old John Knight III during a traffic stop on May 14. His father, John Knight, thanked God the situation was not worse.
"Our son could have lost his life for nothing," the elder Knight said in a video. He went on to commend interim Jackson Police Chief Anthony Moore, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and others.
When asked about the possibility of prosecuting former officer Lampkin, Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said his office has not received a referral for criminal action from the city prosecutor or JPD.
In response to the same question, Sgt. Roderick Holmes said, "Chief Moore is not providing any additional info at this time regarding the matter other than the statement released on (Wednesday) evening."
The Clarion Ledger reached out to John Knight on social media and asked him if his family planned to pursue criminal charges against Lampkin. He said to contact attorney Dennis Sweet.
Sweet, who represents John Knight III, has filed a notice of claim with the city. He said it is a good thing for the city that a bad officer is off the streets but Lampkin's termination does not address his client's claim. Sweet said he has not heard from the city and found out about Wednesday's news conference when everyone else did.
John Knight said in an interview with media Thursday that "we need assurance from our interim chief, our mayor and everybody else that's in leadership position in Jackson that this won't happen again."
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/31/citys-director-administration-charles-hatcher-resigning/660847002/
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba gives his inaugural address after taking the oath of office for Jackson Mayor during the City of Jackson Inauguration ceremony at the Jackson Convention Center Monday. Wochit
The city of Jackson's director of finance and administration is resigning his post.
Councilman Ashby Foote confirmed in a Thursday meeting that it was Charles Hatcher's last day.
Hatcher, who was in the same city Finance Committee meeting as Foote, was not immediately available for comment.
Hatcher is one of several academics brought in to serve in Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s administration. The mayor tapped Hatcher, who has a PhD from Cornell University, for his financial acumen.
Lumumba released a statement on Hatcher's departure:
“We appreciate the hard work and innovation of Dr. Charles Hatcher during his tenure as Director of the Department of Administration. His resignation was fueled by personal reasons. We wish him the best in his future endeavors,” the statement reads.
“We have identified an individual to step in and serve in Dr. Hatcher’s stead until a permanent replacement can be found. This individual has an abundance of financial experience working with municipalities across the nation and we are confident that they will continue to move our city forward in the interim.”
The resignation comes as the city is about to enter its budgeting stage. Lumumba said Hatcher was instrumental in putting together the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget.
Hatcher was also the chief architect of a long-term debt restructuring plan that seeks to even out payments for the city and get Jackson on a more solid financial footing.
More: Jackson has 18-year plan to level debt spending, stave off tax increases
When he started his position in July of 2017, Hatcher said he was inspired to work in the public service sector after reading a series of articles that talked about participatory democracy and the mayor’s revitalization efforts.
Before coming to Jackson, Hatcher worked in the financial consultancy field where he met the city's chief administrative officer, Robert Blaine.
Hatcher took a pay cut to work for the city. Still, his $105,000 salary raised some eyebrows among council members at the time. Hatcher replaced Trivia Jones, who made $85,001 as director of administration. The council had to amend its pay scale, capped at $86,000, to accommodate the new salary.
by: Anthony McDougle
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/31/high-school-band-director-accused-sex-crimes/661310002/
(Photo: Calhoun Co. Sheriff's Dept.)
BRUCE – A band director at a north Mississippi High School is facing child sex crime charges after it was discovered he attempted to entice a minor into sexual activity over social media.
According to a report by WCBI, Bruce High School Band Director Jon Bland, 41, has been charged with five counts of enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes. Calhoun County deputies were tipped off to Bland's activities earlier this week.
Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan said the case does not involve a current student at the high school.
The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s office are involved in the ongoing investigation.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/31/he-came-america-7-times-and-now-hell-serve-time/661743002/
When breaking news happens, we want you to see it first hand. Thank you for trusting the Clarion Ledger. Wochit
(Photo: Jackson County Jail)
An undocumented immigrant who had re-entered the country six previous times was sentenced to five years in federal prison after coming back into the country the seventh time.
A release from the U.S. attorney's office on Thursday stated that Oscar Alfredo Burgon-Urrea, 39, of Honduras, pleaded guilty on March 7 to a charge of unlawful re-entry by a removed alien previously convicted of a felony.
Authorities said the Moss Point Police Department found Burgon-Urrea in a drunken state by the side of I-10 on Dec. 4. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent ended up realizing Burgon-Urrea was not in the country legally while he was being held by local officials for public drunkenness.
Further investigation revealed Burgon-Urrea had been lawfully removed from the United States in 2005, and had illegally re-entered the United States on six subsequent occasions. He was convicted in 2011 by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, on the offense of re-entry by a deported alien, a felony.
Burgon-Urrea had been known through the years by multiple variations of his name including Oscar Alfredo Burgos-Urrea, Oscar Alredo Burgos Ureea, Oscar Alfredo Burgos, Oscar Burgos and Oscar Alfredo.
Burgon-Urrea was additionally sentenced to three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term, and will face removal proceedings by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If Burgon-Urrea returns again to the United States, after removal and during the term of his supervised release, he could face a separate term of imprisonment in addition to any other penalty, the release said.
In the release, U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst praised the cooperation exhibited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,ICE, the Moss Point Police Department, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris was the prosecutor for the case.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-31
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/01/jackson-gas-station-fatal-shooting/662705002/
The motive is not clear in a fatal shooting at gas station after hours in Jackson Thursday night.
Around 9 p.m., Jackson police officers responded to the the Gulf gas station at 352 Woodrow Wilson Avenue. Officers found an unresponsive black male lying on the lot. He had been shoot multiple times, JPD spokesman Sgt. Roderick Holmes said in a news release.
According to a witness account, a dark colored SUV was seen speeding away from the lot. Moments later, a vehicle matching the description was involved in a crash a short distance from the scene of the crime. The driver fled on foot but was quickly apprehended, Sgt. Holmes said.
Devan Robinson (Photo: Jackson Police Dept.)
The suspect is identified as Devan Robinson, 26. Robinson was originally being charged with capital murder for the death of Roddrick Jackson, 25. However, the charge was changed to murder Friday. He is also being charged with possession of a stolen firearm.
Robinson is being held without bond and is awaiting his initial court appearance.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-31
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/06/01/officer-involved-shooting-under-investigation-jackson/662749002/
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is on the scene of an officer-involved shooting.
The shooting occurred in 100 block of Calhoun Street, according to the Jackson Police Dept. No officers were injured in the incident, Mississippi Dept. of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said. The suspect was hospitalized with non life threatening injuries, Strain said.
by: Mark K. Shriver and Carey Wright
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/30/mississippi-must-give-poor-kids-shot-success/655028002/
State education superintendent Carey Wright discusses the highlights of a new report by Mississippi KIDS COUNT analyzing school attendance data. Kate Royals/The Clarion-Ledger
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Eight-year-old Dra’lyn lives in a small rural town in the northwest corner of the Mississippi Delta. Across the state, too many children do not meet basic reading level expectations. Last year, Dra’lyn struggled to read fluently and understand what he was reading.
In order to give him a necessary boost in his skills, Dra’lyn was referred to a Save the Children program that increases literacy growth through guided independent reading practice, trainings to increase comprehension and reading quizzes. Now each time Dra’lyn finishes a new book, the second grader can’t wait to share what he’s learned during individual book talks at his school and looks forward to helping fellow classmates during independent reading.
With limited resources in the West Tallahatchie school district, Save the Children also helps provide the community with essential computers, books and supplies that students need to succeed.
“Save the Children has a lot of books, and I can pick any one and read,” said Dra’lyn. “I have learned to read big books that I could not read before.”
Nearly one in four children in rural America grow up in poverty and many do not have access to the same programs that helped Dra’lyn gain confidence in reading. These kids’ childhoods often end too soon due to factors directly related to rural poverty, such as higher infant mortality rates, higher teen pregnancy rates and lack of essential educational resources, nutritional food and proper access to health care.
The impact of these experiences unfold for these children’s entire lives.
In an effort to raise awareness on this inequality, Save the Children has released its second annual End of Childhood Report, which examines some of the reasons why too many children around the world — and especially right here in Mississippi — are missing out on childhood.
According to Save the Children’s U.S. Complement, Growing Up Rural in America, Mississippi ranked as the 49th best state for children based on five childhood ender events: infant mortality, food insecurity, high school dropout rates, child homicide and suicide and early pregnancy.
Continue reading after gallery
Pockets of rural child poverty exist in almost every state, but more than one in three children rural children in Mississippi are growing up in poverty. Counties with the highest rural child poverty rates in the country are mostly clustered in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta and on Native American reservations. Mississippi alone is home to 13 rural counties with severe poverty, mainly in the Delta region, according to the report.
Save the Children began working with Mississippi communities in 1933 and has been implementing evidence-based education programs since 2003. Currently, the organization partners with nine schools in seven counties to deliver programs to more than 3,700 children.
Despite the organization’s collaboration with communities and different sectors, there is clearly much that is needed to improve the futures of children living in poverty in Mississippi. That’s why we encourage more robust investments in high-quality early childhood education programs, such as child care, home visiting and pre-K, which help give all kids a strong start in life.
Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaborative program, which provides high-quality pre-K to children in underserved areas, is particularly effective in preparing children for success in school. Children who attend the collaboratives enter kindergarten with the highest average scores on the state’s kindergarten readiness assessment.
Research has shown the powerful link between high-quality early childhood education programs and future academic success. This is a key component in breaking the cycle of poverty and communities across the state will reap the benefits of collaborating to ensure every student receives a strong start in school for years to come.
Mark K. Shriver is senior vice president of U.S. Programs & Advocacy at Save the Children. Carey Wright is Mississippi’s State Superintendent of Education.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/30/police-officer-accused-excessive-force-against-teen-fired/658305002/
A Jackson Police Department press conference on officer misconduct. Officer Vincent Lampkin was terminated. Therese Apel, Clarion Ledger
A Jackson police officer has been fired following an investigation into allegations of misconduct, interim Police Chief Anthony Moore said Wednesday.
Vincent Lampkin had been on administrative leave during an internal affairs investigation into allegations he abused Jackson student-athlete John Knight III, 19, during a traffic stop May 14.
Knight told local media at the time that he was pulled over by a JPD officer his father identified as Lampkin.
Knight said Lampkin pulled him out of his car, assaulted and handcuffed him on I-55 frontage road near Olive Garden in north Jackson.
He said the officer never told him what he pulled him over for and eventually unlatched the handcuffs and let him go without charges.
Police confirmed that Knight was never charged or brought to JPD headquarters.
In a very brief press conference Wednesday evening, Moore said Lampkin had been terminated as a result of an "extensive investigation of the use of excessive force."
"The city of Jackson has taken appropriate actions to ensure the just treatment and safety of all of our residents," Moore said. "Under no circumstances would the city of Jackson tolerate excessive force or knowingly allow acts of injustice against the city of Jackson."
Original story: JPD investigating alleged police brutality of high school athlete standout
Moore went on to ask citizens to remember how hard his officers work, and asked them not to judge the entire department by "one bad actor."
The interim chief did not take questions after the press conference, so it is unclear if Lampkin will be charged or if any further action will be taken.
Knight, a former standout basketball player at Callaway High School, signed to play ball with Utah State on May 8.
JPD lacks the funding to use body cameras or dash cameras in its patrol cars, which could have recorded the incident.
by: Sid Salter
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/30/3rd-district-congressional-race-issues-1-mud-slinging-0/652982002/
Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest, flanked by County Attorney Pamela Hancock, discusses the next steps in the case of three men charged in the kidnapping and shooting death of 6-year-old Kingston Frazier after their preliminary hearing in Justice Court. Jimmie Gates
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
MERIDIAN – With Mississippi’s two 2018 U.S. Senate races predicated on brawling attacks, counter-attacks and philosophical contrasts in party primaries and in the special election, one might expect a similar Pier 6 political donnybrook in Mississippi’s Third Congressional District race to succeed the retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper of Pearl.
But while moderating a two-hour televised candidate forum among the six Republican contenders for the seat, I was struck with the civility of the exchanges as well as the zeal with which the candidates stuck generally to substantive issues while avoiding personal attacks. The candidates talked mostly about themselves, not about their opponents.
The candidate forum, sponsored by WTOK television station and The Meridian Star daily newspaper, was held at Meridian Community College in front of a live audience. Two hours of live TV is an eternity in political discourse. My prior experiences moderating such events over the last 35 years have taught that the likelihood of putting six candidates in front of the TV cameras for two hours and not getting into at least one heated exchanges was slim to none.
But these six candidates conducted themselves both backstage and onstage as ladies and gentlemen. The civility and collegiality that has marked the race to this juncture has drawn some quiet criticism of the “fire in the belly” of some of the candidates trying to break out of the pack and make an expected second GOP primary, but I found the courtesy among the candidates both surprising and refreshing.
More: Perry Parker leads Michael Guest, Whit Hughes, others in #MS03 fundraising
Forecasting this race is difficult in that none of the six GOP contenders have track records in a congressional district race and four of the six have no prior political experience. All six claim conservative credentials and expressed support for President Trump. Immigration reform, gun rights, anti-abortion, lower taxes, smaller government peppered almost every response from all six candidates.
But with the backing of Gov. Phil Bryant and winning elections in two of the state’s most populous counties in the heart of the Third District, District Attorney Michael Guest of Brandon has to be considered among the top contenders. Representing Madison and Rankin counties in the state’s judicial system, Guest is familiar to a large number of voters.
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Also running out of Madison County is former Mississippi Development Authority and Baptist Health Systems official Whit Hughes, a former varsity basketball and baseball player at MSU. That connection appears to be helping Hughes in the northern counties in the district and in the Meridian area. His fundraising efforts have been impressive
Perhaps the most intriguing of the six candidates is accomplished international businessman, banker and family cattleman Perry Parker of Seminary. Parker favors term limits and skews perhaps farther to the right than some of the other candidates, but is not possessed of the anger and bellicose rhetoric that grips some who share similar views. Parker’s personal wealth has raised questions about why he seemed to keep his political powder dry in terms of TV time and other marketing, but that has seemed to change in recent days.
There are three women in the race and the most competitive by far is State Sen. Sally Doty of Brookhaven, an attorney with ties to Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi College School of Law. Polished, direct, and well-versed in the give and take of legislative politics, Doty exudes confidence. Geography may prove a challenge in that she will need a dominant showing in the southern counties in order to generate enough votes to make the runoff.
Healthcare consultant Morgan Dunn of Simpson County is a political novice, but has significant business experience. Her rhetoric during the candidate forum was particularly harsh on the topic of “Obamacare” and other government regulation that impacts healthcare. She and her husband also own a restaurant in Magee. She’s a graduate of Ole Miss.
Rounding out the GOP contenders is Katherine “Bitzi” Tate of Jackson. She is an educational consultant.
On the Democratic primary side, State Rep. Michael Ted Evans of Preston, a retired firefighter and currently a poultry grower, will face U.S. Navy veteran Michael Aycox of Newton, who has told the media that he is the first openly gay candidate to seek office in a Mississippi congressional race.
No third party or independent candidates qualified to seek the Third District seat.
Sid Salter is a contributing columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/30/sally-doty-ms-03/652122002/
Sally Doty
Age: 51
Occupation: Attorney and state senator
Political affiliation: Republican
A second-term state senator, Doty, of Brookhaven, also has a civil law practice. A mother of three, Doty touts her commitment to family, legislative experience and an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Doty has, in a short time, become a leader in the Mississippi Legislature, is chairwoman of the Energy Committee and handles key bills and helps set state budgets.
If you would like to see federal spending cut, where would you make such cuts?
Funding for SNAP (food stamps), which increased dramatically under the Obama administration, abolish the Department of Education and block grant the savings to the states. Beyond cuts, we need a shift in priorities. For example, the federal gas tax is supposedly for roads and bridges. However, much of that money is being used for walking trails, light rail projects and other non-critical needs. A re-commitment of those dollars for critical infrastructure is essential.
Conversely, are there areas where you would like to see federal spending increased?
We need a border wall to stop illegal immigration, and simultaneously transform our legal immigration system. We also must continue building up our defense. Our military is now training not just to fight terrorists, but for peer-to-peer combat against powerful militaries. Not only must we devote more resources for our military, it’s also apparent that closing training bases, like those we have here, is out of the question.
Do you agree with President Trump’s tariff policy, and how do you believe it would affect Mississippi?
I support President Trump’s effort to renegotiate trade deals. However, I believe tariffs should be used very sparingly. I’m committed to ensuring Mississippians, particularly our farmers, are not adversely impacted by any tariff policy. I further believe Congress, which has Constitutional authority to negotiate trade deals, should reaffirm its traditional role in trade issues.
What are your thoughts on U.S. immigration policy and border security?
I support a building a wall to curb illegal immigration. I support rethinking our current legal immigration system. Mississippi’s agriculture industry, for instance, needs access to workers, and I will not support anything that will adversely affect our state’s largest industry. But it’s clear border security has reached a critical juncture. Nations can’t exist without borders, and we must reaffirm the integrity of ours.
What, if any, plans do you have to reduce health care costs for Mississippians?
We must incorporate more telemedicine and commit to rural broadband development to ensure rural residents are served. To address costs, we should enable insurers to cross state lines to provide a more competitive insurance environment. Another helpful strategy for Mississippians would be enabling the VA to reimburse local doctors, saving our veterans long trips and waits for care.
Would you agree to cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP or other social welfare programs?
Social Security and Medicare ARE NOT entitlements! They were paid for by payroll deductions and the government owes them back. Yet, Medicare and SNAP rightfully exist as a way to help those who truly can’t help themselves. President Obama acted to expand those programs beyond their scope. Today 25 percent of Mississippians are on Medicaid. That’s unsustainable, and we’ve got to refocus those programs on their original intent.
What, if anything, should the federal government do to help with states’ infrastructure and how should we pay for it?
Infrastructure is a core government responsibility. I would act to reorient federal gas tax dollars toward critical infrastructure, their original purpose. Then I would move to rethink the allocation formulas for Mississippi’s rural counties, many of which can’t afford to maintain essential infrastructure. This is an economic issue, a safety issue and a basic obligation government has to its citizens.
What separates you from other candidates in this race?
Experience and place set me apart. I’m the only Republican candidate with legislative experience and a demonstrated conservative track record. I’m the only candidate with an A rating from the NRA, an A rating for my pro-business stances, and the only proven conservative from outside the Jackson metro area in this race.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/30/michael-aycox-ms-03/652046002/
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Michael Aycox
Age: 30
Occupation: Investigator with the Newton Police Department
Party affiliation: Democrat
Aycox said he decided to run for Congress after what he viewed as inaction by current U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper. A political novice, Aycox, of Newton, has said he's betting his lack of experience in politics will appeal to voters. A Navy veteran and law enforcement officer, Aycox is first openly gay congressional candidate in Mississippi.
If you would like to see federal spending cut, where would you make such cuts?
It is unfortunate that the “spending issues” are only a popular target during elections and almost all end with broken promises by elected officials. The TRUTH Is Mississippi is on the bottom for GDP (gross domestic product) and we are among the states with the highest dependency on federal dollars. When the rest of the country gets serious about spending cuts, it will be Mississippi that will feel it immediately. We cannot keep sending the same people to D.C. hoping for a different outcome.
Conversely, are there areas where you would like to see federal spending increased?
The Veterans Administration. This organization should NEVER run out of money for veterans, as was indicated in USA Today on May 17. We as a nation have a duty and obligation to take care of those who gave all. We need real accountability and transparency for this $200 billion organization. Second, service members need increased pay and should never have to fear not receiving a paycheck because Congress can not pass a budget.
Do you agree with President Trump’s tariff policy, and how do you believe it would affect Mississippi?
I am sorry but this is a bonehead decision by President Trump. Did he honestly think China would not retaliate with tariffs? Again, it is the working class that loses these battles. To answer the question… NO. I do not agree. This is bad for Mississippi. We now know the Chinese will retaliate by placing tariffs on soybeans. Soybeans is a billion-dollar industry in Mississippi. The president’s decision was costly to the Mississippi farmer, and that is inexcusable.
What are your thoughts on U.S. immigration policy and border security?
We have a responsibility to protect the citizens of the United States. We also have an obligation to know who is coming in and leaving our country. However, we DO NOT need to appropriate funds to build an actual wall. With the invention of the ladder an unprotected wall is useless. We appropriate funds to give the border patrol the equipment and technology to accomplish their mission. In our law enforcement duties, we should avoid separating family members unless there is no other option available. The United States should be welcoming anyone who does not pose a threat to our national security with open arms. We should continue to be the beacon of hope for those wishing to have a new life.
What, if any, plans do you have to reduce health care costs for Mississippians?
I believe in LOW/NO cost health care. Health care is not just for those with deep pockets, health care is the right of ALL Americans.
Would you agree to cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP or other social welfare programs?
I do not agree with cuts to ANY of these programs.
What should the federal government do to help with states’ infrastructure and how should we pay for it?
The Mississippi state infrastructure is an enormous undertaking. Mississippi roads need to be updated and managed. Other infrastructure undertakings are ensuring emergency services (police, fire, & EMS) are adequate, up to date, and being paid a fair wage. Congressional members should be promoting bills that provide grant funding to update, equip, and pay for these critical infrastructure problems.
What separates you from other candidates in this race?
Service before self. This race, for me, is about continuing to serve. I believe that the role of our elected leaders is “public service.” My military service was cut short due to a cancer diagnosis. However, this did not diminish my desire to continue to serve our communities, this state and our nation. I believe we have great opportunities that lay on our doorstep. We do not need more politicians. We need to elect a servant of the people — a servant bound by duty who will not bow to the Washington corruption.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/30/michael-guest-ms-03/652373002/
(Photo: Sarah Warnock/Clarion Ledger)
Michael Guest
Age: 48
Occupation: District attorney
Political affiliation: Republican
Serving as the district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties since 2008, Guest has been an ardent supporter of law enforcement and says he wants to apply his experience in Washington. If elected, he said he would support a border wall and work to repeal Obamacare.
If you would like to see federal spending cut, where would you make such cuts?
In order to reduce government spending, we must reduce the size and the scope of government. We need to remove programs the government has no business involving itself in, including cutting foreign aid to countries who don’t support us.
Conversely, are there areas where you would like to see federal spending increased? I
I support increasing funding for America’s military to protect our country.
Do you agree with President Trump’s tariff policy, and how do you believe it would affect Mississippi?
I support free markets that sell American products because that means more jobs and growth here. But if there’s evidence of unfair trade practices overseas, we have a duty to stop unfair trade practices that hurt American workers and our competitiveness. We must make sure any resources required for our national security, such as agriculture, steel and energy production are preserved.
What are your thoughts on U.S. immigration policy and border security?
We must have stronger border security including a wall on America’s southwestern border. As a prosecutor, I have a unique perspective on this issue. I have seen drugs pour into our communities that were transported across our southwestern border, so we must stop illegal immigration as well as illegal drugs that are so harmful people and our communities.
What, if any, plans do you have to reduce health care costs for Mississippians?
I will work to see that Obamacare is once and for all repealed and that we focus on better access to affordable, quality care as a top priority. To do that, we must develop free market solutions, such as allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, so people have more choices about what coverage best fits their needs.
Would you agree to cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP or other social welfare programs?
We must keep our promises to our seniors and any efforts to address entitlement spending must maintain that focus. But we also need to look at how to make programs viable for the future, and to end waste, fraud and abuse in social welfare programs.
What, if anything, should the federal government do to help with states’ infrastructure and how should we pay for it?
The best approach to any federal infrastructure spending legislation is to makes sure that local communities and states have the most freedom and flexibility when it comes to making decisions about what infrastructure priorities should be addressed, without being dictated from the federal government.
What separates you from other candidates in this race?
As a prosecutor, I have taken on complex cases with many moving parts and a wide variety of issues involved. This work has given me a unique perspective and the experience needed to stand firm for my conservative principles and to tackle the challenges we face in Congress, and to ultimately produce positive results for the people of our state.
by: Anthony McDougle
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/faith/2018/05/30/parchman-inmates-earn-christian-ministry-degrees/653912002/
(Photo: Courtesy of MDOC)
They are still behind bars, but 14 inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman now hold associate and bachelor's degrees in Christian ministry.
Requirements were met through the fully accredited Faith-Based Initiative Program taught through Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
“This program is another example of the many partnerships MDOC (Mississippi Department of Corrections) has in providing meaningful rehabilitation,” Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said. “Faith-based initiatives are important to our success.”
Program director Jim Burke said graduates, though not ordained, are trained as inmate religious assistants, or IRAs, to help chaplains “in the spiritual development of inmates as an integral part of prison transformation.”
Kevin Brown, director of prison programs for the seminary, said chaplains have time limitations.
"The graduates are a part of the inmate population and are there all the time," he said. "They are like first responders who can be there for their fellow inmates when needed.”
Dr. Charles Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, addresses inmate graduates Thursday, May 24, 2018, during a commencement for the Faith-Based Initiative Program at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
(Photo: Courtesy of MDOC)
As program graduates, inmates assist with baptisms, funerals, worship services and offender emergencies. They also conduct Bible studies, aid volunteer religious faith groups, and lead devotions among other duties.
During the graduation ceremony, held May 24, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Charles Kelley reflected on lives changed through the program.
“Men like you have jumped deep into understanding God’s word, learning how to teach it,” he said. “You have taken Christ to the inmates who live around you and God has changed human lives.”
Inmate graduate Richard Mason spoke of the positive influence of Christian ministry work.
“This program honors what God can do for every person, and if it can do that for me, it can do it for anyone,” Mason said. “It has given me the inspiration and knowledge to uplift others who have great potential.”
Tyrone Stringfellow, another graduate, said the program has provided a sense of belonging and "the ability to see the needs in others."
Applicants must have at least 10 years remaining on their sentence, be free of rule violations for at least one year, and have completed high school or have a G.E.D.
They also must have completed a 12-week discipleship course and be recommended by a chaplain or spiritual leader; 126 semester hours are required as well.
Parchman's program, which started in 2009, is the second of five, including two in Louisiana, and one each in Georgia and Florida. To date, 65 inmates at Parchman have earned bachelor's degrees. The funding for the program is privately generated.
Women behind bars: A sobering look at the revolving door of addiction
Prison ministry: 80-year-old Mississippi woman can't stay out of jail
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-05-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/30/curtis-flowers-prosecution-witness-says-he-lied-cut-deal/655835002/
The FBI is once again investigating allegations that corrections officers assaulted an inmate at the State Penitentiary at Parchman — this time with the claim that Superintendent Earnest Lee hindered his prison’s own investigation. The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: prison mug shot)
Odell Hallmon was the state's key witness in the Curtis Flowers case. He testified that during their time together in prison, Flowers confessed to murdering four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona in 1996. His story about the alleged confession helped send Flowers to death row.
But Hallmon now says it was all a lie.
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by questionable evidence.
In the sixth episode of the 10-episode season, we contacted Hallmon, the state’s star witness, in Parchman prison. He’s now serving three consecutive life sentences for committing a string of murders in 2016. We wondered what he might say now that there are no deals to cut, and that he will spend the rest of his days in prison.
In his interview with APM Reports, Hallmon admitted that Flowers never confessed to him. He says he concocted the confession story to get himself off the hook for mounting drug charges. Hallmon’s admission could potentially undermine the case against Flowers.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
Curtis Flowers (Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
by: Star Parker
date: 2018-05-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/27/first-step-prison-reform-dems-gop-can-both-agree/642547002/
Common met with inmates during his 'Hope and Redemption' prison tour and talked about life behind bars and beyond. The hip hop icon is calling for major changes to the criminal justice system and the end of life sentences for young offenders. USA TODAY
Recently, I attended the White House Prison Reform Summit.
The fact that both the president and the vice president were at the event indicates the importance that the Trump administration ascribes to this issue.
And statistics quoted by Vice President Pence explain why our existing prison system should trouble us all.
According to the vice president, "Every year, while 650,000 people leave America's prisons, within three years two-thirds of them are arrested again. More than half will be convicted; 40 percent will find themselves back where they started, behind bars. It's a cycle of criminality. It's a cycle of failure."
The encouraging news is that we're seeing a level of bipartisan cooperation on this issue that is rare in Washington these days.
The House Judiciary Committee has just passed a prison reform bill called the First Step Act that is co-sponsored by Republican Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Congressional Black Caucus Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
The bill was voted out of committee by a vote of 25-5, with 15 Republicans and 10 Democrats voting for it.
Moderating one of the panels at the White House summit was a former Obama White House advisor, Van Jones, who has come out in support of the First Step Act.
On his Facebook page, Jones called the legislation, "A big win for men and women in federal prison."
The point person in the White House on this issue is presidential advisor Jared Kushner, who deserves much of the credit for raising the profile of the importance prison reform and for recruiting the broad base of support.
The First Step Act establishes new tools for prison management to conduct ongoing risk assessments of each prisoner, evaluating the likelihood of the prisoner recommitting a crime. The profiling also establishes a basis for programs and job training to assist in the rehabilitation of these individuals.
Prisoners productively participating in these programs, and showing progress in behavior and attitudes, are rewarded with increased phone time, visits and transfers to facilities closer to their homes and families.
Those achieving a low-risk profile of recidivism may be eligible for at-home confinement or for being transferred to halfway houses for the final period of their sentences.
A group of 121 former federal law enforcement officials have signed a letter urging the passage of the First Step Act.
The list of signatories includes one former U.S. attorney general and five former U.S. deputy attorney generals. And, in the aforementioned spirit of bipartisanship, the list includes Bush Administration Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Mary Jo White, appointed by Barack Obama as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the first and only woman to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Despite the impressive core support for this bill, there is opposition on the left and the right.
Several high-profile Black Caucus Democrats, including Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker and Representatives John Lewis and Sheila Jackson Lee, signed a letter in opposition. Also the NAACP opposes the bill.
Complaints include that the risk assessment system is "untested" and that the bill only focuses on prison reform and not sentencing reform.
But the assessment system is not "untested." A good number of states have enacted similar measures with great success. Texas passed similar reforms in 2007, resulting in $3 billion in savings and producing the lowest crime rate in the state in almost 50 years.
There is broad consensus that sentencing reform is also needed. But reform dealing with recidivism is not dependent on this. So why make the politics much more complicated and the probability of passage much lower?
Star Parker (Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Thoughtful reform to deal with recidivism is both humane and economically sensible. President Trump said he'll sign it if Congress passes it. They should.
Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education.
by: EJ Montini
date: 2018-05-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/27/feds-lost-yes-lost-1-475-migrant-children/645403002/
One of the State Department’s top jobs overseeing refugees and migration will be lead by…if President Trump gets his way, a fierce critic of illegal immigration. Veuer's Nick Cardona has the story. Buzz60
The Trump administration recently announced a new, get-tough policy that will separate parents from their children if the family is caught crossing the border illegally.
It was a big news story. So big it overshadowed the fact that the federal government has lost — yes, lost — 1,475 migrant children in its custody.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress that within 48 hours of being taken into custody the children are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, which finds places for them to stay.
“They will be separated from their parent,” said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
“Just like we do in the United States every day,” Nielsen replied.
Just like in the states, only ... not.
Except that the states, unlike the federal government, have systems in place to better screen the people who become guardians of the children and much better ways to keep track of those children.
And not lose them.
That is what happened to 1,475 minors swept up at the border and taken into custody by the federal government.
Gone.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement reported at the end of 2017 that of the 7,000-plus children placed with sponsored individuals, the agency did not know where 1,475 of them were.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said, “It’s just a system that has so many gaps, so many opportunities for these children to fall between the cracks, that we just don’t know what’s going on — how much trafficking or abuse or simply immigration law violations are occurring.”
A documentary from the PBS program Frontline said that the federal government has actually released some of the minors to human traffickers.
Imagine that.
And now we want to dramatically ramp up the number of children who are removed from their parents?
When pressed about safety concerns Secretary Nielsen said, "I just want to say, I couldn't agree with your concerns more, period. We owe more to these children to protect them. So I'm saying I agree, we've taken steps and we will continue to strengthen what our partners do to protect these children."
There are 1,475 reasons not to be reassured by the secretary’s promise.
If anything, it would have been better to have a policy in place, with protections, and safe places to stay, and safe people to stay with, and personnel on the government payroll to check-up on them before the administration’s new policy was implemented.
Secretary Nielsen said, "My decision has been that anyone who breaks the law will be prosecuted. If you are parent, or you're a single person or if you happen to have a family, if you cross between the ports of entry we will refer you for prosecution. You have broken U.S. law."
We all get that. And we all want a secure border. But we don’t want to trade in our humanity in the process.
E.J. Montini of the Arizona Republic.
As Sen. Portman told Frontline, “We’ve got these kids. They’re here. They’re living on our soil. And for us to just, you know, assume someone else is going to take care of them and throw them to the wolves, which is what HHS was doing, is flat-out wrong. I don’t care what you think about immigration policy, it’s wrong.”
He’s right.
E.J. Montini is a columnist for The Arizona Republic, where this column first appeared.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-28
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/29/jackson-council-pushing-body-cameras-police-but-when/458363002/
The incident May 9, 2018, at Valero on Cooper Road was captured on a store security camera. JPD lacks both dash cameras and body cameras. The officer, fighting for his life, fatally wounded one of the suspects.. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Susan Broadbridge/Hattiesburg American)
The state's largest city is pushing for body cameras for its officers following three officer-involved shooting deaths since the year began and fresh off an allegation of police brutality.
Jackson is late to the table in addressing the body camera issue. Nationally, law enforcement's use of the technology has spurred additional questions about the department's use-of-force policies. It has also served to vindicate officers that have been unfairly accused of violating department policy and law.
In Milwaukee, recently released video of an alleged parking violation offense shows police throwing NBA rookie star Sterling Brown to the pavement and tasing him without any apparent provocation.
But in another incident in Texas, body camera footage appears to have vindicated an officer falsely accused of sexual assault. A Department of Public Safety officer pulled Sherita Dixon-Cole over for suspected driving while intoxicated.
Dixon-Cole accused the officer of sexual assault, claims that were repeated by her attorney and some in the media as fact before any vetting of the body camera footage, which appears to disprove the allegations.
The two incidents show both ends of the spectrum. One, where it appears police unnecessarily and violently overstepped their authority, and the other, where an alleged victim used her encounter with the police to levy false allegations against the officer.
But in Jackson, it's impossible to have the same type of clarity despite a glaring need.
John Knight, III (Photo: Clarion Ledger)
Recently student-athlete John Knight III, for example, alleged a JPD officer pulled him from his vehicle, slammed him to the ground and put a gun to his head. Lacking working dashcam cameras or body cameras, the issue will now be investigated by the department's internal affairs.
And the string of officer-involved shootings the city has seen will likely be defended by little more than words, where body camera video might have shown something similar to a recently released Valero convenience store video of one such incident, which gives a harrowing look at a JPD officer fighting for his life.
Body cam use across the state
Seeing the need, law enforcement agencies across Mississippi have begun signing up for body cameras.
The Hinds County Sheriff's Department announced it would be using body cameras in 2015. The county used drug forfeiture or recovery funds to pay the $31,000 for 60 cameras.
The Clinton and Byram police departments also recently introduced body cameras. Byram makes an annual payment from its general fund on leasing the equipment and for video storage.
The cameras provide an additional safeguard from the perspective of law enforcement, Byram Police Chief Luke Thompson said.
"The transparency hasn't just increased between the public and officers, it also has proven to exonerate officers who have been falsely accused of crimes," he said.
Thompson said that scenario played out after a resident threatened to sue the department over alleged abuse by a Byram officer. The department reviewed body cam footage only to learn the officer had done his job professionally and without incident, Thompson said.
"The body camera isn't an all-seeing eye, it captures a perspective of what's going on. More often than not, it provides the best defense against accusations against the department," Thompson said.
The state's second largest city, Gulfport, first started using body cameras in 2016. Neighboring Biloxi already had them, and cities along the Coast have followed suit.
The Hattiesburg Police Department rolled out body cameras in 2016.
Funding avenues
In Jackson, interim Police Chief Anthony Moore said the department has been researching information on body cameras along with comparing quality and pricing. Councilman Aaron Banks has been doing his own research and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he welcomes the addition of equipment that might better provide transparency between police and the community.
Last week, the City Council approved the mayor's application, brought to him by Moore, for a $600,000 Department of Justice grant that would help fund body camera equipment and data storage.
"This is a step in the right direction," Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said. "It's something we need. We can't lose the confidence of the citizens."
Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks said he is looking at other funding mechanisms such as using state and federal drug forfeiture funds Jackson shares.
He said he has also been in discussions with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democratic member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Another funding possibility for body cameras would be through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrnes Memorial Justice Assistance Fund, but in November, the Justice Department threatened to withhold funding unless the city proved it wasn't violating so-called sanctuary city laws.
Meanwhile, Stokes said he has been in discussions with the Chamber of Commerce over possible funding.
Taking the federal route is the most likely way to pay for the technology, Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps said. There are more pressing priorities for the department right now.
The city would be required to match 50 percent of the grant. If approved, the $300,000 would come out of the department's budget, Stamps said.
"Before we start talking about body cams, we need to make sure we have tires on our cars," Stamps half-joked.
Lumumba has vowed to do everything he can to increase transparency between police and the community. Body cameras would be one tool to do that. The question is whether he has the political capital to make it happen, where others have failed. Jackson will see.
"Body cameras are just one step in many that we can take and we will explore every measure we can," the mayor said at a recent council meeting.
More: Member of Jackson mayor's task force on parole for capital murder
More: Columbus police oversight chairman describes body cam footage of officer-involved shooting
by: Geoff Pender
date: 2018-05-24
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/25/mississippi-house-senate-elections-quiet/640389002/
Supporters of Chris McDaniel call for Gov. Phil Bryant to appoint him to the U.S. Senate seat Thad Cochran is leaving. Geoff Pender
To quote John Wayne in "The Lucky Texan," "It's quiet, too quiet," considering Mississippi has one hotly contested U.S. House and two hotly contested Senate elections pending and a dog's breakfast of candidates running.
All the state's pointy-headed politicos, myself included, had predicted by now a political storm of epic proportions or, as Alan Lange of Y'all Politics put it, that "a donnybrook was about to ensue."
But so far with the June 5 primaries nearly upon us for two of the races ... there's still radio silence and no real battles joined. As Lange put it, "no meaningful punch has been thrown."
Take, for instance, the U.S. House 3rd District race to replace Gregg Harper. There are nine candidates running for the seat — six Republicans, two Democrats and one Reform Party candidate.
The seat is expected to remain Republican. One would expect, if nothing else, that the six Republicans would be trying to beat each other about the head and shoulders to differentiate themselves, get name recognition and claw their way into an almost certain runoff.
But instead of a donnybrook (that's a really cool word), this may go down as the polite-est, least-contested contested primary in state history.
The candidates have traveled the district, kissed babies, shaken hands and attended a slew of forums. None appears to have an ill word to say about the others. I moderated what was supposed to be a "debate" among the GOP candidates, but they refused to debate. Their policies and platforms appear to differ only in minute degrees, and even their (few) commercials are nice. When the election is over, they should form an a cappella group or a supper club.
But more puzzling is the relative quietness of Mississippi's Senate races.
Part of this is the result of Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel pulling out of the race against incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and switching to the race for the seat left open by Thad Cochran's retirement. Another part is an apparent lack of campaign funding for McDaniel, at least compared to 2014 when deep-pocket outside groups poured millions into the race to help his unsuccessful challenge of Cochran.
Wicker and McDaniel were expected to go at each other like spider monkeys, but they had barely gotten started when Cochran decided to step down and McDaniel switched races.
The Democratic primary for Wicker's seat has been mildly intriguing, but unless there's some tectonic shift between now and November, that primary is an exercise in futility. Wicker will simply shrug off any Democratic challenge.
Now, one would assume there are fireworks forthcoming for the November special election for the Senate seat once held by Cochran. This is between Republican interim Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, McDaniel and Democratic former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy (little known Democrat Tobey Bartee is also running).
There were a couple of early dust-ups: McDaniel accused Hyde-Smith of secretly still being a Democrat, and a Hyde-Smith supporting PAC accused McDaniel of secretly being a trial lawyer. A brief cyber war skirmish on social media early on also showed a little of the old 2014 #MSSen fear and loathing.
But since then things have been, as the Duke would say, eerily quiet. Too quiet. Surely some political storm, some donnybrook is coming.
But for now, candidates appear to be keeping their powder dry — even those about to be winnowed out by the primaries.
Political Editor Geoff Pender (Photo: The Clarion-Ledger)
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-24
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/25/starkville-settles-lgbt-group-over-pride-parade/646392002/
When breaking news happens, we want you to see it first hand. Thank you for trusting the Clarion Ledger. Wochit
STARKVILLE — A Mississippi city has agreed to pay attorneys' fees and proclaim support for LGBT rights to settle a lawsuit over its denial of permission for a gay pride parade.
Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill tells the Commercial Dispatch that aldermen approved the agreement 4-1 Friday.
She says the city will pay $12,750, which includes fees for attorneys representing Starkville Pride, the group that sued. The city reversed course and issued the permit after the lawsuit.
Story continues after gallery
About 2,500 people took part March 24 in Starkville's first-ever LGBT pride parade.
Spruill says the agreement requires her to issue proclamations supporting LGBT History Month in October and supporting equal citizenship under the law. She says she will also meet regularly with a liaison from the city's LGBT community, which she's "certainly happy" to do.
by: Dave Mann
date: 2018-05-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/27/curtis-flowers-jailhouse-informants-recant-ballistics-unscientific/641464002/
Jackson resident Cedric Willis discusses his life since being released from prison after serving 12 years for a crime he didn't commit. DNA evidence exonerated Willis 10 years ago. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
This story is the second in a five-part series, produced in collaboration with APM Reports, examining the case of Curtis Flowers. This series is adapted from “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast produced by APM Reports.
In March 1997, a Mississippi man named Frederick Veal was arrested for stealing his sister’s car near Greenwood. He was booked into the Leflore County jail and was put in a cell with the man who’d just been arrested for committing perhaps the worst crime the area had seen in years. His name was Curtis Flowers.
Flowers had allegedly murdered four people at the Tardy Furniture store in nearby Winona in July 1996. After a few days in the cell, Veal told authorities that during a late-night conversation, Flowers had admitted to committing the murders. Another inmate in that cell would also soon claim that Flowers had confessed to him. They testified at Flowers’ murder trial, 10 months later, providing key evidence that helped convince jurors that Flowers was guilty and should be sentenced to death.
But both jailhouse informants have recanted. Veal now says that investigators concocted the confession, according to a recent interview and a 2015 sworn affidavit that hasn’t been previously reported.
Additionally, APM Reports has found that the key ballistics evidence in the Flowers case is based on a subjective and unscientific analysis, experts say.
Frederick Veal testified in Curtis Flowers' first trial, in 1997, that Flowers had confessed to him in the Leflore County Jail. Veal recanted and didn’t testify at any of Flowers' subsequent trials. Veal said his statement had been coerced and that he'd been threatened when he hesitated to take the stand, according to court records. More than 15 years later, Veal signed an affidavits reaffirming his recantation.
(Photo: Samara Freemark/APM Reports)
The revelations are part of a yearlong re-investigation of the Flowers case by a team of journalists from APM Reports that found serious flaws in the evidence. The investigation found that no direct evidence links Flowers to the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.
Veal and another informant named Maurice Hawkins testified at trial in Tupelo in 1997 that Flowers had confessed to them. Veal says he went along with the false confession because he wanted to free himself from jail. But he recanted his testimony, and Hawkins eventually did, too. Flowers' conviction would later be overturned on appeal repeatedly. Neither Veal nor Hawkins would testify in the five trials and re-trials that followed.
Both men signed sworn affidavits, Hawkins in 2015 and Veal in 2016, saying their testimony against Flowers had been lies. Veal said he was placed in the cell for the purpose of extracting a confession from Flowers, according to court records.
Veal said he told Sheriff Ricky Banks that he couldn’t get a confession, that Flowers kept to himself. Veal said his claim that Flowers confessed was constructed for him by District Attorney Doug Evans and Banks, according to his affidavit and court records.
"I didn't have nothing. That's when they started putting all this stuff together to try to get this man convicted," Veal, now living in Atlanta, said during a recent interview. "They came down and gave me a piece of paper telling me what happened in the case.”
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LeFlore County Sheriff Ricky Banks, pictured here in a 2007 file photo, said he never made up a story about Curtis Flowers' confession to a jail informant. "I wouldn't be here if I made stories up, and I've been here since 1972." (Photo: Barbara Gauntt, The Clarion-Ledger)
Banks is still sheriff in Leflore County. He denied meeting with Veal about the Flowers confession. "I didn't meet with the D.A. and anybody else to discuss the statement that you're talking about,” Banks said. “I haven't made up a story about anything. I wouldn't be here if I made stories up, and I've been here since 1972."
Evans would not comment in detail about the Flowers case.
The use of jailhouse informants is a common, yet an often flawed, practice in criminal cases, experts say. Inmates who know how to work the criminal justice system often lie in exchange for leniency in their own cases.
Alexandra Natapoff, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine, said that in cases backed by strong evidence, prosecutors often don’t need or even want a jailhouse informant.
“But we see time and time again, in a weak case, in a case where it's difficult to prove guilt, that jailhouse informants fill in the gap,” Natapoff said. “The prosecutor has a constitutional obligation not to use a witness who they know is committing perjury.”
The missing gun
Testimony from jailhouse informants isn’t the only questionable evidence that has put Flowers on death row. Ballistics evidence also was critical. An expert witness claimed the bullets found at the murder scene matched a gun owned by one of Flowers’ relatives.
The murder weapon, a .380-caliber pistol, has never been found. But on the morning of the Tardy Furniture murders, Flowers’ uncle, Doyle Simpson, claimed that his .380 had been stolen from his car in a parking lot outside the garment factory where he worked.
Simpson was an early suspect in the case, according to police records, but he ended up testifying for the prosecution in all six of Flowers’ trials. Prosecutors allege Flowers walked to the garment factory that morning and stole the gun from Simpson’s car.
APM Reports has previously reported on flaws in the testimony offered by witnesses who said they saw Flowers walking near the garment factory on the morning of the crime. Some have changed their stories on critical details, couldn’t remember when they’d seen Flowers, or, in some cases, hadn’t talked to investigators until eight or nine months after the killings.
Without the murder weapon, how could investigators link Simpson’s gun to the crime? They eventually dug two bullets from a wooden post in the backyard of Simpson’s mother’s house, where he said he’d done target practice.
Investigators hoped to compare those bullets, which they believed had been fired from Simpson’s gun, with bullets found at the crime scene. But analysts couldn’t conclusively say that the bullets matched.
That’s when investigators had a revelation. Recalling a ricochet mark on a wall at the scene, they theorized that a bullet might be found in one of the store’s mattresses. They returned to the store and found in a mattress, according to investigators, a bullet in good condition. The Mississippi State Crime Lab matched the bullet to the ones found in the post.
An investigator uncovers a bullet in a mattress at Tardy Furniture in Winona.
(Photo: Photo from investigative file)
Prosecutors later brought in David Balash, a ballistics and explosives expert with decades of experience, to testify in the case. He also found that the bullets matched.
There’s no clear evidence that Flowers was ever in possession of Simpson’s gun. The ballistics testimony, however, does at least link the crime with a gun that Flowers might have had access to. But, experts say, the ballistics evidence is subjective and scientifically unreliable.
‘A subjective science’
Experts have long questioned the basic tenets of ballistics analysis. It’s based on the notion that each gun leaves unique marks on a bullet, an assumption that has never been fully proven, experts say. Ballistic matches are based on a visual inspection of the bullets and determining whether the markings on one bullet are sufficiently similar to markings on another.
A landmark 2009 report on forensic evidence by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that ballistics is "based on unarticulated standards."
"Today this is still a largely subjective science," said Alicia Carriquiry, who directs the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence, an independent research group at Iowa State University. "What we're actually talking about is somebody looking at two bullets and determining if they look similar.”
Balash stands by his conclusions in the Flowers case. "I am 100 percent certain that these bullets were fired from one gun," he said. But he also acknowledged that the analysis is subjective. "[Ballistics analysis] has never been called a science. It's always been called an art form using scientific materials and equipment, and it's always been an opinion."
His opinion helped send Flowers to death row.
But there was another witness who would prove even more critical to the case. He was another jailhouse informant, who came forward after Veal and Hawkins had recanted. And he had an incredible story to tell.
The third story in this series will appear June 10. You can download episodes of “In the Dark” on iTunes. You can also read more about the Flowers case at inthedarkpodcast.org. APM Reports is the investigative and documentary reporting team at American Public Media, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-28
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/29/jackson-council-pushing-body-cameras-police-but-when/458363002/
The incident May 9, 2018, at Valero on Cooper Road was captured on a store security camera. JPD lacks both dash cameras and body cameras. The officer, fighting for his life, fatally wounded one of the suspects.. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Susan Broadbridge/Hattiesburg American)
The state's largest city is pushing for body cameras for its officers following three officer-involved shooting deaths since the year began and fresh off an allegation of police brutality.
Jackson is late to the table in addressing the body camera issue. Nationally, law enforcement's use of the technology has spurred additional questions about the department's use-of-force policies. It has also served to vindicate officers that have been unfairly accused of violating department policy and law.
In Milwaukee, recently released video of an alleged parking violation offense shows police throwing NBA rookie star Sterling Brown to the pavement and tasing him without any apparent provocation.
But in another incident in Texas, body camera footage appears to have vindicated an officer falsely accused of sexual assault. A Department of Public Safety officer pulled Sherita Dixon-Cole over for suspected driving while intoxicated.
Dixon-Cole accused the officer of sexual assault, claims that were repeated by her attorney and some in the media as fact before any vetting of the body camera footage, which appears to disprove the allegations.
The two incidents show both ends of the spectrum. One, where it appears police unnecessarily and violently overstepped their authority, and the other, where an alleged victim used her encounter with the police to levy false allegations against the officer.
But in Jackson, it's impossible to have the same type of clarity despite a glaring need.
John Knight, III (Photo: Clarion Ledger)
Recently student-athlete John Knight III, for example, alleged a JPD officer pulled him from his vehicle, slammed him to the ground and put a gun to his head. Lacking working dashcam cameras or body cameras, the issue will now be investigated by the department's internal affairs.
And the string of officer-involved shootings the city has seen will likely be defended by little more than words, where body camera video might have shown something similar to a recently released Valero convenience store video of one such incident, which gives a harrowing look at a JPD officer fighting for his life.
Body cam use across the state
Seeing the need, law enforcement agencies across Mississippi have begun signing up for body cameras.
The Hinds County Sheriff's Department announced it would be using body cameras in 2015. The county used drug forfeiture or recovery funds to pay the $31,000 for 60 cameras.
The Clinton and Byram police departments also recently introduced body cameras. Byram makes an annual payment from its general fund on leasing the equipment and for video storage.
The cameras provide an additional safeguard from the perspective of law enforcement, Byram Police Chief Luke Thompson said.
"The transparency hasn't just increased between the public and officers, it also has proven to exonerate officers who have been falsely accused of crimes," he said.
Thompson said that scenario played out after a resident threatened to sue the department over alleged abuse by a Byram officer. The department reviewed body cam footage only to learn the officer had done his job professionally and without incident, Thompson said.
"The body camera isn't an all-seeing eye, it captures a perspective of what's going on. More often than not, it provides the best defense against accusations against the department," Thompson said.
The state's second largest city, Gulfport, first started using body cameras in 2016. Neighboring Biloxi already had them, and cities along the Coast have followed suit.
The Hattiesburg Police Department rolled out body cameras in 2016.
Funding avenues
In Jackson, interim Police Chief Anthony Moore said the department has been researching information on body cameras along with comparing quality and pricing. Councilman Aaron Banks has been doing his own research and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he welcomes the addition of equipment that might better provide transparency between police and the community.
Last week, the City Council approved the mayor's application, brought to him by Moore, for a $600,000 Department of Justice grant that would help fund body camera equipment and data storage.
"This is a step in the right direction," Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said. "It's something we need. We can't lose the confidence of the citizens."
Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks said he is looking at other funding mechanisms such as using state and federal drug forfeiture funds Jackson shares.
He said he has also been in discussions with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democratic member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Another funding possibility for body cameras would be through the Department of Justice's Edward Byrnes Memorial Justice Assistance Fund, but in November, the Justice Department threatened to withhold funding unless the city proved it wasn't violating so-called sanctuary city laws.
Meanwhile, Stokes said he has been in discussions with the Chamber of Commerce over possible funding.
Taking the federal route is the most likely way to pay for the technology, Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps said. There are more pressing priorities for the department right now.
The city would be required to match 50 percent of the grant. If approved, the $300,000 would come out of the department's budget, Stamps said.
"Before we start talking about body cams, we need to make sure we have tires on our cars," Stamps half-joked.
Lumumba has vowed to do everything he can to increase transparency between police and the community. Body cameras would be one tool to do that. The question is whether he has the political capital to make it happen, where others have failed. Jackson will see.
"Body cameras are just one step in many that we can take and we will explore every measure we can," the mayor said at a recent council meeting.
More: Member of Jackson mayor's task force on parole for capital murder
More: Columbus police oversight chairman describes body cam footage of officer-involved shooting
by: Sharon Cohen
date: 2018-05-28
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/29/females-inmates-fastest-growing-jail-population-opioids-addiction/639859002/
The opioid crisis is putting more women behind bars across the U.S. In Campbell County, Tennessee. many female inmates have cycled in and out of jail. (AP Video) AP Video, Video courtesy Sweat Family, Campbell County Sheriff's Department
JACKSBORO, Tenn. — On opposite sides of the county jail, a mother and her son chat about school, girls, birthday gifts — and their future together. They aren't allowed to see each other face-to-face, so the inmate and the fifth-grader connect by video.
"Hi, Mommy," 10-year-old Robby says to Krystle Sweat, clutching a phone in the visiting room as he looks at his mother on a screen, sitting in her cell.
Robby hasn't hugged or even touched her since Christmas Day 2015, just before Sweat wound up back behind bars. He runs a hand through his hair, shifts his weight from one leg to another, and says that on the day his mom is released, he wants to show her how he can ride no-hands on his bike. Sweat laughs, but knows their reunion must wait.
For years now, she has cycled in and out of jail, arrested more than two dozen times for robbery, driving violations and other crimes — almost all related to her drug addiction that culminated in a $300-a-day pain pill habit. She's tried to quit, but nothing has worked. Now she says she's ready to make the break when she's paroled again, possibly this summer.
"I'm almost 33," she says. "I don't want to continue living like this. I want to be someone my family can count on."
(Story continues after photo gallery.)
This lone county jail in a remote corner of Appalachia offers an agonizing glimpse into how the tidal wave of opioids and methamphetamines has ravaged America. Here and in countless other places, addiction is driving skyrocketing rates of incarcerated women, tearing apart families while squeezing communities that lack money, treatment programs and permanent solutions to close the revolving door.
More than a decade ago, there were rarely more than 10 women in the Campbell County Jail. Now the population is routinely around 60.
Most who end up here have followed a similar path to Sweat: They're arrested on a drug-related charge and confined to a cell 23 hours a day. Many of their bunkmates also are addicts. They receive no counseling. Then weeks, months or years later, they're released into the same community where friends — and in some cases, family — are using drugs. Soon they are again, too.
And the cycle begins anew: Another arrest, another booking photo, another pink uniform and off to a cell to simmer in regret and despair.
Sarai Keelean has been jailed about eight times in six years. One Christmas, her mother joined her. Like Keelean, she is addicted, and had been arrested on a driving offense. Mother and daughter spent the holiday crying in each other's arms.
Keelean is back in for violating probation for possessing meth; she'd been using the drug and also selling it to buy opioids. Locked up now for almost three years, she longs for freedom but is terrified, too. "You're afraid that you're going to mess up," she says. "Nobody wants to come back here."
Blanche Ball, who has used, cooked or sold meth for 15 of her 30 years, has been in jail several times, mostly for short periods until now. She thinks about her four children constantly and recently dreamed her 3-year-old son was a doll broken into pieces.
"I know I could have done something more with my life," she says, but: "Once you're like this for so long, you don't know another way to be."
'Throw a rock ... there's drugs'
In America's ongoing battle against addiction, Campbell County faces formidable odds. In 2015, it had the third-highest amount of opioids prescribed per person of all U.S. counties. The numbers identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were more than five times the national average — or enough opioids to medicate every single resident here around-the-clock for 15 weeks.
Mayor E.L. Morton blames the pharmaceutical industry and doctors, and two lawsuits against opioid makers are pending on behalf of the county and its 40,000 residents. "If you were fighting the Mafia, you'd be aiming for the head of the organization," he says. "Well, the top of this organization is fully legal, and we have the most respected profession that is doing it to us."
Pills, though, aren't the only problem. With 500 square miles of mountains, thick woods, winding back roads and deep hollows, this county on the Kentucky border has been a prime spot, too, for meth. While homegrown labs are on the wane, a powerful strain of the drug from Mexico has found its way here.
"Throw a rock, hit a house, and there's drugs," says Keelean, the 35-year-old inmate who says she didn't have a major problem until she moved back about five years ago. "I just got sucked into a vortex of destruction and drug use."
(Story continues after photo gallery.)
The county has been struggling for decades. Its once-thriving tobacco farms and coal industry disappeared long ago, taking with them a vital cash crop and jobs that supported a middle-class life. Some factories remain, but more than 1 in 5 residents are poor.
Nowadays, as much as 90 percent of the crime in a five-county district that includes Campbell is connected to drugs, the local prosecutor says. Women are often the culprits, and communities across the nation are seeing similar patterns.
Women in jail are the fastest-growing correctional population in America. Their numbers rose from 13,258 in 1980 to 102,300 in 2016, with the biggest jump in smaller counties, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Similarly, the female prison population skyrocketed from 5,600 in 1970 to more than 110,000 in 2016. Between 1980 and 2009, the arrest rate for drug possession or use tripled for women, while it doubled for men.
Opioid abuse has exacerbated the problem.
In Montgomery County, Ohio, more than 3,600 women have been jailed for addiction-related crimes in the last two years, twice the number since 2014. In Henrico County, Virginia, the female jail population has grown from about 60 daily in 2000 to nearly 300; a survey of inmates found more than 4 in 10 women had their kids removed from them while on drugs. The jail has responded with an opiate treatment program.
Lack of resources in rural America
Rural America, in particular, lacks resources and readily accessible treatment to help curb the problem, says Jessica Hulsey Nickel, president of the Addiction Policy Forum, a patient advocacy group. If someone in recovery has to drive several hours to visit a specialist or receive regular doses of methadone, she says, "It's going to make staying on that path nearly impossible."
Mary-Linden Salter, director of the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug & Other Addiction Services, says her state doesn't have enough psychiatrists, social workers, counselors and nurses in rural areas. Residential drug treatment, a key part of recovery, also is scarce in those communities — and Campbell County has none, she says, adding: "It's unrealistic for people to travel 700 miles for treatment because that's where there's an open bed."
Salter also notes there are twice as many residential programs in the state for men as there are for women. That's partly because women have costlier, more complicated treatment; many have experienced trauma and abuse as children or adults. Generally, women also are slower to seek help because of societal pressures to maintain a family. Many are single mothers who fear losing their children.
"Women are the caregivers of their families," Salter says. "They get blamed and shamed for not taking care of their children. But they get blamed and shamed for not being in recovery. It's a horrible choice."
Bad choices, dreams
A view from the glass-enclosed guard tower that peers into the women's unit at the Campbell County Jail: Metal beds flank the walls. Giant bars seal the windows. In dormitory-like cells, the women watch TV, play endless games of cards or pace in silent frustration, counting the days until their release.
They sleep, shower and eat in the same room. On their one hour outside the cell, they can visit an exercise room, but it has no equipment so the women improvise, rolling toilet paper into balls they swat around, using their plastic sandals as makeshift tennis rackets.
Each woman has a story of bad choices, dreams of a "normal" life and nagging doubts about how long they can resist drugs on the outside.
Their voices are weary. They comfort each other, embracing when a parole bid is denied or when the unthinkable happens — an inmate's son is killed and she sobs, grief-stricken and angry because she's not permitted to attend his funeral.
Sarai Keelean says drugs made her feel "like supermom," then numbed her during her divorce. Her ex-husband is raising their boys, whom she hasn't seen in five years. If she could talk to her 11- and 13-year-old sons, she'd tell them: "I love you, and I'm sorry, so sorry."
"I kick myself in the butt because I chose drugs over them ... the most important, wonderful things in my life."
Keelean's younger sister is an addict, too — in treatment now. Her mother visits every Saturday, but she's fighting her own addiction to suboxone, which was supposed to wean her off the opioids she started taking for arthritis.
Keelean says she'd like to be a productive citizen and thinks she might be a good drug counselor, but she recently woke at 3 a.m., panicked she won't know how to navigate freedom. "I just feel socially awkward to go out there and be normal and do right."
Many of these women say jail should help prepare them for life outside, maybe with a Narcotics Anonymous group, counseling or education programs such as those offered in state prisons. They'd also like to work and be exposed to people who don't use drugs. (Some male inmates have jobs.)
Lt. Mallory Campbell, assistant jail administrator, is sympathetic. It took a year, she says, to start a high school equivalency diploma program, partly because a teacher had to be found who then had to be trained to work in the jail.
She'd like to offer college courses or vocational training, she says, because "if they don't leave here with a skill, they're going to go back to what they know." But there isn't money for programs or staff.
Medical costs for both male and female inmates also are an enormous burden, nearly doubling since 2015 to top $1 million last year, according to county officials. Hepatitis, infections or dental problems are not unusual.
And drugs remain a powerful lure. The women speak candidly about what they had to do to feed their habits — shoplift, rob, trade sex for drugs. While some welcome the fresh start, the cravings persist.
"I think about drugs all the time," Blanche Ball admits frankly. "I call it relapsing. I relapse on a daily basis."
Ball says she grew up around relatives and others who regularly used drugs and, as a teen, learned to cook meth in her backyard and basement. "I thought we were having fun," she says. Ball recently shared a cell with another drug offender — her childhood babysitter.
By age 17, Ball realized she was on a disastrous course but couldn't stop. Since then, she's snorted, smoked, injected and ingested methadone, heroin, meth and various opioids. Like other inmates, her drug of choice is the painkiller Opana. A single pill can go for $120 on the street.
"My mother actually said to me once, 'You're never going to quit. You're just hardwired for it.' I thought, 'You're right.'"
Her two oldest children live with family, and she doesn't want to see them until she's certain she won't disappear from their lives. Her two youngest, both born dependent on methadone, have been adopted. "That wound is so bad," she says, "I try to block it out all the time."
Ball is set to be released next year, and hopes she'll have the willpower to remain sober: "I'm not poor-spoken or slow. I have faith in God, first and foremost," she says. "I have faith in myself. It's just me wanting to get to the point where I get fed up."
Tennessee, which saw more than 1,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016 — a state record — is pouring more money into this problem. It's allocating about $14.5 million toward the opioid epidemic; more than half will go for treatment. In addition, the state is currently using a federal grant of more than $13 million, also mostly for treatment.
It's too early to know how much of that might funnel into Campbell County. For now, for those who do want to change, there are some places to seek help.
A drug court, which involves supervision for up to two years, has a 70 percent graduation rate. Participants often enter residential treatment, which also is available in a new program designed specifically for women. In both cases, treatment takes them to other counties or out of state.
The county also has a recovery house. The Harbor, a nondenominational church that runs the house, recently started sending volunteers to make weekly jail visits. When the women are freed, the church offers help with food, clothes and jobs. "We want to help them put the pieces of the puzzle back together," Pastor James Coffey says.
Monica Poston, case manager of the drug court and a recovering heroin addict, says it's generally best for those who complete treatment not to move back home, where temptations remain and opportunities are limited.
"We can't get them through rehab, pat them on the back, help them get their GED and their driver's license restored, watch them get a job and then ask them to live on minimum wage," she says. "You're setting them up to fail."
Phyllis Clingner agrees that relocating often offers the best chance for success. A former educator and foster care volunteer, she helped create the new Women In Need Diversion program that takes those jailed on misdemeanor drug charges before sentencing and moves them into short- or long-term residential treatment. The program has served about a dozen women so far.
"We try to build resilience," Clingner says. "Most of these women feel they're ... not worthy of a healthy lifestyle. We try to prove differently."
Families struggle to understand
Krystle Sweat's drug problems have consumed almost half her life.
Her parents still struggle to understand how the girl who sang in the church choir, played guitar and piano, and dabbled in gymnastics and cheerleading ended up this way. Her troubles began when she started hanging out with the wrong crowd and dropped out of high school.
The Sweats have raised Krystle's son since he was about 3. Over the years, they've paid her rent, bought her cars, and invited her and her boyfriend to share their home. Sweat wound up stealing tools, a computer and camera — anything she could pawn.
"While she was here, it was total hell," says her father, Eddy. "When she went in jail I actually felt relieved. ... I knew I wasn't going to get that call at 1 o'clock in the morning saying that Krystle's died of a drug overdose, because I knew that was coming."
Sweat tried drug court once, but quit. "I wasn't willing to completely submit myself to everything they had to say and everything that they wanted me to do," she says.
This time, she insists, is different. When she's paroled, she wants to enter a faith-based recovery program outside Campbell County. She's pledged to stay off Facebook and give up her cellphone to avoid old connections.
Her parents have promised to help, but they're wary. Old disappointments are still raw.
"Our hopes and dreams that we had for her ... (have) gone from being a successful adult to just getting better," her father says. "I just want to see her beat this addiction and be able to stay out of trouble."
Her absence has taken its toll on Robby, says Krystle's mother, Cathy. "Even at his happiest," she says, "he's not happy."
On the day of his jailhouse visit, Robby and his mother blow each other kisses. "I love you bunches," Sweat tells him. "Be good." And then they wave goodbye.
"I'm so thankful that he still loves me," she says, returning to her bunk where she keeps a photo of her son. "He's disappointed in me. .... He doesn't say that he is, but I know he is."
AP Photographer David Goldman contributed to this report. Sharon Cohen, a Chicago-based national writer, can be reached at scohen@ap.org or on Twitter @scohenAP.
Graphic shows the increase in the number of women in jail from 1980 - 2016.
More: To save lives, the surgeon general says get the opioid antidote naloxone. Here's what to do.
by: USA Today
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/05/23/undocumented-immigrants-donald-trump-doesnt-rant/636275002/
President Donald Trump referred to MS-13 members as animals and said he will continue to do so, despite backlash. Some congressional members say his remarks are offensive. While others say they are warranted when referring to violent criminals. (May 17) AP
(Photo: Michael Reynolds, epa)
During one of the bloodiest battles of the Afghanistan War, Army Sgt. Israel Garcia fought his way up a terraced hillside to a wrecked observation post above the village of Wanat to help rescue a wounded paratrooper-comrade on July 13, 2007.
A native of Mexico who enlisted after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, Garcia, who was 24, was struck by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade after reaching the outpost. He died there amid the fighting and posthumously earned a Silver Star for valor.
Garcia's heroism stands in stark contrast to President Trump's denigration of undocumented immigrants throughout his presidential campaign and tenure in the White House. The reality suggests a silver lining among the dispossessed who risk everything to cross our borders.
For every immigrant gang member, there are countless stories of undocumented immigrants who willingly sacrifice for America. This certainly includes about 900 so-called DREAMers who were brought into the country as children and joined the military when they grew up.
Among them is Zion Dirgantara, a native of Indonesia whose first day of school in the United States as an eighth-grader in Philadelphia was on Sept. 11, 2001. "When I heard President Bush say, 'You're either with us or against us,' I knew where I stood," Dirgantara wrote in an opinion piece, explaining his determination to some day serve his new country in the Army Reserve.
Although immigrants commonly require permanent legal status to join the military, a Pentagon at war and ever in need of talent — especially in the form of language skills, medical training and other vital expertise — created a pilot program in 2009 allowing temporary or undocumented immigrants to enlist.
Some 10,000 responded, including the several hundred DREAMers or undocumented immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created in 2012 for those brought to the USA illegally as children. Trump canceled the program last year, although courts have kept it open for now, and Defense Secretary James Mattis has vowed that DACA enlistees won't be deported. House Republican leaders are trying to prevent a vote on measures to protect the DREAMers.
These DACA immigrants and countless other people who entered the USA illegally and managed to gain legal status have served our nation under the most honorable of circumstances. And they've done so at a time when patriotic sacrifice and a sense of purpose among American young people have been in decline.
The Trump White House publicizes crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. A news release Monday carried the headline, “What you need to know about the violent animals of MS-13,” and the president is scheduled to travel to Long Island on Wednesday for a roundtable on combating the gang. Trump has warned about a “dangerous” caravan of Central American refugees seeking asylum in the USA.
But you don't hear the administration talking about stories like those of Jose Gutierrez, who fled Guatemalan poverty as a teenage orphan, hopping freight trains for the 2,000-mile journey to America. A tall and quiet boy described as extremely intelligent, Gutierrez lived in a series of group homes in America or with foster families as he learned English, finished high school and, at 18, became a legal resident. He joined the Marine Corps after 9/11, was part of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and left everything he brought to his new country on a battlefield there — killed in action on March 21, 2003.
America should be so lucky as to have taken in such an immigrant.
— USA Today
by: Ken Paxton
date: 2018-05-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/24/use-israels-approach-fighting-terror-stop-school-shootings/640529002/
A crowd of some 30 people gathered Monday in the wake of the Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting to protest gun violence in schools. Brad Kadrich, hometownlife.com
America is once again reeling from yet another deadly mass shooting. The victims at Santa Fe High School were taken from us too soon, and the prayers of Texas and the nation are with their families. There is something especially haunting about a killer targeting a school, where parents send their children on the assumption that they will be safe as they learn. Experience is a hard teacher, and with 2018’s second major school shooting behind us, its lesson is clear: We must secure our schools.
All over the country, schools lack security measures of any consequence — not enough armed personnel, few safety protocols and insufficient entryway monitoring. No federal government agency, airport or congressional office building would tolerate such vulnerability, so why the resistance to outfitting schools with the same level of security?
American policymakers should look to Israel for guidance. Living constantly with the threat of terrorism, Israel solved the problem of school security long ago by hardening the target and tightening security practices. Every school with 100 or more students has at least one well-trained armed guard stationed at entrances to monitor who comes and goes.
These guards operate under the auspices of the Israel Police and undergo rigorous training every four months. Roughly 40 percent of applicants fail the training test, ensuring that only the cream of the crop defend the schools.
More: Would the Founders want our kids to die in school shootings like Santa Fe?
Israel also rigorously trains students on how to respond in case of a crisis. We should continue to increase our efforts to do the same. We already require students to participate periodically in fire drills. But the last school fire that killed 10 or more was in 1958.
We do need to train and arm capable teachers and resource officers inside schools. In the Santa Fe shooting, resource officer John Barnes heroically engaged the shooter. He was seriously wounded, and while he did not successfully bring the shooter down, who knows how many lives Barnes may have saved while diverting the shooter’s attention from the defenseless?
Recent news reports detail other incidents where school resource officers stopped potential shooters before they could inflict extensive damage.
Even so, arming resource officers and teachers must be viewed as a last line of defense. We must stop killers outside the school, as in Israel. Here's what we should do:
►Districts should post trained and capable armed guards outside as well as inside schools.
►They should also consider reducing the number of entrances to the building, so these guards can monitor traffic.
►Where feasible, schools could install metal detectors to ensure that nobody can sneak a weapon onto campus.
►Classroom doors must be made more secure against an attack. Classrooms should be equipped with the means to barricade these doors.
School shootings are a matter of seconds and minutes: Precious moments of delay could be enough to stop a shooter.
After so many tragedies, we should consider everything to protect schools, not waste our time with futile and unconstitutional new gun control. The Santa Fe shooter, who had also built operational bombs, was apparently ready to kill using any means necessary, with guns or without.
Moreover, not even the most avid mainstream gun-control proponents have proposed banning the guns he used: a shotgun and a revolver. Whatever one thinks of the Second Amendment, even repealing it wouldn’t erase the roughly 300 million guns already in the country — it would simply disarm the law-abiding. In other words, nothing of practical use — only cheap political points — can come from muddying the waters with more gun control propaganda.
After 9/11, we didn’t ban box cutters; we prevented passengers from carrying box cutters onboard planes by ramping up security at the airport itself — hardening the target. We should apply the same principle to our schools and spare no expense in doing so. What could possibly be more important?
Nothing is foolproof. No policy proposal will work 100 percent of the time, nor will it eradicate evil men intent on wanton destruction. There is a deep-seated cultural decay — fatherless children, degradation of human life across society, widespread moral confusion, etc. — at the root of this issue, and politics alone cannot repair it. But we owe it to our children to at least ensure their safety while at school. Israel has done it, and so can we.
Ken Paxton is the attorney general of Texas.
by: Emily Wagster Pettus
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/23/mississippi-slated-receive-some-election-security-money/634928002/
The current and former chiefs of the Homeland Security Department defended themselves on Capitol Hill as senators pressed them on past lapses in state election security and how the country is defending those systems in the 2018 elections. (March 21) AP
(Photo: Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger)
Mississippi can expect to receive nearly $4.5 million from the federal government in the next few months to improve election security, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office said Tuesday.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann applied for a grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which has about $90 million available to divide among states for election security measures. Spokeswoman Leah Rupp Smith said Tuesday that Mississippi should receive its money before the general election this November.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi issued a statement earlier Tuesday saying he thought Republican Hosemann had not applied for an election security grant.
"Although the funding provided through this initial grant program may not pay for all Mississippi plans to do to secure its elections, it will certainly help," said Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Thompson also said Mississippi election officials could benefit from cybersecurity training.
Smith said Hosemann's office "long ago addressed the need for increased cybersecurity protection."
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann
Mississippi is among the states where most counties use electronic voting machines that don't leave a paper trail. Cybersecurity experts say lack of paper makes it difficult to check election results for signs of manipulation.
About 20 percent of registered voters in the U.S. use machines that produce no paper record.
A nonprofit group called Verified Voting shows that five Mississippi counties use paper ballots. They are DeSoto, Harrison, Hinds, Lee and Yalobusha. Four use electronic voting machines with a paper trail. They are Clay, Holmes, Humphreys and Walthall. The other 73 counties use electronic machines without a paper trail.
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/23/curtis-flowers-career-criminals-testimony-key-death-row-conviction/635249002/
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
No witness has been more important to the prosecution's case against Curtis Flowers than Odell Hallmon. He’s testified that while the two men were in prison together, Flowers confessed to murdering four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona in 1996. That supposed confession helped convict Flowers in his sixth trial, in 2010, and send him to death row. But Flowers has denied he said any such thing to Hallmon.
Hallmon has an astonishingly long criminal history that includes repeated charges for drug dealing, aggravated assault and robbery. So how reliable is his testimony and did he receive anything in exchange for it?
Renee Hill, outside her mother's home where Odell Hallman broke in and killed Renee's mother and sister in Kilmichael, Mississippi.
(Photo: Ben Depp)
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year in Mississippi digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by questionable evidence. In this episode, we investigate the veracity of the prosecution's star witness.
Graffiti by Odell Hallmon, who's nickname is Cookie, in the Old Carroll County Jail, Carrollton, Mississippi.
(Photo: Ben Depp for APM Reports)
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
More: Curtis Flowers: On death row, tried 6 times for same crime, but is he guilty?
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-05-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/24/u-s-senate-candidate-battles-cancer-takes-statewide-election/612457002/
Representative Omeria Scott has served 25 years in the Mississippi legislature with a focuses on health care, education and infrastructure. Now she and wants to take on greater responsibilities in D.C. on behalf of Mississippi. Sarah Warnock
(Photo: Sarah Warnock/Clarion Ledger)
Longtime state lawmaker Omeria Scott was nearing remission from breast cancer last Thanksgiving when she told her family her plan.
"I told these people that I was running for the United States Senate," she said.
They laughed.
Scott, 61, had found a lump on her breast the previous April and underwent chemotherapy for six months in Texas, where her sister owns a home health agency. After weeks of additional elective radiation, she traveled home Feb. 23.
Less than a week later, she announced her candidacy.
"My sister called me and said that one of her classmates from Tougaloo College had called her and said, 'I see where Omeria has qualified for the United States Senate.' She said, 'No, that's not true,'" Scott said.
Her brother had received a similar call.
"My brother said, 'Well that can't be true, because she just got off the plane,'" Scott said, followed by a laugh.
Her siblings thought she was joking back in November, but Scott has shown her motivation to represent Mississippians in the upcoming Democratic primary is anything but a joke.
"Generally, the entire family thought that this was something that I should not undertake," Scott said. "But I have been healed. The Lord had healed me with the help of these great clinicians at these two hospitals (Baptist Medical Center in Jackson and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston). And I was not going to take that blessing, that talent, and dig a hole and bury it. Because if the Lord had wanted me buried, he would have buried me.
"So I am running because I want every person, particularly women, to know that you don't let anything stop you from trying to achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve."
Scott is running in the June 5 Democratic primary for the seat held by Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, not the special election to replace retired U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. That election will take place in November without a primary.
Scott spent much of her career as a nursing home administrator at the intermediate care facility on the Ellisville State School campus and at Davison Nursing Home. She also owns a restaurant in Laurel called Aunt Ann's Front Porch, named after her late mother.
Scott has represented the House district encompassing Laurel for 25 years and is known for animation on the chamber floor. If a bill specifically affects — or ignores — the state's poor or African-American communities, you can usually count on Scott speaking on it.
She's made a habit of introducing amendments to Republican bills, whether to derail them, temper their language or make a political point. Sometimes she's successful, garnering bipartisan support from an often divided body.
On a controversial "anti-fraud" bill aimed at ramping up vetting of Medicaid beneficiaries during the 2017 session, she got her House colleagues to pass to an amendment that would include providers among those to be examined for fraud.
Even though she missed two-thirds of the 2018 session while receiving treatment, Scott introduced dozens of bills in January, all of which died in committee, including bills to expand Medicaid, increase funding to federally qualified health centers, establish conflict resolution programs in public schools and other programs to help Mississippians finish their education.
By the time the hotly contested reauthorization bill for the state's Medicaid program reached the House floor at the end of March, Scott was there, exposing lack of proof that the state's Medicaid program managers are doing their job.
Scott has always been an outspoken proponent of Medicaid, but on the campaign trail, she's heavily focused on an area not often discussed in the context of health care: infrastructure.
"Infrastructure, believe it or not, will play a tremendous part in moving Mississippi forward," she said. "You got a whole section of the state you can't access by four lane. That's the western part on the river. That's a poorer and undeveloped part of the state. So, you've got to address that, but you can't just address that because if you go up 55, your phone drops 16 times before you get to Memphis, so the intra-networking is not there. The broadband connection is not there."
Scott draws on the history of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and that hospitals and schools were considered part of infrastructure when the U.S. was rebuilding. Infrastructure, including internet connection, Scott said, is essential to bringing emerging industry to Mississippi to create not just jobs but opportunity.
"We know what it would take to do it. It's just whether or not we have the will to do it," Scott said, referencing the millions in tax credits Mississippi gives to private businesses and the many tax cuts the Legislature has passed in the last few years. "Just think if you didn't have the escalation of these tax cuts, you would have a lot more money available to you that we could have addressed some of these problems with road and bridges."
While President Donald Trump has promised to invest in the nation's infrastructure, "you can't expect us to put up 80 percent to get 20 percent back," Scott said, citing the revised state-federal match in Trump's infrastructure proposal.
"That doesn't make sense for us," she said.
Mississippi lawmakers couldn't come to an agreement on their own infrastructure plan, the funding for which could have come from a gasoline tax, during the 2018 session.
In recent years, state leadership has succeeded in efforts to shrink government, making deep cuts to the budgets of state agencies and resisting anything that resembles a tax increase.
Still, Scott pushes.
"We're sent up here to advocate positions and it doesn't matter who is in charge," she said. "So you have to take your shot where you can get it. You can't come up here and sit in your chair and be defeatist, and say, 'Well, they're in control and we're not going to be able to get anything.' It's not done that way. You have to engage in the process. And that is something I am very much proud of."
And how doesn't it get old?
"If it gets old, you need to go home because you're up here to do a job," Scott said. "If you're so burned-out, you need to go home because you're doing your people a disservice."
Scott has less than 10 volunteers across the state and didn't file a campaign finance report for the first quarter — during which two of her opponents had gathered between $120,000 and $500,000.
In March after she announced, Scott said, she was taking care of her sister, who is ill, so she hadn't spent more than the $5,000 threshold that triggers a required report. She said she'll be filing the next required report by the May 24 deadline.
Scott rejects the accepted notion that statewide candidates need significant funding to run a successful campaign.
"All of these people who have all of this money, and all these 15 people running for these two seats and there's only going to be two winners. So 13 will not win. They will have had organizations; they will have had money; they will have had thousands of volunteers, or whatever. But 13 will not win," Scott said. "I would say to any woman in particular, if you're passionate about anything, you run, and let the people decide on election day ... On election day, that is the great equalizer in America."
More: David v. Goliath: Senate primary candidate face of Mississippi's new Democratic party?
More: Hollywood to Hospitality State: How Sela Ward's husband became a U.S. Senate candidate
One of Scott's opponents in the primary is Democratic Caucus leader in the House, Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, whom Scott said she did not talk with before announcing her candidacy.
"I'm not running against anybody; I'm running for the Democratic Party nomination," Scott said.
Her potential opponents in the primary was not a consideration when she decided to run in November, Scott said.
Scott has an air of optimism about her, whether she's discussing her cancer diagnosis, her candidacy or the country's hostile political climate.
She becomes emotional only when talking about one of her long-held rituals: Every time she travels to D.C., she goes to the National Mall and has a conversation with the late Martin Luther King Jr.
She likes to go at night, she said, and have a good cry.
Scott said she doesn't go to Memphis or Atlanta anymore, but there's something about the National Mall after dark, when it's quiet.
"Dr. King said that one day Mississippi will be an oasis of freedom," Scott said. "King said that about Mississippi, not any other state, but this state ... I don't know what this victory is going to look like. I'm just being honest with you. But we're going to win."
by: Billy Watkins
date: 2018-05-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/24/grave-miss-wwii-soldier-adopted-couple-netherlands/627720002/
As you know Memorial Day is more than just a holiday falling on a Monday, and these 5 facts reported by Bustle will change the way you see the holiday. Buzz60's Maria Mercedes Galuppo has more. Buzz60
(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
They are a couple with two teenage sons, living in the Netherlands town of Heerlen, population 86,833.
They have no connections to the United States, have never been to Mississippi. They do not speak English.
But Marko and Ilona Holtman, both in their mid-40s, believe in gratitude and respect, and they are determined to teach their children that freedom often comes at a steep price.
So in June the Holtmans adopted the grave of Mississippian Clyde Hathorne, who was killed near Dunkirk, France, during World War II. He was 24 years old, an Army Air Forces technical sergeant, radio operator and gunner in the 2nd Air Division. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal, given to a soldier who "distinguishes himself or herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight."
To honor Hathorne on Monday — Memorial Day — the four Holtmans will travel 25 minutes to the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten. They will walk among endless rows of white crosses to Plot N, Row 6, Grave 13. They will place fresh flowers in front of Hathorne’s marker, spend a few quiet moments and once again remind their sons — Yoeri, 19, and Yannick, 17 — of the tremendous sacrifice made by all the soldiers there.
At a recent visit to the cemetery, Yannick said to his mother: “Almost everyone here was (about) as old as me and Yoeri.”
Which is to say they were young.
So young.
A matter of respect
The Holtmans desperately want to connect with Hathorne’s family. They have searched the internet with little success and written to the Clarion Ledger seeking help.
"We want to tell them that we will always take good care of the grave," they wrote, "and that they, too, have a special place in our hearts. And even though it is unlikely that we can ever come to Mississippi, Mississippi also has a special place in our hearts."
Hathorne is listed from Forrest County, but other research shows that he might be from Perry County.
The remains of Forrest County native Clyde Hathorne, a U.S. Army tech sergeant killed during World War II, are buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery.
We know that Hathorne’s parents were named James C. Hathorne and Minnie L. Young Hathorne. He had nine siblings, including a twin brother — Claude.
“After a long search we came across a (yearbook) photo last week of whom we think is his twin brother,” the Holtmans wrote this week in an email to me. “It (made) us happy but also (gave us) a strange feeling because we obviously do not know if this is really the twin brother … and then you also wonder … did they look alike?
“Because we will always imagine in our heads how Clyde Hathorne would have looked.”
The Netherlands is not where Hathorne originally was buried. He was first laid to rest at Coxyde Military Cemetery in Belgium. We do not know when or why his remains were relocated.
Approximately 8,301 American soldiers are buried at Netherlands American Cemetery. The names of 1,722 missing soldiers are listed on a surrounding wall. All of the graves and names have been adopted by local families.
When one adopts a grave, the Holtmans wrote, “this means that you get an ‘official’ adoption paper with all the known information about the person. You are expected to take flowers to the grave, especially on holidays.
“Because we live close by, we are going to bring flowers once a month and also on American holidays and Dutch days of remembrance.
“Hopefully the people who read the story will know that people in the Netherlands still have a lot of respect for their liberators and that many adopters continue to look after their family members.”
That respect is reciprocated.
On May 19, a memorial service was held at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Jackson for 30 members of The Royal Netherlands Flying School. They were killed in training accidents between 1942 and 1945 and buried at Cedar Lawn.
More than 800 Dutchmen — known as the “Dutch Fliers” — were trained at the Jackson Army Air Base, then sent to fight in the Pacific during World War II. The memorial, hosted by The Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, was attended by diplomatic and military officials from the Netherlands and families of the Dutch veterans.
Several Dutch Fliers married American women. Some of their descendants live in the U.S., including Mississippi.
'Freedom is not self-evident'
Since the Holtmans do not speak English, and I do not speak Dutch, we have used Google translation to correspond by email.
In one exchange, the Holtmans wrote: "We watch documentaries and films about World War II very often, and Marko has been in the military for one year. That was mandatory in the Netherlands until about 1995."
I asked them to explain in more detail why they decided to adopt an American’s grave.
“We believe that freedom is not self-evident,” they wrote. “This is a big reason for us. We are very grateful to all liberators who have given their lives to help us in the war.
“Who gives his life or puts his life at risk for totally unknown people? We give our children this as a lesson in life. So that they get these thoughts for the rest of their lives.
“Because we ourselves are parents, we often think of the idea that your child goes to a foreign country to fight and does not return. You always ask yourself how it must have been for (Hathorne's) parents and brothers and sisters to hear the terrible news that he has been killed.”
A couple of weeks ago, a recurring event was held at the cemetery: The Faces of Margraten.
“Since this event was started, about 5,000 photos of soldiers buried here have been found and placed next to the graves so that you can form an image of them,” the Holtmans wrote. “Unfortunately, there is no photograph of ‘our’ soldier. That gave us the (incentive) to search even harder for information.
"Next year, we want his picture at his grave.”
Clyde Hathorne
Born: Jan. 16, 1920
Died:June 24, 1944
Parents: James C. Hathorne and Minnie L. (Young) Hathorne
Siblings:
Ruth Hathorne (sister)
Selby Hathorne (brother)
Anne L. Hathorne (sister)
Ethel M. Hathorne (sister)
Myrtis Hathorne (sister)
Kate Hathorne (sister)
Minnie L. Hathorne (sister)
Claude Hathorne (twin brother)
James C. Hathorne Jr. (brother)
Marko and Ilona Holtman of Heerlen, The Netherlands, are hoping members of Mississippian Clyde Hathorne’s family will see the photo and the accompanying story and contact Clarion Ledger columnist Billy Watkins at bwatkins@jackson.gannett.com.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/24/mayor-businessman-get-into-fight-over-fatal-wreck-involving-manhole/641388002/
(Photo: Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger)
A local business owner bashed the mayor and city leadership Tuesday for neglecting to hire Jackson-based contractors, suggesting the traffic death of Frances Fortner on May 17 could have been avoided.
In what led to a heated exchange with Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Jackson businessman Marcus Wallace suggested on his Facebook page the unsecured manhole cover that officials say played a role in Fortner's traffic death last week is a pothole and could have been prevented.
"The young lady did lose her life on a pothole. What is an uncovered manhole??? A deeper pothole!" Wallace posted to his Facebook page.
Lumumba at Tuesday's City Council meeting responded to Wallace's claim, among several others, by suggesting Wallace was attempting to profit from Fortner's death.
"To take an opportunity to profit off of work that you want to be done, in the wake of someone losing their life is a very, very low move," the mayor said.
"The other thing I would mention to you is that that young lady did not lose her life because of a pothole," Lumumba continued.
Lumumba on Monday said the city bears responsibility for not barricading the scene of an unsecured manhole that could have played a role in Fortner's death.
More: The city of Jackson failed to secure manhole site, mayor says
Wallace, along with several other Jackson-based business owners, has frequently appeared before the council to address the city's road repair contracting policies, arguing the city needed to do a better job of hiring locally.
Wallace said he has "begged for months" to get a street maintenance program to help fund resurfacing of Jackson streets.
Lumumba said Wallace was uncertified to perform pothole work in the city.
"The fact is you do not have certification at this time to do pothole work. We've checked that with the state," he said.
"I'm certified. I'm very certified. I will bring the certificate to the council meeting next week," Wallace said.
More: A private contractor was tasked with manhole repair. Here's the latest in Frances Fortner death
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/24/jackson-police-aggressive-drugs-homicides/641613002/
Jackson police and other agencies arrested Christopher Wade, who they say had a significant amount of drugs and money. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Interim Police Chief Anthony Moore spoke from a podium situated between more than seven pounds of pungent marijuana and almost $70,000 as he talked about steps forward in crime fighting in the capital city.
On Wednesday night, Christopher Wade of Jackson was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a church, police said. He was arrested after authorities from several agencies served a search warrant at his house and found him at his Cameron Street home.
"This was a significant arrest in the city of Jackson," Moore said.
Six arrests have been made in recent homicides, the chief said, and a warrant has been issued in a seventh. The homicide rate is currently at 42 this year, which is well past where it was this time last year.
"I think it has a lot to do with conflict resolution," Moore said. "People are solving their problems with violence and guns."
The bust that involved Wade was just one of several recently, Moore said.
"Our officers have worked very hard and very diligently in bringing these individuals to justice," Moore said. "We want to continue to be aggressive in these crimes and bringing these perpetrators who engage in such senseless acts to justice."
On May 5, Marcus "Peg" Wallace, 27, was arrested after the Gun Crimes Interdiction Team searched an abandoned house on Derrick Street and officers seized 225 grams of marijuana, 86 grams of cocaine, a gun and $1,200 in cash. He was charged with possession of a firearm with marijuana and possession of cocaine.
Wallace was arrested again by the GCIT on May 18 when police attempted to pull him over and he and a passenger bailed out of his vehicle. Wallace attempted to escape on foot, running into a nearby home where the door had been left open.
Once he was retrieved from the home, officers found 23.8 grams of cocaine, a gun, and $7,342 in cash in his vehicle. He was also carrying scales in his pocket. Wallace was charged with possession of cocaine with a firearm.
GCIT and narcotics officers stopped a car on Kennington Avenue on May 14 where they seized 2.3 grams of cocaine, an assortment of other narcotics, and $5,915. Jeremy Spann, 29, was charged with possession of narcotics with a firearm.
Moore said every big drug arrest helps open the channels to lead to more drug busts and arrests.
"These would be considered mid-level arrests, and that can certainly lead to bigger arrests down the line," Moore said.
He reminded the public that in spite of some of the challenges facing his department, the focus is on making Jackson a safe place.
"All this is an example of the hard work that our officers put out each day fighting crime in the city of Jackson and I want the public to know that crime is an unacceptable behavior in Jackson," Moore said. "We're going to be aggressive in our crimefighting efforts to make the citizens safe and make the community safe."
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/23/family-wants-answers-madison-county-inmate-died-custody/620403002/
Download The Clarion-Ledger app for free on the Apple app store or Google Play. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Hill family)
Since her big brother's death in the Madison County Jail on Mother's Day, Katrina Hill Nettles now keeps his furry children.
"It's because of my brother that I love the dogs — Conflict, Oreo and Ears," she said, listing their names, and adding later that sadly, Ears had died. "Those were his babies, basically. He loved his dogs."
Harvey Terrill Turner, also known as "Harvey Hill," loved playing basketball with the neighborhood kids, he loved his dogs, and he loved his family, Nettles said.
"He loved our kids. he didn't have any children of his own, so he took all our children, even the other children in the neighborhood, under his wing," she said. "They don't call him by name, they ask, 'Where's Uncle Harvey at?' He was great with the kids."
Turner, 36, was in jail on a trespassing charge. He had been picked up sitting on a porch swing at a former employer's home. Nettles said to her knowledge the two were still friends.
Authorities said Turner had allegedly gotten into a fight with corrections officers at the Madison County Jail. Sheriff Randy Tucker told the Madison County Journal's Michael Simmons that Turner had become "erratic." It's unclear what happened next.
Tucker has not returned the Clarion Ledger's phone calls seeking comment.
According to Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the probe into his death. That's not unusual in an in-custody death, but an air of secrecy has surrounded Turner's case.
His family was told he went into possible cardiac arrest. He was taken to Merit Health in Canton and was transferred from there to Merit Health Central Hospital in Jackson.
That's where he was pronounced dead on May 7, officials said. His body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy.
Nettles said the family was not allowed to see the body prior to autopsy, which can also be routine in a situation where the body is considered evidence. A cause of death has not been released either.
"All I can tell you is that right now his cause of death is pending further investigation and review," said Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland.
Breeland said tests are still being run, so the manner of Turner's death is also pending.
"Until we get everything completed on it we’re going to withhold comment," he said.
Nettles said Turner had never had any major health problems. But nonetheless, one day he was there, and the next day he was gone.
Nettles said she's still not sure what happened when he was arrested. But she said in her experience Turner was not someone who had ever been defiant toward law enforcement.
Harvey Terrill "Harvey HIll" Turner (Photo: Hill family)
"He never had any type of run-ins as far as I can remember with the police ever. He does have a past conviction, but he went peacefully," she said. "During his stay at the other facilities that I know of, he hasn't had any altercations with the officers that I know of."
Guards at previous facilities where he was incarcerated had even told the family that he was easy to work with, she said.
Records show Turner was a registered sex offender, convicted of sexual battery.
"We're all going to have our downfalls, make mistakes, but at the end of the day we're still human, and even law enforcement shouldn't take the law into their own hands," she said. "Regardless of what a person does or chooses to do in their life, they're human, they're human beings."
"That's my brother, and I can't explain how I feel right now," Nettles said. "All I know is I lost my brother, my big brother, someone that I love. The way he left us is heartbreaking to me. We didn't get to say goodbye, you know, nothing. Basically he got arrested and died. It's been two weeks, and that's all we know."
It's hard for Turner's family, not knowing what happened, and to be strong when there's no answer, Nettles said.
"I constantly stay in prayer. I always pray, we've always been a praying family, a family that draws our strength from God," she said. "You have to keep a level head, you can't take matters into your own hands. I've got friends calling and praying with me, praying for me, and that's where my strength comes from."
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/23/fatal-police-involved-shooting-petition-may-force-jpd-id-officers/636499002/
Crystalline Barnes was shot and killed in January after hitting a patrol car and attempting to run over officers, according to the Jackson Police Dept. Harold Gater
A petition filed in federal court in Jackson seeks to force the Jackson Police Department to provide the names of the officers involved in the January shooting death of 21-year-old Crystalline Barnes.
JPD hasn't provided the names of the officers involved in the shooting, but attorneys for Barnes' family said in court papers they believe one of the officers is Rakasha Adams. They don't have a name for the other officer involved in the Jan. 27 shooting of the mother of two small children.
The petition, filed Monday, said a public records request was made to the city in April for any and all information, including service calls, audio and videos, witness reports and investigations, pertaining to Barnes' death.
But attorneys Carlos Moore and Jason Downs said JPD provided a one-page incident report to their public records request with no names of the involved officers.
JPD also only provided a one-page incident report involving a Nov. 15 officer-involved shooting that the attorneys believe Adams was involved in.
Moore said they expect to file a federal lawsuit against JPD and the city over the shooting death of Barnes, but the failure to obtain the names of the officers involved are hampering such efforts.
"The names of the individual officers are necessary for the filing of excessive force claims because federal courts in the 5th Circuit do not allow 'John Doe'
pleadings to relate back to a complaint where a plaintiff alleges he was unable to identify a defendant," Moore said.
Moore said without the names of the officers, a “John Doe” complaint could be dismissed with prejudice, rendering the information “unavailable” for all practical purposes if it is not secured in advance of contemplated litigation.
"A dismissal, solely because petitioner was unable to identify the appropriate defendants under these circumstances where all reasonable efforts have
been made, would constitute a failure of justice," Moore wrote in the court petition.
Last week, Downs, a Maryland attorney, announced the results of an independent investigation at a news conference at City Hall.
Downs said the independent investigation contradicted the officers' account of what happened that led to the shooting death of Barnes.
From right attorneys Tiffani Collins, Carlos Moore and Jason Downs walk ahead the family of Crystalline Barnes at news conference May 15, 2018, at city hall in Jackson, Miss.
JPD said officers responded to reports of a vehicle that forced another motorist off the road. An officer stopped the suspect vehicle around 7:30 a.m.
JPD says after stopping the vehicle driven by Barnes, the officer requested an additional unit for assistance. Barnes then attempted to leave the scene. She made a u-turn to evade the other responding officer, then later stopped and began driving in reverse toward the officer who had exited the patrol vehicle, authorities said. The officer fired into the vehicle before jumping out of the way, authorities said, and Barnes' vehicle collided with the patrol vehicle.
Barnes drove forward again toward the initial officer who also fired into the vehicle, JPD said. Barnes' vehicle then hit a utility pole. It remains unclear what led to her actions.
“When you look at the reports conducted prior to our investigation, the claims are that Officer Rakasha Adams is saying Crystalline was driving her vehicle toward her, so she had to fire," Downs said. "There were no bullet holes through the front of Crystalline's vehicle. In other words, the ballistic evidence undercuts and contradicts Officer Adams' story."
“We have an officer that admits to being easily angered walking the streets of Jackson armed with a gun and a badge, and we believe these factors played a role in Officer Adams' unjustified decision to shoot at Crystalline,” Downs said.
As a part of standard procedure, both officers were placed on administrative leave with pay. Two separate investigations, both internal and criminal, are taking place to determine whether any department policies or any laws have been violated.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba recently put together a task force that will help him decide whether the city should make public the identities of police officers in officer-involved shooting deaths.
Also, the Jackson City Council voted earlier this month to require all shootings involving Jackson Police Department officers be investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/23/pelahatchie-mayors-questions-lead-state-auditors-probe/636446002/
The first African American mayor of Pelahatchie, Mayor-elect Ryshonda Harper Beechem, speaks about her upcoming first term as Mayor of Pelahatchie. Elijah Baylis/The Clarion-Ledger
Shortly after being elected, Pelahatchie Mayor Ryshonda Harper Beechem complained she didn't have access to a safe that contained the town's financial records.
Beechem, the town's first African-American mayor and also an accountant, said when she was given access to the city's bookkeeping, she became suspicious.
And when town officials told her there was nothing to see, she contacted the state auditor's office for guidance.
On Monday, the office issued a demand for $500,000 in what they say was misspent drug forfeiture funds.
State Auditor Stacey Pickering said town aldermen and the former city clerk used the funds on utilities, firefighting, employee salaries and other expenses, which is in violation of federal and state law.
The brunt of the payments, or a total of $421,688.10, were made between January 2015 to June 2017, before Beechem took office, according to the state auditor's office.
Another $80,694.77 occurred between July and December of last year, while Beechem was mayor.
Seeking to clear her name, Beechem held a news conference at her attorney’s office in Jackson on Wednesday, to present the facts.
Beechem placed the brunt of the responsibility on previous administrations.
"The law was not being followed," she said.
Efforts to reach Beechem's predecessor, Knox Ross, and members of the Board of Aldermen were unsuccessful.
Beechem said she was suspicious early on, but since she “was new to the job,” signed off on several checks in July and August.
Beechem said she then researched the Mississippi statute dealing with how seized monies were to be spent and notified the board, who she said refused to change their practices.
Pelahatchie City Attorney Brad Mills concluded in a memo to Beechem that the town's use of Police Seized Funds wasn't "illegal or improper."
Mills could not be contacted immediately for comment.
Beechem said she then contacted the state auditor's office.
The mayor has had a tumultuous relationship with town aldermen. She was only recently granted access to the town's safe, which holds vital city financial documents and records. In February, the board axed her salary by 75 percent without warning.
Neither the mayor nor her attorney gave any specifics on which employee salaries were improperly funded but previously said the outgoing city clerk, Bettye Massey — who is named in the probe — had a salary of $82,000 before she retired, or $40,000 more than the recently hired city clerk.
"It's frustrating that I'm just trying to follow the law and face repercussions for it," she said.
More: Meet the first African-American mayor in this Mississippi county
by: Elise Morse-Gagne
date: 2018-05-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/22/speaking-up-and-standing-up-poor/632725002/
Metro Nashville police arrested several protesters participating in the second week of the Poor People's Campaign. Natalie Allison, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
On May 14th I participated in a rally and direct action in Jackson for the new Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, which picks up the initiative that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was working on at the time of his death. Our action included partially shutting down the intersection of High and State Streets. The city police arrived promptly and began urging us to move out of the way. However, a man driving through rolled down his window to berate the police for not arresting us wholesale, immediately.
Yes, we were breaking the law, and we accepted the possibility of arrest. But in one of the poorest states in the U.S., what message would it have sent to the poor if the police were seen rushing to arrest people who were calling attention to poverty?
The man driving that car was more concerned about the message he was getting than about any message the poor might get. His anger suggested he felt that the Jackson Police Department was letting him down. This raises the question, who are the police for? He appeared to believe they are for him, and that their temperate response was a betrayal. But is it the JPD's role to protect the convenience of those who already have enough to live on, by harshly shutting down voices of concern for those who don't? Are the police really supposed to act primarily as armed enforcers of the will of the well-to-do? Too often we act as if their main function is to weaponize the priorities of the rich. Maybe we should rethink that. King wrote in 1963, "I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. "
More: Hard work and optimism: A new look into poverty in America
The poor man in that car displayed the mindset that the Poor People's Campaign protests against. We should not be acting as if the only purpose of our institutions is to maintain a few people in security and comfort, at the expense of the fundamental well-being of millions of their fellow human beings.
The protests of the Poor People's Campaign call out two kinds of poverty. One is the grinding physical poverty of those downtrodden by discriminatory, punitive policies. The second kind is the spiritual poverty of those who are so determined to keep profiting from those unjust policies that they have abandoned fellow-feeling and compassion. That's why the campaign is subtitled "A National Call for Moral Revival." I call the man in the car "poor" not in sarcasm but in sadness, because his expression, his voice, and his words made me think that he suffers from that second kind of poverty and doesn't even know it.
Did your grandmother tell you always to be sure and have on clean underwear, because you never know when you might be in an accident? This incident made me think about how quickly our own haste and self-centered focus can sweep aside humane feelings. I know what it feels like to be in a hurry and to be frustrated at an obstacle. But maybe we all need to make sure that if our day throws something unexpected our way, and our soul shows, it's fit to be seen.
Elise Morse-Gagne lives in Clinton. She has been on the faculty of Tougaloo College since 2005. She is active in the Mississippi Poor People's Campaign.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/22/t-shirt-shop-has-message-jackson-frances-anne-fortner-death/632038002/
Frances Fortner was en route to her graduation practice when her vehicle struck an open manhole, flipping the car on Ridgewood Road. Dustin Barnes, Clarion Ledger
A local business is speaking out, with a T-shirt, about the death of a Jackson teenager who died after her car hit an uncovered manhole last week.
Swell-O-Phonic, an eclectic T-shirt shop in Fondren, debuted a shirt on their Instagram page that reads, "JACKSON, get your s**t together." The word is not bleeped out on the shirt.
The shop says it is in direct response to the tragic death of 18-year-old Frances Anne Fortner, a Jackson Academy senior who was killed last week on her way to graduation practice. Fortner was driving her mother's convertible on Ridgewood Road in Jackson when the car hit an unsecured manhole cover and flipped. Fortner was killed.
"Rough as it may sound and be, this is our voice to honor our beloved friend and customer, Frances Anne Fortner's memory," the post read.
Proceeds from the sale of the shirt will "pay for purchased asphalt that will help improve our roads and help us us all be a little bit safer."
The owner of Swell-O-Phonic could not immediately be reached for comment.
Monday, Jackson mayor Antar Lumumba admitted the city was at fault in not securing the manhole cover.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/22/mississippi-man-charged-knowingly-spreading-hiv/631868002/
GULFPORT, Miss. — Police say a Mississippi man has been charged with knowingly exposing others to HIV.
News outlets report 29-year-old Tyrone Ross, of Gulfport, was arrested Sunday as the result of a complaint received against him at a hospital.
Gulfport police Sgt. Clayton Fulks says Ross met a man while they were in jail and was intimate with him behind bars. Fulks says they continued their relationship after they were released. Police say the relationship lasted between October 2015 and May 2018.
Police say Ross had previously been convicted for knowingly exposing others to HIV twice. It's unclear if Ross has a lawyer.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/22/mississippi-police-officers-fired-after-brutality-claim/631890002/
LAUREL, Miss. — Two Mississippi police officers have been fired after a man said they repeatedly kicked him in the face when they arrested him.
WDAM-TV reported Monday that Laurel police Capt. Tommy Cox says it became apparent to supervisors on duty that there was a problem with the way the arrest occurred, and the officers were fired. Police say the department has been in contact with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to look into the possibility of criminal charges against the officers.
Thirty-six-year-old James Barnett tells WDAM-TV the officers pursued and arrested him after he turned around from a police checkpoint May 16. Barnett says he exited the vehicle, lay down on the ground and was continuously kicked. He was charged with resisting arrest. It's unclear if he has a lawyer.
In this May 18, 2018 photograph taken from news video, James Barnett of Laurel, Miss., shows the injuries he allegedly sustained after two Laurel police officers pursued and arrested him after he turned around from a police checkpoint May 16. Barnett said the officers repeatedly kicked him in the face when they arrested him.
(Photo: Shakari Briggs, AP)
by:
date: 2018-05-20
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/21/startup-wispr-msu-students-uses-drones-improve-rural-internet-access/591189002/
Sen. Roger Wicker discusses the importance of rural internet connectivity. Ron Maxey / Commercial Appeal
(Photo: Megan Bean/MSU Communicationbs)
A recent Mississippi State engineering graduate is leading a team of other young alumni and current MSU students in work that could mean big improvements for internet access in rural areas of the U.S. and has the potential to make a global impact.
About half of the world’s population does not have internet, and running fiber is not economically feasible in most rural areas. However, WISPr Systems, a new company born at MSU and now valued at about $2 million, could help make internet access in rural areas much more practical and affordable.
Conor Ferguson and his associates have utilized MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach in the College of Business, which offers resources and a network of business experts who have coached the company through the start-up process.
WISPr Systems builds advanced automation tools for wireless internet service providers that eliminate the cost-intensive process of making the most effective use of antenna placement. Until now, when establishing internet service for a new customer, multiple technicians have had to climb into bucket trucks for an awkward balancing act of juggling a laptop and large antenna arrays for determining the best placement to gain the best signals.
(Story continues after photo gallery)
WISPr Systems’ uniquely engineered drones, equipped with proprietary software, now make it simple for operators to scan a property automatically for the best antenna placement.
“This automated process will make it vastly more affordable to connect people anywhere to the internet,” said Ferguson, the company’s 27-year-old president and CEO and a December 2017 electrical engineering graduate of MSU’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering. He said the process not only saves significant time, but also cuts costs by about 20 percent.
MSU entrepreneurship advisers are saying WISPr Systems is among the most successful student-led start-up businesses to date.
Eric Hill, director of MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, said WISPr Systems is a very impressive start-up company for a number of reasons. It’s also the first to complete the center’s new VentureCatalyst program, a guided five-stage program that helps student, faculty or staff entrepreneurs take a business concept from an idea to a funded company.
Conor Ferguson, standing left, along with Joseph Cuty and Logan Smith, seated from left, talk with MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach Director Eric Hill in McCool Hall. Along with a team of entrepreneurship advisory board members and other mentors from the Bulldog family, Hill has helped the WISPr Systems business team successfully navigate the start-up process.
“The total dollar potential for this project is higher than any we’ve seen in my time here,” said Hill, an MSU industrial engineering alumnus who has led the Entrepreneurship Center since 2013.
“What I love about this deal is that it’s high tech, involving unmanned aircraft systems, which is one of MSU’s research focus areas. It was launched through our VentureCatalyst program, is being funded by MSU graduates, and it’s creating actual jobs in Mississippi. This illustrates from start to finish what success means to the Entrepreneurship Center,” Hill said.
The company currently employs three programmers and three in manufacturing, in addition to Ferguson, who hopes to add financial and marketing employees as the company grows.
Making it go
Headquartered in Batesville, Ferguson’s hometown, the company’s offices are at the Panola County Airport. Ferguson and Austin Ratcliffe, another December 2017 MSU electrical engineering graduate from Batesville and WISPr Systems co-founder, are working full time to build the company. Their team also includes Joseph Cuty, an MSU electrical engineering graduating senior from Diamondhead, and Logan Smith, a computer engineering graduating senior from Petal.
Logan Smith, left, a graduating senior computer engineering major from Petal, and Joseph Cuty, a graduating senior electrical engineering major from Diamondhead, adjust one of WISPr Systems’ unmanned aircraft vehicles. The two have worked for the start-up company while completing coursework in MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering.
While Ferguson and Ratcliffe are both from Batesville, the two connected during mutual studies at Northwest Mississippi Community College in their engineering physics course.
Ferguson said when the two enrolled at MSU, Ratcliffe initially was in another engineering major. “I showed him all the fun stuff I was doing in electrical, and he switched majors,” Ferguson recalled.
Ferguson was a nontraditional college student, slightly older because he worked four years full time between high school and college. He began working with computers as a child, and he learned about business from his father who owns a computer and data business in Batesville.
As Ferguson spent time doing the technical work of installing antennae for wireless internet, he was inspired to improve the cumbersome process.
When he came to MSU in 2014, his free time was limited as he balanced coursework and student research jobs within the department, often studying well into the night hours.
Now, he’s quick to praise faculty members like Bryan Jones and Mehmet Kurum who let him investigate his interests with unmanned aircraft vehicles. He said if he had the time, he’d love to earn an MSU graduate degree in electrical engineering “just because it would be so much fun.”
“They gave me a chance when a lot of people wouldn’t have, and that’s all I needed,” Ferguson said.
“I was a little naïve and cocky, thinking I could just do it all on my own and not need anybody’s support.”
He changed direction on the first day of an entrepreneurship seminar class. When Hill, who co-instructs the seminar, explained the complexity of building a small business, let alone a larger company, Ferguson decided it was time to dig in to the resources at MSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach.
Not only did Hill and a team of entrepreneurship advisers and mentors help Ferguson work through the VentureCatalyst program, but they offered constant guidance as he developed and revised his business plan.
Taking off
At the Entrepreneurship Center, a team of advisory board members is close by, consisting largely of faculty versed in marketing, management, finance and other essential business topics. But the College of Business also has reached far and wide to a network of successful Bulldogs who can lend their expertise and experiences to MSU students from across the country.
Wade Patterson of Huntsville, Alabama, is a 1983 MSU electrical engineering graduate who learned about business through his own experiences establishing, running and selling companies, as well as patented technologies he created.
“I learned everything not to do,” he said. However, through trial and error, Patterson ultimately became a very successful businessman with positive business exits, including his 2012 sale of Synapse Wireless, a company that specializes in Internet of Things technology.
Patterson established the Bulldog Angel Network to give MSU students a level playing field with those starting companies in areas such as Silicon Valley, where venture capital is more readily available. The network also is open to alumni pitches.
While the MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach already was awarding up to $7,500 in start-up seed money to qualifying companies through the Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship, Patterson said it was inevitable that some companies would get far enough through the start-up process that they would need larger amounts of investment capital.
Ferguson’s WISPr Systems this semester received the largest Bulldog Angel Network investment to date at $450,000.
Ferguson said Patterson and others in the Bulldog family have helped him get WISPr Systems where it is in a relatively short time. Ferguson recognizes the blood, sweat and tears it takes to achieve success.
“Competition is going to come quickly, but if you do things right on the front end, you’ll be all right,” he said.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/20/newspaper-officer-racks-up-8-000-overtime-4-months/627495002/
COLUMBUS – A Mississippi newspaper finds that a police investigator has been paid for 338 hours of overtime this year, including some as the mayor’s driver.
The Commercial Dispatch reports that a public records request disclosed that Investigator Reginald Adams was paid almost $8,000 for overtime between Jan. 1 and May 1. That's in addition to Adams’s regular pay of more than $13,000.
The newspaper’s review shows the time included a February trip in which he drove Columbus Mayor Robert Smith and a City Planner George Irby to a Federal Home Loan Bank conference on affordable housing in New Orleans.
More: Multiple officers leave Columbus Police Department
Receipts show the city paid $183.57 for Adams to stay in a hotel room and that he, Smith and the planner partook of a meal at Morton’s Steakhouse that cost the three of them more than $250 combined. Smith signed the restaurant receipt.
Smith wrote in an email that City Council members approved travel for himself and Irby and he then added Adams without council approval after asking Police Chief Fred Shelton if an officer could drive them.
“As the chief executive officer of the city, I have the authority to decide who goes on official city trips and this trip falls under that authority,” Smith wrote.
The newspaper’s review shows Adams’ overtime outpaces other investigators. The next highest investigator recorded 194 hours of overtime during the same four-month period. Adams shifted from patrol officer to investigator shortly after Shelton became police chief in January.
Adams has been asked to perform other special tasks as well.
Shelton previously confirmed that he asked Adams in the early morning hours of March 9 to go to Starkville in an unmarked police unit and pick up part-time patrol officer Louis Alexander, who Starkville police had stopped for driving drunk.
Starkville police did not ticket Alexander, although Columbus council members later suspended him for 16 working days.
City Councilman Joseph Mickens questioned the trip.
“I have some concerns about that,” he said. “I mean, Robert and George can both drive. Why did they need (Adams)?”
Councilman Bill Gavin, though, expressed little concern.
“We’ve always had a lot of overtime in (criminal investigation), so this is not the first time,” Gavin said. “And I know the mayor has taken other employees as drivers on trips in the past, especially when it’s in a bigger city.”
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-05-20
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/21/mississippi-nonprofit-has-lost-6-7-m-cant-show-its-aiding-inmates/629020002/
The nonprofit aimed at giving inmates job skills has lost $3.2 million over the past two years, and a watchdog report pointed to a lack of receipts. Wochit
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Mississippi Prison Industries Corp., which has seen its net work plummet $6.7 million since 2012, must take drastic steps to survive, including possible bankruptcy, a scathing report by the state’s legislative watchdog concludes.
“The time has come for MPIC and the Legislature to consider seriously whether the state’s prison industries program has a future and, if so, what changes can be made operationally and legislatively to ensure that the program has a positive outcome,” the report says.
The board responded Monday that it takes the report “very seriously” and that when the board meets again in June, it will discuss the analysis, conclusion and recommendations.
Since fiscal 2012, the nonprofit has seen its net worth decline by $6.7 million — $3.2 million over the past two years — and its cash balance decline from $4.8 million to less than $600,000.
Since fiscal 2012, Mississippi Prison Industries has seen its net worth decline by $6.7 million, according to a report by the Legislature's watchdog.
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
The Legislature's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee report paints a picture of an out-of-control nonprofit, experiencing “a deterioration of its financial sustainability as the result of losses in long-term product lines, unsuccessful expansion into new product lines, and failure to control administrative overhead expenses, such as salaries and benefits, contractual services, and operating expenses.”
Rep. Jerry Turner, R-Baldwyn, who chairs the House Committee on Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency, said he would like to see hearings on Mississippi Prisons Industry, preferably involving both the House and Senate accountability committees.
He said the nonprofit should have focused on its mandated goal of reducing recidivism.
Over the past year, the nonprofit raised salaries and benefits of the administration and employees by 27 percent, he said. “The focus has been on that, rather than the inmates.”
On March 21, the nonprofit fired Brad Curtis as CEO, marking the second termination of its leader over the past several years. Jeff Solari is now serving in his place.
Bob Baughn, who serves on the 13-member board of directors, told the Clarion Ledger then that the only reason the board fired Curtis was that they "just lost confidence in his leadership.”
A previous review by PEER found that "many invoices from vendors ... were not located in the office."
And in a sample of travel expenses, the agency "discovered instances where receipts were not attached to the expense reports to substantiate the travel expenditure or the business purpose.”
In its 2015 tax return, the nonprofit listed travel expenses of $242,742 — nearly twice as much as any other year.
That same year, the nonprofit, which had come under attack from some lawmakers and others, spent more than $537,000 on lobbying the state Legislature.
Over the past two years, five of the six nonprofit’s product lines have moved from being profitable to being unprofitable.
And when the nonprofit took on two new product lines — fish tanks and suture spool recycling— the nonprofit failed to conduct marketing feasibility students, hold public hearings or consult with Mississippi Delta Community College as required by state law.
At the same time, the nonprofit saw administrative overhead expenses almost double, going from $1.6 million to nearly $2.8 million.
Mississippi is one of two states that operate prison industries program through a nonprofit, rather than through corrections officials. (The other is Florida.)
Since its 1990 creation, Mississippi Prison Industries has provided uniforms and socks to inmates, and the state has paid the nonprofit for that service.
The nonprofit also ran a transitional housing program for inmates who had just been released from prison, providing support services, such as counseling, job training, GED classes, and alcohol and drug treatment.
But the nonprofit shut down the program in 2016 for a lack of funds.
The nonprofit still runs eight prison industry work programs at the three state prisons, the Jefferson-Franklin County Correctional Facility, and a warehouse located in Jackson.
PEER concluded that, because of the “poor quality” of data collection, it was impossible to determine if the nonprofit was effective in reducing recidivism, as required by state law.
In addition, the report says, “Mississippi’s implementation of its prison industries program is missing several key components designed to increase the program’s effectiveness in reducing recidivism.”
Asked if he believes the nonprofit is fulfilling its statutory purpose, PEER Executive Director James Barber replied, “The data is so unreliable, you really can’t tell. We had difficulty knowing which inmates went through the program. There was no information on them after they were released from prison or whether they had the work skills so that they did not enter the prison system again.”
He praised the nonprofit’s employees, but said the way the nonprofit “has been run in the past doesn’t give you assurance they are doing what the law requires them to do.”
The PEER report concludes that the nonprofit’s board “must immediately assess the financial condition of the corporation” and consider eliminating the least profitable industries, seek bankruptcy protection or dissolve the corporation.
In its statement released Monday, the nonprofit’s board and leaders said they would “continue to monitor operations and business objectives. Any and all questions for comments regarding the MPIC report will only be determined by the board after the (June) meeting.”
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-20
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/21/mississippi-town-misspent-500-k-seized-drug-money-state-auditor-says/630557002/
Mississippi's state auditor says a town improperly spent nearly $500,000 in seized drug money on non-police purposes.
Stacey Pickering on Monday issued letters demanding repayment to current and former town officials in Pelahatchie (pee-luh-HAT'-chee), a 1,300-person town east of Jackson.
The Republican auditor says the money was misspent on utilities, firefighting, employee salaries and other expenses in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He says that under state law, forfeited assets can only be spent on police.
Including interest and investigative costs, Pickering demands $502,000. Current and former officials and the bonding company that insures them have 30 days to pay. If not, Pickering says he will sue them in civil court.
The Rankin County town's government has been the focus of a power struggle between Mayor Ryshonda Beechem and aldermen.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-05-20
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/05/21/civil-rights-history-freedom-riders-arrested-mississippi/629282002/
May 21, 1892: Crusading journalist Ida B. Wells published a column exposing the lynchings of African-American men and denouncing claims that the lynchings were meant to protect white women. Her anti-lynching campaign came after a mob killed three of her friends, who had reportedly opened a grocery store that competed with a white-owned store in Memphis. Upset by Wells’ writings, a white mob destroyed her presses and threatened to kill her if she ever published again. She left Memphis for Chicago, but she continued to expose lynchings, calling for national legislation to make lynching a crime. In 1898, she took her protest to the White House. “Nowhere in the civilized world save the United States of America do men, possessing all civil and political power, go out in bands of 50 and 5,000 to hunt down, shoot, hang or burn to death a single individual, unarmed and absolutely powerless,” she wrote. “We refuse to believe this country, so powerful to defend its citizens abroad, is unable to protect its citizens at home.” The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, which opened in 2018, features a reflection space in honor of her.
May 21, 1961: A mob of several thousand segregationists besieged Ralph Abernathy’s First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where a mass meeting of 1,500 was being led by Martin Luther King Jr. Federal marshals used tear gas to protect the church, and the National Guard helped to restore order.
The Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum in Holly Springs tells the story of Holly Springs native Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African-American journalist and co-founder of the NAACP.
(Photo: Photos by Adam Robison/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
May 22, 1863: The U.S. Army recruited African Americans to fight in the Civil War, and they were known as the U.S. Colored Troops. Nearly 200,000 black men fought for the Union. The 1989 film, "Glory," starring Denzel Washington, featured the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. He won an Academy Award for his performance.
May 22, 2002: A jury convicted Bobby Cherry of taking part in the Ku Klux Klan’s 1963 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama, church, that killed four girls. Cherry received four life sentences — one for each slaying. In 2004, he died in prison.
May 23, 1921: "Shuffle Along" was the first major African-American hit musical on Broadway. The show lasted for 484 performances, proving that audiences would pay to see black performers.
May 23, 1961: Civil rights leaders James Farmer, John Lewis, Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King Jr. announced at a news conference in Montgomery, Alabama, that the Freedom Rides would continue. Lewis was wearing bandages from the beating he received in Montgomery.
An exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum displays the photos of Freedom Riders who were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 24, 1961.
(Photo: Terrell Clark/For The Hechinger Report)
May 24, 1961: Twenty-seven Freedom Riders, headed for New Orleans, were arrested as soon as they arrived in the bus station in Jackson, Mississippi. Many of the riders were sentenced to two months inside Mississippi’s worst prison, Parchman. Within a few months, police arrested more than 400 Freedom Riders. Eric Etheridge features portraits of the Riders (then and now) in his book, "Breach of Peace." Their journeys are captured in Raymond Arsenault’s book, "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice," and Stanley Nelson’s documentary, "Freedom Riders."
May 25, 1774: A group of Africans enslaved in a Massachusetts Bay colony (a center for slave trade) declared they were born free just like the white citizens and “have never forfeited this Blessing by any compact or agreement whatever.” In 1783, the Massachusetts Supreme Court found for freedom for these enslaved Africans. Chief Justice William Cushing declared slavery “inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution.”
May 26, 1926: Legendary jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis was born on this date in Alton, Illinois. Davis, known best for his album, "Kind of Blue," profoundly influenced jazz music. In 2006, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Don Cheadle portrayed the conflicted musical genius in the 2015 film, "Miles Ahead."
May 26, 1956: Bus boycott began in Tallahassee, Florida, after Florida A&M students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson refused to give up their seats to white passengers. Police charged them with “placing themselves in a position to incite a riot.” Fellow students backed them, and soon the campus-wide boycott had spread throughout the city. The Rev. C.K. Steele helped form the Inter-Civic Council, which created a car pool system for African Americans that city leaders attacked as an “illegal” business, leading to the arrest of Steele and others. He shot back to their opponents, “I would rather walk in dignity than ride in humiliation.” Some, including Steele, Jakes and Patterson had crosses burned outside their homes. On Jan. 3, 1957, a federal judge ruled bus segregation laws unconstitutional. Four days later, Tallahassee’s city commission repealed its segregation clause.
May 26, 1956: Alabama authorities tried to shut down the NAACP, obtaining an order from Circuit Judge Walter B. Jones that prohibited the organization from operating in the state. After the NAACP refused to turn over membership lists, Jones found the organization in contempt and fined it $100,000. He had suggested to Alabama Attorney General John Patterson that the state prosecute the NAACP for failing to register as an out-of-state corporation. The U.S. Supreme Court later threw out the fine and ruled in the NAACP’s favor.
May 27, 1954: Future Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Tom P. Brady delivered a defiant speech called “Black Monday” in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, inspiring many white leaders to join the white Citizens’ Council. The racist diatribe was printed in books and distributed to white schoolchildren across Mississippi.
May 27, 1958: Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine, became the first African American to graduate from newly integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Forty years later, the campus became part of the National Park Service.
May 27, 1968: In Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the “freedom of choice” desegregation plan adopted by a Virginia school.
by: Deborah Barfield Berry
date: 2018-05-18
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/19/bennie-thompson-urges-national-democrats-help-mike-espy-win/620879002/
Do more than just exercise your right to vote at the polls this Election Day. (USA NEWS, USA TODAY)
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
WASHINGTON — Rep. Bennie Thompson and other Democrats are urging the national party to invest more resources in the South, including Mike Espy’s bid for a Senate seat in Mississippi.
“He’s got a shot. Things need to fall into place,” said Thompson, the lone Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation. “He’s setting the building blocks … We just need to make sure at the end of the day we put our best foot forward. A lot of people are committed to doing all they can to help him.”
Espy, a former Democratic congressman and secretary of agriculture under the Clinton administration, is running in a special election to replace Republican Thad Cochran. Cochran retired in April citing health reasons.
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who in April was sworn in to fill Cochran’s unexpired term, and state Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel are among the other top contenders.
Thompson and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, mostly Democrats, have been meeting with officials from the Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee to ramp up efforts to win House races, including some in the South.
“The South as a whole is fertile ground for Democratic political growth," he said.
Thompson said he hopes the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which supports Democratic Senate candidates, will include the Mississippi race.
He said Espy has to make the case to the DSCC. “If I get asked, I’ll tell them they should,” Thompson said.
Democratic 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson is urging the national Democratic Party to support former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy's Senate bid in Mississippi.,
(Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry/USA TODAY)
The DSCC has not said what role, if any, it will play in the Mississippi race.
National parties often watch to see if candidates have money, a structure and local support.
"Espy is a strong candidate and we are closely monitoring the race,'' said a DSCC aide.
Recent polls show Espy and Hyde-Smith running neck and neck in the race. One recent poll sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which supports Hyde-Smith, showed her ahead. McDaniel, a tea party favorite who lost to Cochran in 2014, has questioned the accuracy of the polls.
Political experts say Democrats have enough challenges this year. The DSCC is defending 10 Senate incumbents in states that President Trump won.
Trump also won Mississippi.
Still, some Democrats, including Thompson, point to the Senate race in neighboring Alabama where Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore last December in the red state. It was the first time in 25 years a Democrat won a Senate seat in Alabama.
African-American voters, who traditionally support Democratic candidates, are credited with helping Jones pull off the upset. Blacks are about 37 percent of Mississippi's population.
“The blueprint for what needs to happen can use Alabama as a takeoff," Thompson said.
Jones said he’s excited about the prospects of Democrats focusing more on the South. He said it’s important for Democratic candidates to talk about “kitchen table" issues, including health care, jobs and education.
“Those are winning issues for Democrats,” he said.
Thompson said the DCCC, the DSCC and the Democratic National Committee need to come early and often to the South and not take minority voters there for granted.
“If we are the base voters for the Democrat Party, then you need to invest equally in those voters," he said. “We should not be (the focus) two weeks before the election. We should be (the focus) two years before the election."
Jones said while he appreciated help from national Democrats, he relied on grassroots groups, mapped out his own strategy and focused on local issues.
“It is very, very important for local candidates in the South to be able to run the race that they need ... that they are true to themselves and true to what I think the Democratic Party stands for,” he said.
Contributing: Geoffrey Pender, Clarion-Ledger
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date: 2018-05-16
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/05/16/tears-silence-respect-remembering-mississippis-fallen-officers/34973087/
A member of the Mississippi Highway Patrol Honor Guard salutes the memorial wall bearing the photographs of officers from the various Department of Public Safety law enforcement agencies killed in the line of duty, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, during a fallen officers memorial service at department headquarters in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-05-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/16/curtis-flowers-whos-really-telling-truth/613727002/
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
Curtis Flowers has remained in prison largely because of testimony from jailhouse informants, who claimed he confessed to murdering four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona in 1996.
Frederick Veal testified in Curtis Flowers' first trial, in 1997, that Flowers had confessed to him in the Leflore County Jail. Veal recanted and didn’t testify at any of Flowers' subsequent trials. Veal said his statement had been coerced and that he'd been threatened when he hesitated to take the stand, according to court records. More than 15 years later, Veal signed an affidavits reaffirming his recantation.
(Photo: Samara Freemark/APM Reports)
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year in Mississippi digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by questionable evidence. The conviction is based on three main planks: the route that witnesses say Flowers walked the morning of the crime, the gun that prosecutors say he used, and the people he supposedly confessed to while in jail.
Jailhouse informants can often be unreliable, especially if they receive leniency or cash rewards in exchange for their testimony. The three informants who testified against Flowers have all changed their stories at one time or another. In the fourth episode of the 10-episode season, APM Reports digs into who's really telling the truth.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. You can find the episodes on Apple Podcasts or at Inthedarkpodcast.org.
More: Curtis Flowers: On death row, tried 6 times for same crime, but is he guilty?
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/16/first-openly-gay-congressional-candidate-opponent-differ-marriage/586595002/
Members of the LGBT community in Mississippi joined the state's chapter of the Human Rights Campaign to urge for the repeal of HB 1523 before it's allowed to go into law on July 1. Anna Wolfe/The Clarion-Ledger
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Democrat Congressional candidate Michael Aycox wants to put it out there: Yes, he's gay.
An investigator with the Newton Police Department, Aycox said he's heard whispers of folks questioning his sexuality. It's no secret, he said, but he views his sexuality with the same relevance as his hair color.
However, he's also aware that he is the first openly gay candidate in a Mississippi congressional race.
Aycox is one of two Democrats on the ballot in the June primary for Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District seat. Neither he nor Michael T. Evans, a current state representative, is the front-runner for gaining the seat in the Republican-dominated race but, at first glance, they're pretty similar politically.
More: Perry Parker leads Michael Guest, Whit Hughes, others in #MS03 fundraising
In a crowded race — with eight candidates vying for one seat — distinguishing one candidate from the next on policy can be difficult. The five Republicans largely agree on issues such as gun rights and abortion.
Aycox and Evans both agree on the importance of supporting members of law enforcement and the military, the need for quality infrastructure and funding education. That's where the similarities end.
Aycox is a supporter of same-sex marriage. He married his husband, Mario, in New York's Central Park in 2013, before same-sex marriage was legal in Mississippi.
Evans believes marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman.
Aycox, a 30-year-old Navy veteran, and Mano were living in Florida at the Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville when Aycox had an interaction with his Mississippi congressman that eventually spurred him to run for office.
Aycox was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2016, and reached out to 3rd District U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper's office for help with his medical treatment. Aycox said he was disappointed with Harper's response time and vowed to one day run against him. Although Harper chose to vacate the seat this term, Aycox said he wants to run for office so he can be a congressman that's "easy to get in touch with."
Harper's office said Tuesday they felt the issue was handled in a timely manner.
After a medical discharge in June, the couple moved back to Mississippi and settled in Aycox's hometown of Newton. They have a black lab, Sasha, they rescued from a local humane society and a garden full of tomatoes.
Mario, who serves in the Florida Air National Guard, is preparing to be deployed, so Aycox has been doing the majority of his stump speeches solo. But, he said, he's encouraged by his husband's support from afar.
Evans, his Democratic opponent, is a state representative and chicken farmer and has been married 25 years. He and his wife, Heather, "pick up eggs for a living." The two have three poultry houses for Pico Foods.
Evans' colleagues at the Capitol call him "Big Country," but he said folks back home call him "Worm."
After being elected to his second term, Evans, 42, retired from being a full-time firefighter in 2016 but still serves as a volunteer firefighter.
As a representative, Evans initially voted in favor of House Bill1523, a controversial bill that allowed businesses to deny services to people based on religious beliefs. He voted "nay" on the second vote, after the bill had been amended because he felt the bill was "controversial" and "brought a lot of negative attention to our state."
"I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman but, I'm the type of person, I really don't care what anyone else does with their life, that's just my Christian belief," he said. "What anybody else does that's their own business, really."
Evans is in his second term as a state representative. While he voted for HB 1523 the first time, he's not sure if he would again.
"I think people should have the right to express their religion or their non-religion," he said. "I don't know if I'd vote for it again or not. I don't know if anyone has been refused services on that bill. I haven't had anyone tell me that it has. Once we voted on that bill, I have not heard anything else about it, nothing."
Aycox said he doesn't understand how anyone could look at HB 1523 and not see the potential ramifications it could have on LGBTQ Mississippians. He gets emotional when he talks about giving stump speeches and meeting constituents who feel they've been discriminated against because of their sexuality.
"1583 literally shoved the community into the closet under penalty of law," he said.
While he told his parents about his sexuality when he was 20 years old and lived openly as a gay man, Aycox said he didn't feel the need to tell people "I'm gay." That changed after a recent event hosted by the Human Rights Campaign. Aycox said he felt encouraged being surrounded by other members of the LGBTQ community and wanted to speak out on their behalf.
"Until the campaign, I never really 'came out.' I didn't," he said. "This is me. It's not who I am, it doesn't define me, it's just a part of me. It's like having brown hair, it doesn't change who I am ... I didn't do this to be the voice of the LGBT community. I did this for change. I did this to make a difference."
With his farming background, Evans said he hopes to have an impact for rural farmers. He has strong feelings, he said, about the recent tariffs proposed by President Trump and is strongly opposed.
"I think the tariffs are going to hurt our farmers," Evans said. "I don't want to go back to soybeans going back to be $2 a bushel again."
Evans hadn't raised enough money to report campaign finances in April but said he's since raised between $5,000 and $6,000.
People should vote for him, he said, because he can relate to hard-working Mississippians.
"I'm strong on health care, education, infrastructure. I've always been a big supporter of the teachers, our law enforcement, I'm strong on all that," he said. "I think people will vote for me because I line up with what the rural Mississippi voters think. I'm just an average Mississippian and I can relate to everybody."
Aycox, who's raised around $2,300 in campaign funds, admittedly has zero political experience. He's betting on that fact appealing to voters to win the June primary.
"The reason I'm the people's candidate is because we've got lawyers, we've got doctors, we've got all these people who are playing the political ballgame and forgotten where they've come from," he said. "I appeal to the blue collar workers, and the white collar workers. I believe in service before self."
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/16/secretary-state-delbert-hosemann-facing-racial-discrimination-lawsuit/606346002/
David Lopez, general counsel for the EEOC, sat for in interview in Memphis after the agency announced he will step down in December.
In June 2006, Kenneth Jones said he was hired as a lobbying compliance officer by the Mississippi secretary of state.
Almost a decade later of employment, in 2016, he said he applied for director of compliance with the secretary of state’s office. He said didn’t get the job and the reason given was that he wasn’t the “right fit.”
Jones, who is African-American, said the job was given to a white male with less experience, less education and fewer qualifications.
The decision to hire someone else has led to a federal lawsuit filed this month by Jones against Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and several of his employees.
Jones is alleging violation of his rights and racial discrimination.
The secretary of state's office is disputing Jones' claims.
“Our employees work hard on the business of the state, and taxpayers deserve our best efforts," Secretary of State spokeswoman Leah Rupp Smith said in a statement. "When someone engages in serious misconduct, doesn’t do their work, misuses state resources, and violates state policy, they lose the privilege of being employed by taxpayers. These claims are totally frivolous.”
Jones’ attorney, John Hall, took exception to the statement.
“It’s ludicrous for the secretary of state’s spokeswoman to say this lawsuit is frivolous,” said Hall. “EEOC found they engaged in discrimination.”
In 2017, Jones said in the lawsuit that he was fired for being in the secretary of state's office building after hours.
Jones doesn’t specify why he was in the building after hours, but said officials were aware of why he was in the building.
“This investigation into the plaintiff was a pre-textual means to terminate his employment,” Jones’ lawsuit said. “Defendant Hosemann acquiesced to, and ratified this illegal investigation.”
Jones’ lawsuit said he was fired in retaliation for filing an EEOC complaint.
Secretary of state attorney Benjamin Bryant said in court papers that Jones has claimed a violation of a constitutional right. However, he has offered nothing but conclusory assertions.
The secretary of state’s office is asking in a court motion that Jones’ lawsuit be dismissed, citing, for one reason, immunity from such claims.
EEOC issued Jones a letter authorizing the right to sue in November.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Ball has put discovery in the case on hold until a determination is made on the secretary of state’s motion to dismiss.
The lawsuit was originally filed in Hinds County Circuit Court but was moved to federal court in Jackson.
Jones’ lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.
More: Judge adds $120K to ex-Chickasaw County worker jury award, who lost job after running for sheriff
More: Jackson airport board accuses state of withholding documents in legal fight over takeover
by: Anthony McDougle
date: 2018-05-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/nletter/the-clarion-ledger-now/2018/05/16/cl-now-recruiting-discrimination-lawsuit-testing-teachers/616273002/
Schools are required to employ licensed teachers in order to meet state accreditation requirements. But not all districts have that option. Wochit
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Good afternoon. Today is Wednesday, May 16, and this is your CL NOW! newsletter. Here are some of the day's top stories at ClarionLedger.com.
Democrat Congressional candidate Michael Aycox is one of two Democrats on the ballot for Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District seat. However, Aycox is unique in that he is the first openly gay candidate in a Mississippi congressional race. As far as he's concerned, that fact should carry as much weight as the color of his hair.
The high school state championships are in full swing. The Jackson Metro area is welcoming some of the state's best teams such as Hattiesburg, East Union and Desoto Central as they vie for gold gloves. Be sure to check the Clarion Ledger High School Sports section regularly and follow @CLSports on Twitter for live updates and game stories.
Speaking of high school sports, do you have your ticket to the 2018 Clarion Ledger Sports Awards yet? More information on the process can be found here, or to purchase a ticket you can go to sportsawards.clarionledger.com
As the nurturers of minds, it can be argued teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world. In order to obtain a license to take up this position in Mississippi, teacher candidates have to make a 21 or above on the ACT or pass the Praxis Core. But in some cases, these requirements can prevent people with a true passion for the profession from pursuing it.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is being sued. According to a federal lawsuit filed by Kenneth Jones, the secretary of state's office violated his civil rights and discriminated against him after he didn't get a job as director of compliance. Jones, who is African American, said the job was given to a white male with less experience, less education and fewer qualifications.
The state of Mississippi is loaded with gridiron talent this year, as 13 total five- and four-star prospects call the state home. Joe Moorhead has not been the head coach at Mississippi State for long, but he's already hot on the recruiting trail. With seven months left before the early signing period, how is he faring?
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-16
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/17/mississippi-supreme-court-rejects-class-action-lawsuits/620646002/
The Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying group in Washington by far, has filed a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop customers from filing class action lawsuits. Jose Sepulveda (@josesepulvedatv) has more. Buzz60
The Mississippi Supreme Court says no to allowing class-action lawsuits in state courts.
Mississippi is the only state in the nation in which there are no class actions available to its citizens in the state court system, said attorney Richard T. Phillips of Batesville, who filed the petition seeking class-action lawsuits.
"The absence of a class-action procedure in Mississippi denies, as a practical matter, the Mississippi courts, including this Mississippi Supreme Court, the ability to address the rapidly increasing number of disputes and issues involving state
law which arises from contracts and other transactions," Phillips said in the petition.
But in an 7-2 ruling Thursday, the state Supreme Court denied Phillips' motion. Justices Jim Kitchens and Leslie King voted to grant the petition.
In the court's order, Justice Michael Randolph, writing for the majority opinion, said the motion was posted for comment from May 6, 2017, to Oct. 2, 2017. He said there were numerous comments filed by individuals, law firms, businesses and organizations.
The court's advisory committee voted against recommending approval of the motion.
One of the national groups opposed to class-action in state courts was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.
Harold Kim, executive vice president of the Institute for Legal Reform, said the proposal for a class action rule in Mississippi should be rejected primarily because citizens already have an adequate forum for bringing class actions in federal courts.
The Institute for Legal Reforms said in comments to the state Supreme Court on the petition that allowing class-action lawsuits would only expand a system that plaintiffs’ lawyers already widely abuse. Allowing state-level class actions would be bad for Mississippi’s economic competitiveness, Kim said.
A 2017 poll released by the organization said Mississippi’s lawsuit climate ranks No. 44 of 50 nationally.
But Phillips said a state class-action procedure is needed to afford Mississippi citizens and businesses the rights enjoyed by those of every other state, where issues of state contract law are resolved and determined on an aggregate basis in the state court system.
Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure allows joinder.The joinder rule says, "All persons may join in one action as plaintiffs if they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or in the alternative in respect of or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences, and if any question of law or fact common to all these persons will arise in the action."
But the state high court has strictly interpreted the joinder rule over the years, often denying some joinder cases.
More: Judge adds $120K to ex-Chickasaw County worker jury award, who lost job after running for sheriff
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-16
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/17/raleigh-police-officer-killed-duty-crash/620652002/
In 2015, in the wake of unrest in Ferguson, MO and on the heels of the death of two Hattiesburg police officers, the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police decided to bring their message straight to their state: We're you. We're Mississippi too. Wochit
(Photo: Laura Buckman, AFP/Getty Images)
An officer has died in a fiery line-of-duty crash in Raleigh during National Police Week, the week dedicated to honoring fallen officers.
Officer E.P. Morris had been with the city about two years, but had been in law enforcement for a long time, Raleigh City Attorney David Garner said.
Details of the wreck have not been released, officials said. Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton did confirm that the one-vehicle crash involved a Raleigh Police Department patrol car, and he confirmed the driver of the vehicle was on duty.
Mississippi Highway Patrol is working the crash on Highway 18 within the city limits of Raleigh, Sgt. Andy West said.
Garner said Morris, whom he knew personally, was "a faithful servant to the town as a police officer. His death is certainly tragic, and it’s a loss for the entire community."
"He was a kind man who had a spirit of service," Garner said. "He was one of these guys that had a sweet spirit of service about him and he really enjoyed working with people."
Coroner Billy Allen said as of around 3:45 p.m., agencies were still at the scene processing the wreck.
This is a developing story.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-16
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/17/child-critically-injured-when-man-rams-deputy-car-causes-wreck/622059002/
A 5-month-old infant was critically injured Thursday night after a suspect wrecked his car while fleeing Hinds County deputies he had tried to strike with his vehicle, authorities said, which led to officers firing at the suspect..
The child was one of several children in Jonathan D. Summers' car when he was stopped near Thousand Oaks Drive. During the course of the stop, authorities said Summers rammed a deputy's car and attempted to run over the deputy. Officers fired shots but nobody was hit by gunfire.
Summers fled the scene and was involved in a crash at Highway 18 and Maddox Road. Authorities said Summers ran the light and crashed into another vehicle, knocking a wheel off and throwing it on to its side. Summers' car caught fire.
The baby was driven to a nearby hospital and then later airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center with severe injuries, according to Hinds County Sheriff's Department Maj. Pete Luke.
Other children and an unidentified woman were also transported to a local hospital. No further information on their identities or conditions were immediately available.
The unidentified occupant of the vehicle struck at Highway 18 and Maddox was alert and talking to officers. Authorities at the scene said he told them he was going to be checked out.
Summers faces multiple charges, including felony fleeing, aggravated assault on law enforcement officer, felon in possession of a firearm and multiple counts of child endangerment.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations and the Mississippi Highway Patrol were called to the scene to investigate the shooting incident and reconstruct the crash.
This is a developing story.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-14
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/15/crystalline-barnes-police-shooting/608205002/
Crystalline Barnes was shot and killed in January after hitting a patrol car and attempting to run over officers, according to the Jackson Police Dept. Harold Gater
A lawyer for the family of Crystalline Barnes disputed the account of the how the mother of two was killed during a confrontation with Jackson police in January.
Attorney Jason Downs announced the results of an independent investigation at a news conference at City Hall Monday. While city officials have not identified the officers involved in the shooting, Downs claims Officer Rakasa Adams shot Barnes.
“When you look at the reports conducted prior to our investigation, the claims are that Officer Rakasa Adams is saying Crystalline was driving her vehicle toward her, so she had to fire," Downs said. "There were no bullet holes through the front of Crystalline's vehicle. In other words, the ballistic evidence undercuts and contradicts Officer Adams' story."
“We have an officer that admits to being easily angered walking the streets of Jackson armed with a gun and a badge, and we believe these factors played a role in Officer Adams' unjustified decision to shoot at Crystalline,” Downs said.
On Jan. 27, officers responded to reports of a vehicle that forced another motorist off the road, according to the Jackson Police Department. An officer stopped the suspect vehicle around 7:30 a.m.
JPD says after stopping the vehicle driven by Barnes, 21, the officer requested an additional unit for assistance. Barnes then attempted to leave the scene. She made a u-turn to evade the other responding officer, then later stopped and began driving in reverse toward the officer who had exited the patrol vehicle. The officer fired into the vehicle before jumping out of the way and Barnes' vehicle collided with the patrol vehicle.
Crystalline Barnes (Photo: Jackson Police Dept.)
Barnes drove forward again toward the initial officer who also fired into the vehicle, JPD said. Barnes' vehicle then collided with a utility pole. It remains unclear what led to the her actions.
As a part of standard procedure, both officers were placed on administrative leave with pay. Two separate investigations, both internal and criminal, are taking place in order to determine whether any department polices or any laws have been violated.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba recently put together a task force who will help him decide whether the city should make public the identities of police officers in officer-involved shooting deaths.
There have been eight officer-involved shootings in Jackson since Lumumba took office last July.
More: Fighting violent crime: What it looks like through eyes of special Jackson police unit
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-14
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/15/jackson-police-brutality-case/611132002/
Body cameras are usuallt seen as a solution to the problem of police brutality. However, a new survey of 75 police departments across the United States, found that the policies governing them have failed to foster transparency, protect privacy, or defend civil rights. A yearly report released by Upturn and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, found numerous key weaknesses this week in body cam policies across the country. 51 percent of the surveyed police departments made no changes to their body cam policies since last year. Wochit
A Jackson police officer is on administrative leave during an internal affairs investigation into allegations he abused a Jackson student-athlete during a traffic stop.
The investigation stems from accusations made by 19-year-old John Knight III to local media on Monday, the same day he was pulled over by a JPD officer.
Knight said the officer pulled him out of his car, assaulted and handcuffed him on Frontage Road near Olive Garden in north Jackson.
Knight, who can be seen with a visible abrasion and bruising on the right side of his cheek, told WAPT News the officer also put a gun to his head.
Knight said the officer never told him what he pulled him over for and eventually unlatched the handcuffs and let Knight go without charges.
Knight's father, John Knight, identified the JPD officer as Vincent Lampkin in a post to social media following the incident. JPD would not confirm.
"Our son is a very responsible and respectful young man ... Why did this have to happen to our son? He is one of the good ones not a bad bone in his body," his father said.
However, interim Police Chief Anthony Moore said Tuesday there's a discrepancy over Knight's depiction of events.
"There are some discrepancies between the motorist and the officer involved as to what exactly occurred. As soon as the investigation is complete, we'll be able to answer some of those questions," Moore said at a news conference Tuesday.
Sgt. Roderick Holmes said if the investigation proves a crime has been committed, it'll be forwarded to Hinds County Circuit Court like any other criminal case.
Holmes confirmed Knight was never charged with a crime or brought to the JPD.
"That'll be one of the things they investigate," he said, referring to internal affairs.
Moore said he has refrained from talking to the officer involved in the incident, as part of police protocol is to not contaminate the investigation.
"The Jackson Police Department does not condone illegal or abusive behavior among the police officer involved in this incident or any officer involved in any incident," Moore said.
Knight, a former standout basketball player at Callaway High School, signed to play ball with Utah State on May 8.
JPD lacks the funding to use dashcam cameras in its patrol cars, which could have recorded the incident. The Jackson City Council has talked briefly about getting body cameras for its officers but faces the same funding challenges.
More: Fighting violent crime: What it looks like through eyes of special Jackson police unit
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-05-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/14/natchez-garbage-contract-stinks-ethics-complaint/606742002/
Mississippi's public servants frequently seek advice from the state Ethics Commission. Geoff Pender
(Photo: Katie Eubanks/Clarion Ledger)
Natchez officials' approval of a new garbage collection service that raises garbage rates by about 25 percent may have violated the state's open meetings act.
Natchez taxpayers and reporters have been left in the dark as the city discussed its decision to approve a three-year contract with Arrow Disposal Services Inc. over Waste Pro as its garbage collection service, which violates the state's Public Records Act, critics claim.
"Natchez leaders are not spending their own money. They’re debating about how to spend taxpayer money. The people of Natchez deserve to know how their money will be spent," Mississippi Justice Institute President Shadrack White said in a Monday news release.
The twice-weekly garbage collection and weekly recycling pickup rate will increase to $17.45 per residence — an increase of almost $4 , the Natchez Democrat reported.
Natchez officials have said they have a right to discuss contract negotiations in executive session because state law allows for private discussions about the expansion or relocation of a business.
However, it's questionable if that stipulation applies in Natchez's case, White said.
"Expansion of a business is to try to protect negotiations that are geared towards economic discussion. That law is plainly about protecting privacy during economic development project talks, not about shielding contract debates from the public,” said White.
Natchez City Attorney Bob Latham wasn't immediately available for comment.
Contract bids are required to be open to the public and in the city's meeting agenda minutes. However, the last time Natchez published its agenda minutes was in July of last year.
Mississippi Justice Institute sent its complaint to the Mississippi Ethics Commission last week. The commission has 14 days to respond. It will declare a hearing officer if it believes the matter merits further investigation.
White joins Paul D. Sullivan, a Natchez attorney, who has filed a complaint against the city regarding the city's April 23 and May 1 meetings. White’s complaint addresses the May 3 meeting.
The Natchez Democrat has also filed two complaints with the Ethics Commission, Editor Scott Hawkins said.
"There's been no discussion before the contract. No one was allowed to see it or discuss it," Hawkins said.
"We're going to fight for open transparency. We believe the best debate is taken publicly," he said.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/14/lynn-fitch-run-attorney-general/609012002/
(Photo: unknown, File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
State Treasurer Lynn Fitch says she is running for attorney general next year.
The 56-year-old Republican from Ridgeland announced her intentions at a meeting with the Madison County Republican Women last week, said Michelle Williams, Fitch's chief of staff.
“There is still much to do as treasurer, and I will remain focused squarely on the current job the people of Mississippi have elected me to do. And, at the moment, November 2019 seems far off and there are important elections on the ballot this year that need voters’ attention," she said. "When the time is right, I will make a formal announcement, but today I can confirm that I am running for attorney general.”
Fitch, citing her "unique skill set in law, finance and public policy," said she determined that she could do "the most good for this state as our next attorney general."
Fitch has worked as a bond attorney, a lawyer for the Mississippi House of Representatives and as a special assistant attorney general. She also served as director of the Mississippi State Personnel Board under former Gov. Haley Barbour.
Recently, longtime Republican state Rep. Mark Baker, a Brandon attorney, announced he plans to run for attorney general next year.
Current Democratic AG Jim Hood, in his fourth term in the office, is expected to run for governor next year, leaving the seat open.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/14/did-public-defender-loses-her-job-qualifying-run-judge/607853002/
Public Defender Michele Harris criticizes Judge Jeff Weill after he finds her in contempt. Jimmie Gates/The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: photos.com)
Did a Hinds County assistant public defender's decision to run for County Court judge lead to her sudden departure from that office?
Bridgette Marie Morgan had been a public defender until Friday, the deadline to qualify for judicial posts in the county and state.. She qualified Friday to run against incumbent County Judge Melvin Priester.
Morgan couldn't be reached Monday for comment, but the timing of her departure has raised questions.
Reached Monday by phone, Hinds County Public Defender Michele Harris said of Morgan, "she is no longer employed with the public defender's office, effective last Friday."
Harris said it was a personnel matter and wouldn't go into details about why Morgan was no longer employed with her office.
Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Greta Harris, a former assistant public defender, is also running against Priester.
Public defenders provide representation to indigent defendants in criminal cases. Many preliminary hearings are conducted in County Court.
Hinds County Court judge
Hinds County has three County Court judges. Larita Cooper Stokes is unopposed for re-election to her seat..
In the other race, three candidates qualified to run for the seat being vacated by Judge Bill Skinner, who isn't seeking re-election:.
• Johnnie McDaniels, executive director of the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center.
• John Fike, a Raymond attorney.
• Yemi Kings, a Jackson attorney.
Skinner is one of five judges in Hinds County not seeking re-election this year. The other judges are Circuit Judges Bill Gowan and Jeff Weill, and Chancery Judges Bill Singletary and Patricia Wise.
Hinds County Circuit Court judge
District 1:
Six candidates qualified in the District 1 Circuit Court judge race in Hinds County seeking to replace Weill. They are:
• Matt Allen, a Jackson attorney with the Brunini law firm.
• Minor Buchanan, a Jackson attorney with his own practice
• Bruce Burton, a Jackson attorney with his own practice
• Pat McNamara, a former special assistant attorney general who is now an assistant Hinds County district attorney.
• Bill Walker, a Jackson attorney with his own practice
• Adrienne Wooten, a Jackson attorney and state legislator.
District 2
Longtime Circuit Judge Tomie Green is facing a challenge from Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Kimalon Campbell.
District 3
Winston Kidd has no opposition.
District 4
Four candidates are seeking to replace Gowan:
• Joseph Anthony Sclafani, a Clinton attorney, appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant last month to serve out the term of Gowan who retired March 31. Gowan's term ends Dec. 31.
• Former Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson.
• Gerald Kucia, a Jackson attorney with the national law firm Morgan & Morgan.
• Trent Walker, a Jackson attorney with his own practice.
Circuit Judge Madison and Rankin counties
Longtime Circuit Judge William Chapman is retiring.
Candidates seeking to replace Chapman:
• Jamie McBride, a Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Jamie McBride.
• Dewey Arthur, an assistant district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties.
• Dan Jones, a local attorney.
• Bruce McKinley, a Ridgeland attorney.
• Andy Stewart, a Flowood attorney.
That is the only contested circuit judge race for district serving Madison and Rankin counties.
Chancery Court races in Hinds County
Subdistrict 2
Wise withdrew after initially qualifying to seek re-election. Her daughter, Jackson attorney Crystal Wise Martin, and Reginald Harrion, a Jackson attorney with the Schwartz & Associates law firm, are seeking the seat.
Sub-district 4
Four candidates qualified to run for Singletary's post:
• Tiffany Grove, an attorney with the Jackson law firm Williford, McAllister & Jacobus.
• Steven P. Nixon, who has been a Clinton municipal judge
• Monique Brown-Barrett, a Jackson attorney with her own practice
• Ottowa Carter Jr., a Clinton attorney with his own practice.
State Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court
Three of Mississippi's top judges are unopposed in the nonpartisan elections in November.
Nobody signed up to challenge Supreme Court Justice David Ishee or Court of Appeals Judges Donna Barnes and Sean Tindell.
Three Court of Appeals judges are not seeking re-election: Joe Lee (District 4, Position 2:) and Tyree Irving (District 2, Position 1), who have both served since 1999; and Eugene Fair (District 5, Position 1), who has served since 2012.
Here are the candidates in the contested races:
Court of Appeals District 2, Position 1
• Eric Charles Hawkins, Greenville
• Ceola James, Vicksburg
• Deborah McDonald, Natchez
Court of Appeals District 4, Position 2
• Byron Carter, Jackson
• Brad Clanton, Jackson
• David McCarty, Jackson
• Laura McKinley Glaze, Jackson
• Jeff Weill Sr., Jackson
Court of Appeals District 5, Position 1
• Anthony N. Lawrence III, Pascagoula
• Michael W. McPhail, Hattiesburg
The Associated Press contributed to this judicial list.
by: Dave Mann
date: 2018-05-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/13/has-flawed-evidence-sent-innocent-man-death-row/595009002/
Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer of Noxubee County had the prime of their lives taken from them. Billy Watkins/Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Corrections)
This story is the first in a five-part series, produced in collaboration with APM Reports, examining the case of Curtis Flowers. This series is adapted from “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast produced by APM Reports.
It was perhaps the worst crime the town had ever seen. On the morning of July 16, 1996, four employees were murdered at the Tardy Furniture store on Front Street in Winona, a town of about 5,000 in central Mississippi. Each victim had been shot in the head.
After months of investigation, prosecutors charged Curtis Flowers, 26, with the murders. Flowers had worked at the furniture store for a few days that summer and prosecutors contended that he committed the murders out of revenge for being fired. In October 1997, Flowers was convicted and sentenced to death.
That was the beginning of a two-decade legal odyssey. Flowers’ conviction has been overturned on appeal three times for prosecutorial misconduct, and two retrials have resulted in hung juries. Each time a conviction was thrown out or a jury hung, the prosecution decided to retry Flowers.
(Story continues after gallery.)
In all, he’s been tried six times for the same crime, which legal experts say is highly unusual. Flowers’ sixth conviction, in 2010, has so far been upheld. Flowers remains on death row at the State Penitentiary in Parchman, having been incarcerated for nearly 22 years.
But a yearlong reinvestigation of the Flowers case by APM Reports has found serious flaws in the evidence. Among the findings are that Flowers’ conviction was based on inconsistent or unsupported eyewitness identifications, ballistics evidence that experts described as subjective and unscientific and questionable testimony from jailhouse informants. The investigation found that Flowers’ death sentence is based on little direct evidence.
An investigator uncovers a bullet in a mattress at Tardy Furniture in Winona.
“It’s hard to trust this investigation,” said Ray Charles Carter, a Jackson lawyer who represented Flowers in four trials. “It’s hard to trust the people who ran it, and it’s hard to trust the prosecution trying this case. Where are the facts? Where’s the proof?”
District Attorney Doug Evans, who prosecuted Flowers in all six trials, stands by the conviction. Though he won’t answer specific questions about the evidence — saying the case is still on appeal — he says he’s sure Flowers committed the murders. “Definitely,” he said, “no question at all.”
Evans’ certainty isn’t shared by everyone. Opinions of Flowers’ guilt largely breaks along racial lines. Many black people believe he is innocent, and most white people interviewed believe he’s guilty.
The courts have been divided, as well. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Flowers’ conviction from his sixth trial, in November 2014. His lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the state high court with instructions to reevaluate its ruling. In November 2017, in a 5-4 decision, the state Supreme Court once again upheld the conviction. More appeals are expected in the case.
An early suspect
In July 1996, the crime scene provided investigators with few leads.
DNA and fingerprints didn’t implicate any suspects. The murder weapon was never recovered. And it wasn’t clear why someone would murder four people in the middle of town in daylight.
A 1996 quadruple slaying occured at the Tardy Furniture Store in Winona.
The victims — Bertha Tardy, 59, Robert Golden, 42, Carmen Rigby, 45, and Derrick “Bobo” Stewart, 16 — had little in common except that they all worked at Tardy Furniture.
Flowers was one of the suspects early in the investigation because he’d worked at the store earlier that summer. But at first, there was no evidence tying him to the crime. No witness saw him enter or exit the store. And Flowers said he was on the other side of town — at his house, his sister’s house and a store — that morning and was never near Tardy Furniture.
Flowers’ conviction is based on three main threads of evidence: The route that prosecutors say he walked from his house to Tardy Furniture the morning of the murders; the gun they say he stole on his way to the crime scene; and the confessions Flowers allegedly made to fellow inmates.
The alley behind Tardy Furniture in Winona. Prosecutors claim Curtis Flowers cut across this alley, running away from the store after killing four people.
APM Reports interviewed nearly a dozen witnesses who had told law enforcement they saw Flowers walking through Winona that July morning. Though no one saw Flowers enter the furniture store, the prosecution used all these witnesses to construct the route they say Flowers walked from his house to the crime scene and back.
Prosecutors contend Flowers left his house early that day, about 7 a.m., and walked across town to the Angelica sewing factory, where he allegedly stole a .380-caliber gun from the glove box of an unlocked car. Prosecutors allege that, after stealing the gun, Flowers returned to his house before walking back across town to Tardy Furniture.
Ed McChristian testified he saw Flowers walking past his house going away from the Angelica factory.
In an interview, McChristian told APM Reports that he doesn’t know which day he saw Flowers walking past his house in the summer of 1996. However, he said John Johnson, an investigator with the district attorney’s office, told him that someone else had said that McChristian had seen Flowers on July 16.
“They had it down pat for me,” he said. “They already knew I seen him. Somebody had told them I seen him, so I couldn't say I didn't see him.” He said that he didn’t want to testify but did so because he feared what would happen to him if he backed out. “They subpoenaed me every time,” he said. “I never did say (I’m not testifying), but I sure wanted to.”
Johnson didn’t respond to interview requests from APM Reports, and Evans would not answer detailed questions about the investigation.
A key witness recants
Two of the most important witnesses for the prosecution were Clemmie Fleming and Roy Harris. At Flowers’ first trial, they testified that they were riding in a car together downtown on the morning of the murders when they saw Flowers running away from Tardy Furniture, about a block from the crime scene.
At Flowers’ first trial, Roy Harris testified that he and Clemmie Fleming were riding in a car together downtown on the morning of the murders when they saw Flowers running away from Tardy Furniture, about a block from the crime scene. After the trial, he recanted his testimony. Fleming stuck by her account.
But after the first trial, Harris recanted. In subsequent testimony and in an interview with APM Reports, Harris said Fleming wasn’t in the car with him when he saw a man run past his car. And, he said the man he saw wasn’t Flowers.
“The only time I seen somebody running is when I was by myself,” Harris said. “She wasn’t with me when I saw the fellow running.”
Clemmie Flemming points out to prosecutor Doug Evans, center, where she spotted Curtis Giovanni Flowers on the morning of four slayings at Tardy Furniture in Winona on July 16, 1996, on Monday, June 14, 2010 in Greenwood, Miss. This is the sixth time Flowers, 40, has been tried for the slayings.
Fleming has stuck by her testimony that she saw Flowers running down the street while in the car with Harris.
It took a while before Fleming got involved — she didn’t speak with investigators until nine months after the murders. That became a theme in numerous interviews. Many witnesses, like Fleming, didn’t talk to investigators until weeks or months after the crime.
The second story in this series will appear May 27. You can download episodes of “In the Dark” on iTunes. You can also read more about the Flowers case at inthedarkpodcast.org. APM Reports is the investigative and documentary reporting team at American Public Media, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Also of interest: Levon Brooks: 'An extraordinary man' who wrongfully spent one-third of his life in prison
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-13
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/14/violent-crime-special-police-unit-jackson-mississippi-streets/591725002/
The unit takes on violent crime in the city with proactive community policing and a focus on gun crimes, though that's not all they do. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Early last Wednesday morning, a particular group of officers who had just decided to call it a night raced to help a fellow Jackson Police Department officer who had just put out a terrifying plea for backup on the radio.
"Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired!"
"Suspect on scene, we need all units here," the radio crackled.
Arriving at the Valero on Cooper Road, some of them rushed to help contain Chauncy Reed, 26, the brother of 30-year-old Elliott Reed who had just been shot by the officer. A surveillance video shows the two brothers apparently attacking the officer, leading to a shootout.
That same special unit also was on the scene when April Spells was killed at the Fuel Time on Bullard Street last month. Her alleged killer, Brittany Hilliard-Ransom, was in custody in roughly under an hour.
Those officers make up the Gun Crimes Interdiction Team, interim Police Chief Anthony Moore's project to put the squeeze on violent crime in the city.
The team has been in operation for some time, but Moore didn't announce the name until last week.
"It's a proactive street-level unit that primarily focuses on violent crimes involving the use of firearms," said Moore.
Late last month, when shots were allegedly fired at the unit from a car, the officers took to the woods in 35-degree weather and the dark to arrest the suspects who had run into a creek to flee police. Some of the officers got into the roughly 5 feet of water to chase the suspects.
When a violent crime occurs on their watch, unit members respond, Moore said.
"Their idea is to do what this task force, this unit is all about, to tackle violent crimes," he said. "They respond to those areas to see if they can help the patrol officers who are already there."
The unit includes more than a dozen officers, including SWAT, narcotics, K9, uniform patrol, and some in plain clothes. In addition to working crime as it happens, they also keep their finger on the pulse of the hotspots in the city, Moore said.
Moore once commanded the team before he was the interim chief, when he was assigned to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force. The unit works in conjunction with federal partners, with some of the agents being task force officers with various federal agencies. The officers on the team are also doing extra training in tactical firearms, courtroom testimony and firearms identification.
They're not only dealing with gun crimes. On any given night, they are finding drugs galore. Sometimes as the team travels, a speeder or a motorist with an expired tag may find themselves pulled over by six or seven police cars. They travel as a unit.
"It's a dangerous job. These officers are going out every day, looking for bad people. They're looking for the worst of the worst," Moore said. "That's why we want them to be trained a lot in officer safety and officer survival."
One night in late April, the unit followed a suspect in a stolen car who ran over a curb in a gas station parking lot and bailed into the dark woods, leaving the vehicle with his two phones and felony amounts of drugs. It became a manhunt into some thick woods behind the gas station. Visibility, even with flashlights, was minimal.
The team concluded the suspect must be bedded down in the thick underbrush, or he could have disappeared into the surrounding neighborhood where residents swore they hadn't seen him.
They had his phones, though. They'd find him another day, they said. They're going to be around.
Detective Anthony Fox, left, and Sgt. Barry Hale find drugs in the trunk of a vehicle with a suspicious marijuana smell.
The mission
Moore said he's proud of the work the Gun Crimes Interdiction Team is doing, and he's confident it's important work. The unit is out multiple times a week, but there is no set schedule. The point is to keep the criminal element on its toes.
"Be aware. We want to put you out of business in the city of Jackson. We don't want your business in the city of Jackson," the chief said.
"If you're a convicted felon caught with a gun, we're going to send you to prison, plain and simple. Not only those individuals, but anyone committing any crime in the city of Jackson, we're going to address it."
To the people of his city, Moore has a message, too: "We're going to be aggressive and fight violent crime."
"I want the community to know that we understand crime in the city of Jackson and we're aggressively coming up with measures to tackle these crimes. These officers are out there and visible," he said. "They're being seen, and you often hear people say, 'Oh, they've got the van out tonight,' so people understand what they're doing."
Moore said choosing officers for the team is partially a matter of their accomplishment, but more important are the X-factors — respect, courage and integrity.
"I guess it comes from knowing people and evaluating them. This group has been together for some time, and I trust what they do, and they've showed me nothing but positive things since they've been out there," he said. "I think it's important to measure a person's character."
Before the unit takes to the streets, the officers gather to get their details straight on the tasks for the evening. There are definitely a bevy of personalities on the team, but they mesh well with the range of personalities on the streets.
Members of the Jackson Police Department Gun Crime Interdiction Team make an arrest May 8, 2018.
An eclectic mix
Levity helps when dealing with a sometimes not-so-cooperative public. The unpredictable balance of community policing and proactive protection in a society that can prove to be be annoying, hilarious, dangerous and heartwarming all in a matter of hours can be the frustration and the lifeblood of the job some nights, the officers say.
The night of May 8 had started quietly. The pace picked up when a group of men ran from officers up some stairs into a top-floor apartment. The team's commanding officer, Sgt. Barry Hale, asked a neighbor who lived in the unit.
"An old lady in a wheelchair," she said, to which he skeptically replied, "An old lady in a wheelchair..."
"An old lady in a wheelchair," she said with finality, turning to leave.
"But how does she get up there?" Hale asked the woman as she walked away. She just shrugged.
"That's b.s.," he said when he turned around, laughing and shaking his head.
Earlier that evening, a vehicle went through a traffic stop and the child inside was not restrained. A felon was at the wheel. One of the officers recognized him and knew he was always armed. They were able to disarm him, and as they ran his license number they found he had been wanted on a domestic violence charge since 2010. That's not an unusual scenario.
Later that night, as the team conducted a traffic stop, they noticed two teenage girls sitting in a car with its headlights on in an area that seemed a little strange to just be hanging out after midnight. It looked suspicious — they appeared to be observing the team on the stop, so five patrol cars parked around them while officers asked them what they were doing.
Their answers were odd, so K9 Detective Anthony Fox separated them for questioning. As police questioned the one in the car, she smiled a lot and painted her fingernails. The other was just trying to explain why they were in that particular place at 1 a.m., parked on the side of the road watching police question a suspect vehicle.
When they finally gave a straight answer? They were simply "Dumpster diving."
The last call of that night, just after the team had decided it was time to wrap things up, was the officer-involved shooting at the Valero on Cooper Road.
Every day is different. Every call is different.
"That's why we want our officers to be trained up a lot when it comes to officer safety and officer survival," Moore said.
An officer frisks a man after he is stopped on a violation.
Gun Crime Interdiction Team statistics Jan. 1, 2018 - April 30, 2018
• 19 felony warrants served
• 29 individuals charged with felony possession of a firearm
• 40 guns confiscated, at least five stolen
Various narcotics including:
• 61.5 grams of methamphetamine
• Ecstacy, hydrocodone, Xanax pills
Traffic enforcement:
by: Dick Hall
date: 2018-05-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/12/congressional-proposal-would-tear-up-mississippi-roads-bridges/599614002/
Mississippi Department of Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall questions whether the Legislature believes he and his fellow commissioners are lying about the need for more infrastructure funding or if lawmakers "just don't care" about the number of crumbling roads and bridges in the state. Hall, who represents the state's central district, spoke to the Stennis Capitol Press Forum on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. Sam R. Hall
Prosperity rides on good roads. The first question a new industry asks when evaluating potential location sites, is, “how do I get raw materials in and how do I get finished products out.”
That brings me to why I wrote this piece. Congress has debated for years whether to increase the weight and lengths of tractor-trailer trucks on our Interstates, which would impact roads across Mississippi and the nation. They are lobbying for longer double-trailer trucks — sometimes called "Double 33s “ — and heavier single trailer trucks.
I served 24 years in the Mississippi Legislature, both as a state representative and state senator. For the last 19 years, I have served as the Central District Transportation Commissioner for the State of Mississippi. As commissioner, I have made it my priority to make sure that Mississippi tax dollars are spent efficiently to build and maintain the safest roads and bridges, and do it on time and on budget.
More: Reeves, Gunn agree to disagree as they float hocus-pocus proposals to fix roads, bridges
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I have opposed these increases in truck size and weight in the past and I will continue to do so. Do you want to have to drive next to longer double-trailer trucks that are 91 feet in length? I certainly don’t. Nor do I want my family flanked by longer doubles.
Roads and bridges in our state are in terrible condition. Gov. Bryant recently ordered the closing of over 100 bridges in the state because they are not safe. Adding longer and heavier tractor-trailer trucks to them, when we know they cannot handle the weight of the trucks that travel them currently, would be a formula for disaster.
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When I tell you that over a 1,000 deficient bridges in this state need to be seriously repaired or replaced at a cost of some $2.5 billion, and that almost 5,000 lane miles of highway need serious repair and reconstruction costing a billion dollars, do you think that we’re lying? Or do you just not care? How can you possibly pretend that nothing needs to be done?
There are three bridges on U.S. 51 that were built in 1929. My dad graduated in engineering from Mississippi A&M at that time and he would tell you that those bridges were designed for a maximum life of 50 years. We may possibly have a chance to begin replacing those bridges in 2019 when they will be 90 years old. And that’s on a U.S. highway.
We live in a mostly rural state, with many of us living off city or county streets and roads. Longer double-trailer trucks will pose an even greater danger of increasing severe crashes as they enter and exit highways and also travel on local roads with narrow lanes, limited sight distances, small shoulders and trees and telephone poles at the edge line.
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Those supporting this dangerous change say it will improve safety because it will result in fewer trucks on the roads. But we all know in a business where the bottom line trumps everything that will not be the case. There will simply be longer and heavier trucks on our deteriorating infrastructure, and more of them.
As I continue working to keep our motorist safe on the roadways, as well as grow our economy, we simply cannot afford bigger, longer or heavier trucks, in Mississippi.
Dick Hall is chairman of the Mississippi Transportation Commission.
by: Mac Gordon
date: 2018-05-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/12/harper-lee-gone-but-mythic-mockingbird-lives-monroeville-ala/599757002/
Mary Badham, who played Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird" shared her story with students at the Episcopal School of Knoxville. Wochit
Harper Lee and the old house where she wrote the 1960 classic are gone now, victims of the vicissitudes of time and nature, but “To Kill a Mockingbird” lives on in Monroeville, Alabama.
Each April and May local players put on a stage adaptation of the masterpiece work, considered by many as the country’s most compelling book on the subject of race. Harper Lee likely would not be totally pleased about all the attention and endearment, considering she was often at odds with the organization sponsoring the production.
She once even filed suit in federal court against the city’s museum board, claiming her trademark rights had been violated. She and the historical group settled on confidential terms.
Today, the theatrical production goes forward, with its current run ending soon. Alabama officials tout it as one of the state’s premier tourism destinations, and upwards of 50,000 people each year visit Monroeville to get a feel for how Lee lived her life, which often was in isolation, and how such a story could arise from such a place.
Monroeville is in remote southwestern Alabama, a four-hour drive from Jackson and McComb — due east of Natchez, Bude, Brookhaven, Hebron, Soso, Hot Coffee, Laurel, Beat Four and Waynesboro, via U.S. 84.
I had always been skeptical of Highway 84 in driving between Mississippi and Georgia, suspecting too many twists and turns and stoplights in too many small towns. However, most of those Alabama municipalities have been bypassed, including Monroeville, I recently discovered. One must cross three rivers — Chickasawhay, Tombigbee and Alabama — and leave the main highway to reach the timeless city of 6,500 people where Lee lived most of her life, except for brief interludes in New York City. She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961, bringing the world’s attention down on her and her hometown.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee talks with a reporter while in Milwaukee to receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Mount Mary College, on May 31, 1964.
Change comes reluctantly to Monroeville. The people want it that way, knowing that if you alter the uniqueness of the village, you destroy the story that made it famous and magical.
In addition to tourism dollars, the settlement is chiefly dependent on myriad timber industries and a nearby community college for its financial well-being. This is tree country in a state whose land is 70-percent forested, 6th nationally (62-percent in Mississippi, 8th).
Monroeville likes its fame, but there is no statue of Miss Lee. She was reclusive (except for her regular Methodist Church-going) to the degree that Mississippi’s most famous writer, William Faulkner, was aloof to the people of Oxford. The elegant Monroe County courthouse contains a historical marker touting the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It doesn’t mention Harper Lee.
Lee’s longtime residence and the one across South Alabama Street where her childhood friend and writer Truman Capote spent summers as a child have been replaced by commercial establishments. Lee spent her final years in a local nursing home, where she died February 19, 2016, at the age of 89.
Looking around slow-paced Monroeville, I spotted people who in my “Mockingbird” imagination could have been the mysterious Boo Radley, or Tom Robinson, the black man represented in a mythical rape trial by “Atticus Finch,” a lawyer who was the imagined character of Amasa Coleman Lee, father of Harper Lee. Amasa Lee lost two cases defending black men accused of murder. Both later were hanged. Atticus Finch’s defense of Tom Robinson in “Mockingbird” looked solid, yet the all-white jury found him guilty.
A tall gentleman I encountered walking across the beautifully-green courthouse lawn carrying a passel of documents in his arms was generous with information about the town and the theatrical interpretation of Lee’s masterpiece. I later wondered if the cordial man practiced law and if so, was he influenced by the refined but determined demeanor of actor Gregory Peck, who played Finch in the movie.
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
This is a place to imagine, but Atticus Finch and those other figures come alive in the spring festival, preserving Monroeville’s momentous story for the ages.
Mac Gordon is a part-time resident of McComb and of Fort Gaines, Georgia. He is a former reporter at the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/11/4-judges-hinds-county-not-seeking-re-election/584955002/
(Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
Friday's deadline for candidates to qualify for judicial elections this year had some surprises in Hinds County with two circuit judges, two chancery judges and a county court judge not seeking re-election.
They are Circuit Judges Bill Gowan and Jeff Weill, Chancery Judge Bill Singletary and County Court Judge Bill Skinner.
Weill has qualified to run for a seat on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill qualified to run for state Court of Appeals. (Photo: Submitted)
Also, in Madison and Rankin counties, longtime Circuit Judge William Chapman is retiring.
A former Hinds County district attorney, two current Hinds County assistant district attorneys, including one who was once indicted with his boss Robert Shuler Smith in a criminal case, a Madison-Rankin assistant district attorney and an assistant special attorney general are among the qualifiers.
Three candidates qualified in the District 1 Circuit Court judge race in Hinds County to assume the seat being vacated by Weill:
• Matt Allen, a Jackson attorney with the Brunini law firm.
• Pat McNamara, a former special assistant attorney general who is now an assistant Hinds County district attorney.
• Bill Walker, a Jackson attorney with his own practice.
In another Hinds County circuit judge race, four candidates are seeking to replace Gowan in District 4:
• Joseph Anthony Sclafani, a Clinton attorney, appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant last month to serve out the term of Gowan who retired March 31. Gowan's term ends Dec. 31. The November general election is for a full-four year term on the bench.
Joseph Anthony Sclafani appointed Hinds County Circuit Judge
• Former Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson, who was district attorney from 2001 through 2007.
Former Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson (Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
• Gerald Kucia, a Jackson attorney with the national law firm Morgan & Morgan.
• Trent Walker, a Jackson attorney with his own practice.
In the other two Circuit Court races in Hinds County, Circuit Judge Winston Kidd had no opposition early Friday in District 3.
In District 2, longtime Circuit Judge Tomie Green is facing a challenge from Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Kimalon Campbell.
In chancery court races in Hinds County, Judges Denise Sweet Owens and Dewayne Thomas had no opposition early Friday.
Two candidates had qualified to run for the subdistrict 3 post being vacated by Singletary. They are:
• Tiffany Grove, an attorney with the Jackson law firm Williford, McAllister & Jacobus.
• Steven P. Nixon, who has been a Clinton municipal judge.
In the Subdistrict 2 chancery judge race, longtime Chancery Judge Patricia Wise had qualified to seek re-election, but withdrew her name. Her daughter, Jackson attorney Crystal Wise Martin, is a candidate in the race. She will face Jackson attorney Reginald Harrion.
In Circuit Court for Madison and Rankin counties, voters will choose a successor to retiring Circuit Judge William Chapman. The candidates include Hinds County Assistant District Attorney Jamie McBride.
In 2016, McBride and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith were indicted by a grand jury on felony charges that the two conspired to hinder the prosecution of a criminal defendant named Christopher Butler. The charges against McBride were dropped a couple months later. Smith was eventually tried on the charges, but a jury cleared him.
Others in the race are:
• Dewey Arthur, an assistant district attorney for Madison and Rankin counties.
• Dan Jones, a local attorney.
• Bruce McKinley, a Ridgeland attorney.
• Andy Stewart, a Flowood attorney.
Weill and four other candidates are seeking to replace Court of Appeals Chief Judge Joseph Lee, who had qualified to seek re-election, but dropped out of the race. He said it was time to permit qualified candidates who otherwise would not run against him the opportunity to seek the office.
Weill, who will have served eight years as a circuit judge when his terms ends in December, said no current judge on the 10-member Mississippi Court of Appeals has a background as a circuit judge.
Weill is seeking to join the same court that has reversed several of his rulings, including one this week in a case where Weill refused to give a jury instruction on possession of a firearm by a felon out of necessity claim by a defendant.
Martez Taylor was tried for robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon following an altercation with his girlfriend's aunt, who had the weapon. Taylor testified he took the gun after the woman threatened him with it. He said he then immediately brought the pistol and other items he had taken by mistake in his haste to leave to his mother so she could return them.
Weill refused to give a jury instruction that Taylor possessed the weapon out of necessity.
"We conclude that a reasonable juror who believe Taylor's testimony could have found the necessity defense meritorious," the Court of Appeals opinion said. "The jury therefore should have been instructed on Taylor's theory of the case, and because it was not, we reverse his conviction and remand for a new trial."
Taylor was acquitted of robbery in the original trial but convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Weill sentenced him to life as a habitual offender for the possession conviction.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/11/mississippi-youth-court-accused-keeping-children-parents-more-than-year/593362002/
A Michigan mother who was sentenced to seven days in jail for refusing to vaccinate her young son, has now lost permanent custody of him. Oakland County Judge Karen McDonald ruled Wednesday that primary custody of the child would now go to his father. (Oct. 11) AP
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
A federal lawsuit filed Friday accuses the city of Pearl of violating the U.S. Constitution, alleging that the Pearl Youth Court wrongfully removing children from their parents and kept them away for more than year.
In October, then-Pearl Municipal and Youth Court Judge John Shirley resigned, and the Pearl Youth Court was permanently closed after Shirley was accused of prohibiting a mother from having contact with her 4-month-old child for 14 months until she paid court-imposed fees.
“Removal of children from parents who have been their primary caregivers is a severe threat to their development,” the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court says. “It disrupts and grossly endangers what children most need, that is, the continuity of affectionate care from those to whom they are attached through bonds of love.”
The lawsuit, filed by five parents and seven children, accuses Pearl Youth Court of violating the due process rights guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments.
The lawsuit alleges the following:
Regina Nell McCright was home on July 26, 2016, when officers responded to a domestic disturbance call from her ex-husband. As requested by Pearl police, she was taken to the hospital, and her minor children were placed with a relative.
After doctors examined and discharged her, she asked for her children to be returned, only to be told by police that her case was set for a hearing in five days.
Neither McCright, nor her 17-year-old son were allowed to attend the hearing. None of her minor children was represented by lawyers.
Then-Youth Court Judge John Shirley, who heard the case, had previously represented the ex-husband, the biological father of the children. Shirley awarded the children to the father.
On Feb. 27, 2016, Craig and Cynthia Gardner were home at 8 p.m. when a Pearl police detective and a social worker arrived at their home, removing their two children and placing them in foster care “due to allegations of abuse.”
Less than a month later, their children were returned, but the couple received no explanation.
In July 2016, police again arrived and again placed the children in foster care after allegations of neglect in the home.
After examining the couple, a psychologist recommended the children be reunited with them, but Shirley didn’t reunite the family until Oct. 27 of last year.
Similar allegations emerged in a lawsuit filed in October by the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Justice Center Director Cliff Johnson said the mother, a resident of Jackson, was traveling through Pearl while looking for employment. She was a passenger in a friend's car, and her child rode with them in a car seat. When the car was stopped for a minor traffic violation, it was discovered that both adults had outstanding warrants for routine misdemeanor offenses.
The lawsuit alleges that, after the mother’s arrest, the officer contacted the Mississippi Department of Human Services that the child was "abandoned" as a result of the women being detained. The baby's grandmother arrived on the scene within minutes, yet the officer still insisted that the child be taken before Shirley at Pearl Youth Court.
Less than half an hour later, Shirley awarded custody to the baby's grandmother. An order was later entered prohibiting "Mother A" from having any contact with her baby until court fees were paid in full.
Rankin County Youth Court officials have promised to review each of the Pearl Youth Court cases to see if any actions need to be taken.
Shirley remains a Rankin County Justice Court judge, an elected position.
He has denied any wrongdoing and said he resigned because of interference from Pearl Mayor Jake Windham, who he said wanted the court closed to save money.
“I resigned because I'm tired of the politics of Mayor Jake Windham and Rankin County Youth Court Judge Tom Broome and would always wonder when the next back-stabbing by either or both of them would occur,” he said in a statement.
Johnson said all Youth Court cases are confidential, which leads to little oversight over the action of the judges. He said he hopes the Legislature would pass legislation creating Youth Court monitors and give them access to files to ensure judges are doing their job.
Shirley has said he couldn't discuss specific cases but that whenever he issued a no-contact order, it was because of abuse or neglect of a child that hadn't been corrected.
Pearl was the only city in Mississippi with its own Youth Court.
In 2003, the state Supreme Court reprimanded then-Pearl Youth Court Judge Jane Perdue for awarding temporary custody to a father without a petition being filed and without notice to the mother, who spent $13,000 in legal fees to fight custody.
The lawsuit, filed by John Reeves and Kelly Williams, seeks both actual and punitive damages
by: Jesse J. Holland
date: 2018-05-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/12/public-lynching-phrase-trivializes-word-generates-disgust/593348002/
Singer R. Kelly has not been formally charged with a crime, but a local county commissioner says there's new evidence supporting claims Kelly assaulted a woman. USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – R. Kelly says boycotting his music because of the sexual-abuse allegations against him amounts to a “public lynching.” Bill Cosby’s people say his conviction was a lynching, too. Kanye West, in trying to defend his inflammatory comments about slavery, has been tweeting lynching imagery to assure fans he won’t be silenced.
The tactical use of lynching references over the past few days by celebrities under fire is generating disgust among historians and others who have studied the ghastly killings and mutilation of thousands of black people in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries.
“Demeaning” and “reprehensible” were some of the terms used by those observing the use of lynching metaphors, which seems to be happening more often and crossing racial lines.
“It detracts and it takes away from the historical significance of what happened because there are no comparisons to the way it’s being used today and the reality of lynch mobs,” said E.M. Beck, a retired University of Georgia professor and co-author of “A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings 1882-1930.” “I think it is demeaning to the people who were lynched, and I think in some ways it might be considered to be demeaning by the descendants of those people.”
Kelly has been accused of sexually mistreating women and faces demands that he be investigated and shunned. The R&B star’s camp responded: “We will vigorously resist this attempted public lynching of a black man who has made extraordinary contributions to our culture.”
In a statement May 4, the singer said that the women in his life are “consenting adults” and that he is not the subject of any criminal investigations by police.
“These accusations being perpetuated by the media is an attempt to distort my character and to destroy my legacy that I have worked so hard to build,” Kelly said. “These allegations have created a character of me that is not the truth of who I am nor what I am about.”
After Cosby’s recent sexual-assault conviction, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told ABC, “This became a public lynching.”
Bill Cosby and wife Camille Cosby arrive at Montgomery County Courthouse on April 24, 2018, in Norristown, Pa.
(Photo: Matt Slocum, AP)
Cosby’s wife, Camille, complained that the multitude of accusations against her comedian husband “evolved into lynch mobs.” She also likened her husband to perhaps the most famous lynching victim of them all, Emmett Till, the black teenager who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for supposedly whistling at a white woman.
West touched off a furor by suggesting slavery was a “choice” for black people, then defended himself on Twitter by saying: “They cut out our tongues so we couldn’t communicate to each other. I will not allow my tongue to be cut. They hung the most powerful in order to force fear into the others.”
Hollywood director Ava DuVernay called out Kelly and West for attempting to use lynching imagery to shield themselves and posted descriptions of actual lynchings from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a monument to lynching victims that opened last month in Montgomery, Alabama.
“I’ve had it with @KanyeWest + @RKelly using the imagery of lynching as rebuttals re: their dastardly behavior,” wrote the director of “Selma.” “Evoking racial terrorism and murder for personal gain/blame is stratospheric in its audacity and ignorance. This is what lynching looked like. How dare they?”
It is not a new phenomenon. In 1991, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas famously declared he was the victim of a “high-tech lynching” when he was accused during his Senate confirmation hearings of sexually harassing colleague Anita Hill.
The idea has been recycled repeatedly since then. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter branded the sexual harassment allegations against GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain a “public lynching,” and a friend of O.J. Simpson said the same thing of the former football star’s conviction in a 2007 Las Vegas hotel room heist.
In this Feb. 12, 2011 file photo, Ann Coulter waves to the audience after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington.
(Photo: Cliff Owen, AP)
Historians and others have likewise objected to what they see as glib, trivializing comparisons of people and things to Nazis, Hitler and the Holocaust. In what has been dubbed Godwin’s law, author Mike Godwin asserted in 1990 that if an online discussion on any topic goes on long enough, someone sooner or later will make a Hitler reference.
Herman Beavers, a professor of English and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said celebrities and politicians often use “lynching” to mean they have been summarily convicted in the court of public opinion. With all of the deaths behind the word, he said, people should be more careful when they invoke it.
“What makes using the term ‘lynching’ problematic in these instances is that they diminish the real consequences in black communities terrorized by anti-black violence,” said Beavers, who will be teaching a class about lynchings and rhetoric this summer.
More than 4,000 black people in the U.S. were lynched — that is, killed out of racial hatred, usually by a mob — between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Beavers noted that lynchings often involved hanging, burning, castration or a combination of such torments, and white crowds sometimes took body parts from the victims as souvenirs.
“Hence, when Thomas or West use ‘lynching’ to describe the response to their behavior, they are using the term tactically, which, by my lights, is reprehensible,” he said.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/11/man-blames-dog-shooting/601134002/
Man’s best friend may be man’s worst enemy when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep. Time
(Photo: Joe Sutter/The Messenger via AP)
FORT DODGE, Iowa — With best friends like these, who needs enemies?
An Iowa man says his dog inadvertently shot him while they were roughhousing Wednesday.
Fifty-one-year-old Richard Remme, of Fort Dodge, told police he was playing with his dog, Balew, on the couch and tossed the dog off his lap. He says when the pit bull-Labrador mix bounded back up, he must have disabled the safety on the gun in his belly band and stepped on the trigger.
The gun fired, striking one of Remme's legs. He was treated at a hospital and released later that day.
Remme told The Messenger newspaper that Balew is a "big wuss" and laid down beside him and cried because he thought he had done something wrong.
Also read: To the rescue: Thousands of stray, neglected dogs get second chance thanks to this woman
by: Geoff Pender
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/11/fema-diamondhead-repay-katrina/600254002/
George W. Bush spoke at the First Responders Remembrance at Jones Park in Gulfport, Miss. for the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Therese Apel/The Clarion-Ledger
The Office of Inspector General says FEMA should force the Diamondhead Water and Sewer District to repay $20.4 million in Hurricane Katrina recovery grant money.
But Lee Smithson, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, called the report "yellow journalism" and "sensationalism" by OIG based on a partial audit.
"I feel very confident FEMA will go in and examine things and not recommend the money be de-obligated," Smithson said. "... It's frustrating. Nowhere is the $20.4 million specifically questioned in the (OIG) report, yet they recommend it be deobligated."
Diamondhead Water and Sewer District Chairman David Boan did not immediately return a call for comment late Thursday.
It's relatively common for OIG, which is under the Department of Homeland Security, to issue reports calling for repayment to FEMA or a halt in disaster spending. Often FEMA delves further into the books, works with the state or local agency in question, and determines the agency either owes no money or owes far less than the amount OIG questions in its initial findings.
However, FEMA does sometimes — even years after approving federal disaster spending — come back and determine projects shouldn't have been approved or didn't comply with its reams of red tape and order repayment. This has brought complaints that federal disaster programs cause fear and uncertainty for state and local governments and delay recovery.
Smithson points to issues the city of Louisville has had after a 2014 tornado destroyed much of the town. The city was granted nearly $52 million. But the city determined the recovery work would cost less, about $47 million. But FEMA didn't formally approve the change in plans or complete a new environmental impact study on the amended plans. So OIG issued a report saying the project was ineligible. Smithson said that once the paperwork is sorted out, it's likely Louisville will not have to repay the $25.4 million an OIG report headline called for.
But another Katrina case is more troubling for the state. In 2016, FEMA agreed with OIG and halted $29.9 million in reimbursements to the state for retrofitting homes after Katrina. FEMA said the state failed to provide documentation, overspent and appeared to have lax oversight over the program.
Smithson, who has stressed the program and actions in question predate his tenure at MEMA, said one problem was that the retrofit program "never had an internal audit until after I came in." Still, Smithson and Gov. Phil Bryant have voiced optimism that things will work out and the state won't have to pay back $30 million, or hopefully anything for the program.
"It's still being audited," Smithson said. "... It's about half way through, and so far no irregularities have been found. But I can't say for sure. We expect it to be complete by the end of June, and we will turn it over to FEMA, and be releasing it to the public."
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/11/suspect-jackson-officer-involved-shooting-moved-madison-county/601284002/
A Jackson traffic stop turns deadly on May, 9, 2018. Special to Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Madison County Detention Center)
A man charged with capital murder after a shootout with a Jackson police officer was released from the Hinds County jail due to a clerical error.
Hinds County Sheriff's Dept. officials said Chauncy Correll Reed was let go late Thursday night. Hinds County deputies, Jackson police, and U.S. Marshals took him back into custody hours later.
Reed was booked into the Madison County Detention Center instead of being returned to the jail in Raymond. Chauncy Reed, 26, and his brother Elliott Reed, 30, are accused of being involved in an altercation with a Jackson Police Dept. officer on Wednesday morning that ended in gunfire. Elliott Reed was killed.
JPD said the officer pulled the brothers over in their white SUV in a traffic stop. Surveillance video at a gas station shows that at some point a physical altercation began. At least one of the suspects retrieves a rifle from the SUV and shots are fired. The investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
The Hinds County Detention Command Staff is reviewing the process and will make corrections to prevent a reoccurrence of this kind of mistake, a news release said.
Reed is being held without bond.
by: Jeff Amy
date: 2018-05-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/11/some-people-removed-mississippi-sex-offender-list/602849002/
(Photo: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office)
JACKSON — About 30 people will be removed from Mississippi's sex offender list after the state agreed that people convicted under a Louisiana law no longer have to register.
However, the legal challenge continues for people registered because of convictions under Mississippi's own statute banning consensual oral and anal sex.
Only one plaintiff remains in the case, but lawyer Ghita Schwarz said he should be removed because the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws banning same-sex intercourse in 2003. Schwarz says about 30 people remain on Mississippi's registry because of such convictions.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves signed the partial settlement order Thursday. It applies to people convicted in Louisiana for taking money for oral or anal sex. In 2013, a federal judge ordered people to be removed from Louisiana's registry.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/10/god-we-trust-new-mississippi-license-plate/599071002/
Each marked car will have two of the decals. 13News Now
Mississippi's new standard license plate will display the state seal that includes the phrase, "In God We Trust."
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant unveiled the new design Thursday on Twitter. It will be available beginning in January.
Clay Chandler, director of communications for Gov. Phil Bryant, holds Mississippi's new standard license plate Thursday, May 10, 2018, at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. It will display the state seal that includes the phrase, "In God We Trust." Republican Gov. Bryant unveiled the new design on Twitter. It will be available beginning in January 2019. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
The current Mississippi plate features the guitar of blues legend B.B. King.
The standard license plate is redesigned about every five years, partly as a way of catching people who fail to pay the annual renewal fees. Drivers receive the new plate when their old one expires and they pay the fees.
For extra fees, the state also sells a variety of specialty car tags.
From archives: Can Mississippi live up to message on its seal?
by: Kevin McGill
date: 2018-05-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/business/2018/05/10/entergy-sub-contractor-paid-people-support-power-plant/599471002/
Download The Clarion-Ledger app for free on the Apple app store or Google Play. Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger
NEW ORLEANS — Some of the people who showed up at public hearings to express enthusiastic backing for a new power plant in New Orleans were phonies hired by a private firm for anywhere from $50 to $200 to bolster support, a major utility company acknowledged Thursday.
Entergy stressed in a Thursday news release that it did not authorize such payments and had no knowledge of them until it investigated allegations that paid actors were among supporters at public meetings in October and February.
"These kinds of activities run directly counter to the way we conduct our business," Entergy General Counsel Marcus Brown said in the news release. "And we apologize to the Council, the community, and to the many supporters of the New Orleans Power Station project who took their own time to attend those public hearings and express their support for this important project."
The City Council voted 6-1 to approve the new power station in March. The project was opposed by some residents and environmentalists. And a lawsuit was filed April 19 saying the council violated the state open meetings law by shutting out some plant opponents and changing the meeting agenda without advance notice. That suit included allegations that paid actors showed up in support of the plant, allegations backed up by reports in local media.
Entergy said many of the supporters of the planned New Orleans Power Station who packed City Council chambers were, indeed, sincere. They were recruited by Entergy personnel, the report said.
But the company alleges that The Hawthorn Group, a public relations firm it hired to round up supporters of the plant for public hearings paid a subcontractor, Crowds on Demand, for help.
"We now know, as a result of our investigation, that Crowds on Demand did in fact compensate most, if not all, of the other individuals it recruited to appear at the meeting," the report said.
Neither The Hawthorn Group nor Crowds on Demand — which identifies itself on its website as "Your home for protests, rallies, advocacy, audiences, PR stunts and political events" — immediately returned telephoned requests for comment Thursday afternoon.
It's not clear exactly how many people were paid by Crowds on Demand. Entergy didn't say whether it confirmed that any of them were professional actors. The report said Hawthorn was hired to turn out 75 supporters for the Oct. 16 public meeting, including 10 who would speak.
At the February meeting, Hawthorn was to recruit 30 supporters, including 10 speakers.
"As at the October meeting, many genuine supporters attended; however, we now know that Crowds on Demand also recruited and compensated people to attend this meeting," the report said.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/09/mississippi-middle-school-coach-accused-filming-girls-locker-room/595665002/
Spy cameras were once the thing of James Bond movies, but experts warn that digital cameras have become a new threat to everyone who tries on clothing, visits a gym or uses a public restroom. Wochit
(Photo: Alcorn County Sheriff's Dept.)
CORINTH, Miss. — A middle-school coach in Mississippi arrested on drug charges is accused of secretly videotaping the girls basketball locker room.
News outlets cite a Tuesday statement from the Alcorn County Sheriff's Office that says 29-year-old Micah Macay Wilbanks has been formally charged with five counts of secretly photographing for lewd purposes.
More: Are schools underreporting abuse by teachers? MDE says no, but these cases raise questions
He was arrested May 2 by deputies acting on a tip about secret filming in the locker room at Kossuth Middle School. He was arrested on campus on charges of public intoxication, methamphetamine possession and drug paraphernalia possession. The charges related to filming came after an active investigation.
He remains jailed on $125,000 bond. It's unclear whether he has a lawyer.
Reports did not include comment from the Alcorn School District.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-05-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/09/robert-de-niro-raises-money-democrat-mississippi-us-senate-race/596579002/
(Photo: Richard Shotwell, Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
A U.S. Senate candidate in Mississippi is tapping into show business connections to raise money for his campaign.
Howard Sherman, who's running in the June 5 Democratic primary, is married to actress Sela Ward.
Sherman's campaign communications chief, David Davis, confirms that Robert De Niro and Alec Baldwin were among the hosts of a cocktail party to raise money for Sherman. It took place Tuesday evening in New York, with suggested donations of $1,000 to $5,400 per person.
Sherman is one of six Democrats in the primary. The race is for a Senate seat held since 2007 by Republican Roger Wicker, who faces one challenger in his party primary.
Sherman and Ward have a home near Meridian, Mississippi, where she was raised. The couple previously lived in Los Angeles.
More: U.S. Chamber poll shows Cindy Hyde-Smith leading Mike Espy, Chris McDaniel in Senate race
by: Marshall Ramsey
date: 2018-05-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2018/05/10/marshall-ramsey-class-2018-give-you-gift-failure/593881002/
Before we get started, stand up, turn around and applaud the people in the audience. Some are present because they won't believe you're really graduating until they see it. But most are here because they believe in you. The further along in life you get, the more you will understand how important that truly is. You didn't get here on your own. The moment you forget that is the moment your soul is lost. Having people who believe in you is gold.
More: How the Barbara Bush cartoon took on a life of its own
More: A beautiful life of its own: How one viral cartoon changed me
I guess at this point, I should offer you some valuable, sage advice like wearing sunscreen, chasing your dreams or knowing your "why." I've seen enough commencement speeches on YouTube to know that's the drill. But I'll be honest. I don't remember a single word from my two commencement speeches. Your "why" right now is to get your diploma and get to lunch. So I will get to the point:
You have to learn how to fail.
Did I get your attention? Some of you are thinking, "Well, if I had learned that, I wouldn't be here today." True. But school is now over. Life doesn't give you a curriculum. You won't be given tests or extra credit. Nope. You're now being thrust into a frantic, rapidly changing world that requires you to change along with it.
Did I mention you have to learn how to fail?
At this point, your parents are thinking, "They'll live with us forever." No, not if you understand this: To succeed, you have to stop playing it safe. You also have to stop caring what everyone thinks. They're average. You don't want to be.
Quick show of hands — how many of you have dreams?
Good.
Now, in the audience — how many of YOU have dreams?
Less hands just went up. And that's kind of sad.
I'm not a sociologist, but I'd imagine my grandchildren will read about today the same way they learn about the industrial revolution. There has been a rapid shift in how we conduct business, gather information and even entertain ourselves. The internet revolution has wiped out 100-year-old industries in a blink.
Back to the failing thing. I'm not saying, "be a failure." Oh no, far from it. I want you to be courageous. To take risks. You have to get out of the mindset that to remain safe, you must avoid risks. THAT's risky. You see, failing isn't failure when you learn from it. It's the best form of education. By trying new things and experimenting, you're growing. Even if you do "fail" — I'm going to put that word in quotes — you have changed your world around you. Stop moving for extended periods of time and your body begins to deteriorate. Stop reading for extended periods of time and your brain atrophies. Stop challenging yourself and your career becomes stagnant and dies. You can't hang onto the glory days.
I know, failing is a completely foreign mindset for many of you. But you are no longer trying to please your parents or teachers. You are out there to please the marketplace.
The marketplace wants something special, unique. It wants someone who is willing to grow and change. It also dictates that you can't fall in love with something that is failing. You have to learn to cut loose even your favorite ideas. You are in a process of evolution. The quicker you get past your bad ideas you're emotionally attached to, the better off you will be.
But man, it's hard. So very hard. It hurts and it's scary.
Continue reading after gallery
Why? We all live in our comfort zone. It's our safe place. Our news bubble. It's the place that our brain feels happiest — and we all know that we do lots of things to keep our brain happy. It's called confirmation bias. Our brains interpret new information to fit the world we already know. You have to develop the courage to break past that.
What I'm not saying is for you to fail because you weren't prepared. Also, you aren't allowed to wallow around in self-pity when you do fail. If you try something and it doesn't work out, you don't keep trying it. Nor do you beat yourself up and call yourself a failure. Nope. You say, "what worked, what didn't?" And then you get busy to try something different.
All the times I've "failed" in my life led to periods of growth. When I graduated, I couldn't find a job and became a high school janitor. I thought it was the worst moment of my life. But I needed that year to understand the value of work and my dream of being a cartoonist. Plus, one of my coworkers set me up with her daughter. I've been married to her daughter for nearly 25 years and we have three boys. That one "worst moment" led to my four best moments.
Marshall Ramsey (Photo: Clarion Ledger,)
We live in chaotic times. You have to prepare for change. When you're failing, that means you are trying new things and learning. You are developing the skill of resilience. And you are setting yourself up for success.
So congratulations. Seize the day. Now let's go seize lunch.
by: Brian Broom
date: 2018-05-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/outdoors/2018/05/10/mississippi-deer-ducks-public-hunting-land/594578002/
Mississippi has produced some giant bucks and even a world record. Here are the top six deer on record in Mississippi by category. Brian Broom
(Photo: Stephen Kirkpatrick/Special to C)
If a pending land sale is finalized, Mississippi hunters will have 17,000 additional acres to hunt in the south Delta.
"What this acquisition would mean to the state is we will have in perpetuity 17,000 acres adjacent to an existing WMA (wildlife management area)," said Larry Castle, director of technical programs for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. "We will be able to manage it and provide opportunity.
"This is probably the last opportunity to acquire a contiguous tract of land of this size in the south Delta. It will be a milestone of true conservation. This will be something people will look at in the future and say, 'Wow.'"
It will also be the second-largest state-owned WMA in Mississippi.
"The only one that touches it is the Pascagoula River acquisition in Jackson and George counties," Castle said. "The Pascagoula is 36,000 acres."
The proposed land acquisition borders Mahannah Wildlife Management Area in Issaquena County and extends into Warren County.
The land is located in Issaquena County with some extending in Warren County and surrounds the popular Mahannah Wildlife Management Area. According to Castle, the expected purchase came about as lumber company Anderson-Tully made the decision to divest land assets totaling more than 300,000 acres. When the land became available for purchase, Castle said the agency was notified by a third party.
"The Nature Conservancy brought this opportunity to us," Castle said. "The Nature Conservancy made us aware of it."
Online chatter
As news of the potential purchase spread, rumors and speculation filled social media platforms. Some said the land would only be available to hunters through a random drawing for a fee, much like is done at Canemount WMA where hunters are exclusively assigned to large tracts of land for three-day hunts.
"We have no thoughts it will be an exclusive hunt," Castle said. "That was never in the plan."
Others questioned why the state would spend millions of dollars to purchase land for recreational use at a time when funding can't be found for much needed infrastructure repairs such as bridges.
Castle explained that the department's budget for wildlife and fisheries bureaus is generated by fishing and hunting license sales and the two bureaus receive no money from the state's general fund. There is also federal excise tax money available that is earmarked for certain things such as habitat acquisition and management in the form of a three-to-one match. In other words, if MDWFP purchases land for $10 million, they are reimbursed $7.5 million and none of the money involved is available for general fund items such as bridge repair.
"We're not using one dime of general fund money to purchase this," Castle said. "If we can pull this off sportsmen should be giving us a big thumbs up."
Hunting clubs which lease the land recently began receiving notices of lease agreement terminations from Anderson-Tully. Perry Egger of Madison is a member of one of those clubs and isn't happy with the purchase.
"I think Anderson-Tully made it clear as long as I've been there that if Anderson-Tully got the right price they'd sell it in a heartbeat," Egger said. "It was who it was sold to that was a surprise.
"Essentially, why does the state need more hunting WMAs when they can't take care of what they've got? I feel like I've been punched in the gut by the state."
Management tiers
Castle said management and how WMA lands are treated varies with ownership. State-owned WMAs receive more effort because MDWFP controls them and can manage them to provide quality experiences for users. In the case of US Army Corps of Engineers' properties that are managed as state WMAs, Castle said operations are funded by USACE.
Other WMAs are located on lands that are leased by the state. In these instances, Castle said the department is limited in what improvements can be made and how the habitat is managed. On WMAs located within National Forest Service lands, Castle said the department can do little more than set regulations and bag limits.
"So, when people are critical of how we manage these lands, I don't think they understand we have different tiers of funding sources, ownership and ability of what we can do," Castle said. "We feel like we're doing a jam-up job on our WMAs.
"We're not an exclusive hunting club, but we do feel we offer the average guy or gal a good opportunity to enjoy the outdoors."
Questions have also been raised as to why MDWFP would purchase land that is prone to flooding and has been inundated several times in the last few years.
"This is the Mississippi Alluvial Flood Plain," Castle said. "Yes, it floods, but it is one of the most desirable hunting areas of the state.
"If we do not purchase, the private sector will purchase and the public will potentially be forever out."
Magnolia: What to do (and where to eat catfish) in the Catfish Capital of the World
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/09/suspects-jackson-officer-involved-shooting-identified/594687002/
The incident May 9, 2018, at Valero on Cooper Road was captured on a store security camera. JPD lacks both dash cameras and body cameras. The officer, fighting for his life, fatally wounded one of the suspects.. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Two brothers, one now dead, are said to be suspects in an early Wednesday shooting in which they traded fire with a Jackson police officer.
Elliott Reed, 30, was taken from the scene by ambulance and died of his injuries after the shootout, police said.
Original Story: Suspect in officer-involved shooting dies
Chauncy Reed, 26, is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and capital murder because the death of his brother came in the commission of a crime.
JPD released a statement Wednesday that said the contact between the officer and the two men in their white SUV was the result of a traffic stop.
Security cameras at the Valero recorded video which details the events of the shooting, Holmes said.
The investigation is being conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations. The shooting occurred just hours after the Jackson city council voted to require all shootings involving Jackson Police Department officers be investigated by MBI.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has also put together a task force who will help him decide whether the city should make public the identities of police officers in officer-involved shooting deaths.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/09/1-hospitalized-1-custody-officer-involved-shooting-early-wednesday/593556002/
The incident May 9, 2018, at Valero on Cooper Road was captured on a store security camera. JPD lacks both dash cameras and body cameras. The officer, fighting for his life, fatally wounded one of the suspects.. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Update 9:28 a.m.:
A man shot by a Jackson police officer early Wednesday morning has died. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will decide if the shooting was justifiable.
Original story:
The police radio traffic broke out, "Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired!"
It was clear that the shots hadn't stopped, but in the chaos, it was hard to tell who had fired or what had happened.
As all units responded to the Valero on Cooper Road, most of the officers weren't sure what to expect when they got there.
They found a Jackson police officer who was shaken but unharmed after a run-in with two suspects at a gas station early Wednesday morning.
Jackson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Roderick Holmes said the suspects fired shots at the officer, and he returned fire.
One of the suspects was struck and was taken from the scene by ambulance and the other was taken into custody at Valero.
The other suspect was detained on scene for a few minutes in which he loudly verbally expressed his concern for the other suspect, calling him his brother.
The security cameras at the Valero recorded video which details the events of the shooting, Holmes said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to handle the investigation, Holmes said. They will be in charge of releasing any further information. The city council voted to require all officer-involved shooting investigations be turned over to MBI.
by: Clarion Ledger
date: 2018-05-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/09/detention-officer-assaulted-handcuffed-teen-supervisor-covered-up/592625002/
The FBI has announced its plans to create a system to better track, analyze, and share information about every single instance of people dying at the hands of the police. USA TODAY
A former Mississippi juvenile detention officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to beating a juvenile in his custody and his supervisor to helping cover it up.
Edward Gibson, 28, who was working as an officer at the Leflore County Juvenile Detention Center, entered his plea Monday. He faces up to 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
His supervisor, Dianne Williams, 60, pleaded guilty on April 17 to helping cover up the assault, but her plea had not been previously announced.
Both were fired after the assault was discovered.
Gibson’s indictment was unsealed in federal court on March 7, and a separate indictment unsealed on the same date charged Williams with writing a false report to cover up the assault.
Gibson assaulted the teenage victim who was in handcuffs and leg shackles on June 16, 2016. He threw an electric fan at the victim, hitting him in the upper chest. Gibson then punched the victim multiple times before being pulled off by two other officers. The other officers had to step in twice more to prevent Gibson from further assaulting the victim, according to a Justice Department news release announcing his guilty plea.
According to admissions made by Gibson during the plea hearing, the victim was never physically aggressive toward Gibson, and Gibson assaulted him only because the victim made statements that angered him. Gibson weighed approximately 315 pounds; the victim weighed approximately 130 pounds.
Williams admitted she was aware of the assault, failed to inform any responsible authority and wrote a false report to cover it up. She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which carries up to three years in prison. Her sentencing is set for Aug. 23.
“Detention officers have an important duty to protect juveniles from bodily harm or abuse while in custody,” Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division, said in the news release. “This Justice Department will not tolerate illegal acts of violence or attempts to obstruct justice by corrections officers, and will continue to protect the civil rights of all individuals.”
“Our Constitution and laws mandate that all prisoners and detainees be treated fairly and humanely and never face the excessive and unwarranted use of force employed in this case,” U.S. Attorney William C. Lamar for the Northern District of Mississippi said in the release. “I know that our brothers and sisters in law enforcement feel the same and are ashamed by the actions of the abhorrent few.”
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/08/shooting-victims-not-identifying-shooter-trend-not-unusual/589732002/
Jackson sees a surge in violent crime during the month of April 2018. Harold Gater, Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/The Clarion-Ledger)
A man shot inside his home early Tuesday morning is expected to recover, but it could be hard to answer the question of who shot him — since he won't.
Authorities say the man was shot around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on Rockdale and Azalea drives.
"He was very responsive on scene, but he refused to tell anyone anything about what happened," said Jackson Police Department spokesman Roderick Holmes. "We were able to determine that the crime scene was inside his residence."
Many law enforcement officials will attest that it's incredibly detrimental but not strange to have victims who clam up when asked for information on their attacker.
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"No, that's not unusual at all," Holmes said. "We've had people shot several times in the past that don't want to tell us who did it. What that usually means is they know who it is and either they want to handle it themselves or they don't want to do anything about it for whatever reason."
Holmes said the attacker on Rockdale "is clearly someone the victim knew."
The trend of witnesses and victims being unwilling to give statements against alleged attackers is a constant problem for police, who take a beating publicly about unsolved cases from the very public who often won't turn over the information they have.
Brookhaven Police Chief Kenny Collins appealed to his community in April after a homicide. In that case, the public came forward with information and the suspect was apprehended fairly quickly. He reminded them that Brookhaven still needs help solving several open cases, and the people of the community hold the key.
Bobby Bell, Brookhaven's chief before Collins, also asked his community several times to come forward with information on violent crimes, but things have not improved much. The city still has several open cases on homicides going back for years, and police say a large part of that is residents don't talk to law enforcement.
The lack of "street chatter" was also an issue in making an arrest in the 2014 Jessica Chambers case. In that situation, there just wasn't much talk on the streets because the alleged killer was under the radar.
The suspect in that case, Quinton Tellis, was known to be something of a loner who didn't confide in many people. In the October 2017 trial, prosecutors said Chambers and Tellis were together the night of the homicide, essentially making them the only witnesses to whatever happened before she was set on fire in her car.
Story continues below gallery.
That case is different, authorities said, because usually information about violent crimes is known among community members who just don't want to get involved or who fear retaliation or being labeled a snitch.
Police will often remind people that they can call Crime Stoppers and leave an anonymous tip for a reward.
In the past, people have been skeptical of the promised anonymity, officials said. They were afraid somewhere their identity, phone number or location was being recorded. But Mississippi calls are routed through a Texas call center, where any identifying information is encrypted before it is sent to authorities in Mississippi.
In 2015, Angela Brown was caught as a suspect in a fraud scheme by a friend in Atlanta who began texting Crime Stoppers in real time. The 45-year-old Jones County woman is accused of taking more than $500,000 from at least 15 victims, some in Mississippi.
Authorities were also able to track information back to the alleged mastermind behind the scheme, Demetrius McCollum, also known as Trey Colston, who was arrested in Atlanta.
Jackson has several unsolved cases with 36 homicides on the books for 2018. When neighbors watch out for neighbors and citizens take care of each other, helps solve crimes, officials said.
"That's the gist of it. It's a collaborative effort. It takes (police), the public, and anyone else that knows anything that could help solve the crime," Holmes said. "If we don't have anything to go on, it's going to be a lot harder to solve the crime."
by: Geoff Pender
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/08/shelton-drops-out-senate-race/591324002/
A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll reveals what really concerns voters heading into the November midterm elections. USA TODAY
Democratic Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton has announced he is dropping out of the special U.S. Senate race in Mississippi.
Shelton sent a press release announcing his decision on Tuesday afternoon. He said he is asking that his name be withdrawn from the ballot.
In a statement, Shelton said:
"I still feel strongly that we must get beyond the rhetoric that has been so detrimental to progress, and elect a U.S. senator who is intent on working with Mississippians who need help navigating the maze of the federal government, working with other senators to push back the rising tide of debt swallowing our nation, and working to find practical solutions to the many challenges facing people across Mississippi. While my heart tells me this election, at this time, is not right for me, I am one of many in the next generation of leaders who are ready to serve for the betterment of our fellow Mississippians.
"The nature of this special election, with a short qualifying period, was such that potential candidates had to make quick decisions about qualifying. The historic significance, and rare opportunity, of this special election was also not lost on me."
Shelton thanked his family, supporters and staff and volunteers.
Jason Shelton (Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
"I will continue to work hard for my hometown to ensure a better quality of life for all citizens," Shelton said.
More: Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton announces run for U.S. Senate special election in Mississippi
The Nov. 6 contest, which will be a general, special election with no primaries, is now between Democrats Mike Espy and Tobey Bartee and Republicans Chris McDaniel and Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is serving as the interim senator until the election.
by: APM Reports
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/08/curtis-flowers-podcast-convicted-bullets-no-weapon/591531002/
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
How can investigators match bullets to a murder weapon they don’t have? That’s a key question in the case of Curtis Flowers, who was convicted of the 1996 murders of four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona.
An investigator uncovers a bullet in a mattress at Tardy Furniture in Winona.
For the second season of “In the Dark,” an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a team of journalists spent a year in Mississippi digging into the Flowers case and found that it’s supported by questionable evidence. The conviction is based on three main planks: the route that witnesses say Flowers walked the morning of the crime, the gun that prosecutors say he used, and the people he supposedly confessed to while in jail.
In the third episode of the 10-episode season, APM Reports investigates the alleged murder weapon and the strange history of the man who owned it. The gun has never been found. Investigators took bullets from a wooden post that they believe were fired by the murder weapon and matched them to a bullet from the crime scene found in a mattress roughly a month after the murders. But critics say that kind of ballistics analysis is subjective and unscientific.
Every Wednesday through the end of June, the Clarion Ledger will offer short summaries of every podcast episode. Click here to find the episodes.
by: Anthony McDougle
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/nletter/the-clarion-ledger-now/2018/05/08/cl-now-ussenrace-jessica-chambers-retrial-iran-nuclear-deal/591341002/
Alton Peterson and Darla Palmer speak with reporters on their reactions and their client Quinton Tellis' reactions during the recent trial. Therese Apel/ The Clarion-Ledger
Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, May 8, and this is your CL NOW! newsletter. Today's big news comes from the White House, where President Trump announced the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement and re-impose sanctions on Iran. Keep reading to see what that means for the country and how other politicians and scholars are responding to it. Here are some of the other top stories of the day at ClarionLedger.com.
Mississippi State football's ace recruiter is moving on to greener pastures.On Tuesday the Clarion Ledger reported Patrick Austin, Mississippi State’s director of recruiting communications/recruiting coordinator, will be leaving his post with the school to pursue a different opportunity with the NFL. Austin joined Mississippi State as a recruiting specialist in February 2016 after spending two seasons at Callaway.
The number of candidates for the U.S. Senate race just got smaller by one. Democratic Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton on Tuesday announced he is dropping out of the special U.S. Senate race in Mississippi.
"While my heart tells me this election, at this time, is not right for me, I am one of many in the next generation of leaders who are ready to serve for the betterment of our fellow Mississippians," Shelton said in a statement.
Developer David Watkins is getting an opportunity to have charges of wire fraud and embezzlement removed from his record. All he has to do is complete a pretrial diversion program. Watkins was indicted in November in Madison County for allegedly taking more than $587,000 in state bond money for a construction project for his own use.
The man charged with capital murder for the December 2014 burning death of Jessica Chambers will face a jury for the second time after the first trial ended in a mistrial. Quinton Tellis' second trial will begin Sept. 24, though the location has not been determined. Tellis is in the meantime serving a five-year sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman on unrelated charges predating the Chambers case.
Today's Top Story
In a controversial move, President Trump announced his decision to withdraw from what he called a "disastrous" nuclear deal with Iran. His decision is likely to anger allies who fear the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the heart of the Middle East. Trump went on to call the deal "defective at its core", claiming that "the decaying and the rotten structure" of the agreement does not block Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
European leaders were not pleased with his decision. In fact, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May released a joint statement saying they remained committed to honoring the agreement.
David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called Trump's move "a blunder" that "undercuts our standing and credibility, alienates our allies, empowers our enemies and will make the Middle East more dangerous."
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said his country will maintain engagement with the world regardless of Trump's decision.
“It is possible that we will face some problems for two or three months, but we will pass through this,” Rouhani said.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/08/jackson-man-pleads-guilty-federal-gun-charges/592130002/
Hurst announces Project Eject, a new initiative to help rid Jackson of violent criminals. Jimmie E. Gates
A Jackson man pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a release from the United States Attorney's office.
Nicholas Thames, 20, of Jackson, faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
On October 27, Jackson Police Department officers responded to the Waffle House at 584 Beasley Road after receiving a call of an armed robbery. Employees said that Thames had eaten there about an hour earlier. He came back with a red bandana covering his mouth and threatened employees with a gun.
Thames demanded money from the clerk and fired one shot before pointing the gun at the clerk as she handed him all of the money in the register, authorities said. He then ran out of the store.
Store employees were able to provide a description to JPD officers, who found Thames in the area wearing the same clothes described by the employees. He still had the red bandana he used to cover his face.
Officers found a large sum of money and a black handgun on Thames when they arrested him. Officers also found several other items that the defendant admitted taking from a vehicle that he had broken into in the area.
Thames will be sentenced on August 7, officials said.
U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst commended the work of the Jackson Police Department and their cooperation with FBI agents and Project EJECT task force members. AUSA Abe McGlothin, Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Southern District U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst announces Project Eject to remove violent criminals from Jackson.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-07
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/08/madison-co-detention-center-inmate-death/589483002/
An inmate at the Madison County Detention Center was found dead Monday.
Coroner Alex Breeland told WLBT the deceased was Harvey Hill, 36. Hill was transported from the jail to Merit Health Central hospital in Jackson, where he was pronounced dead.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation into the inmate's death, spokesperson Warren Strain said. The body has been sent to the Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
by: Andrew Goodman
date: 2018-05-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/06/healing-wounds-past-through-lynching-memorial/582615002/
Michelle Browder, of More Than Tours, talks about racism while leading a tour on in downtown Montgomery, Ala. on Tuesday April 24, 2018. Mickey Welsh / Advertiser
On Thursday, April 26, I had the privilege of attending the opening of The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Pictures cannot do the memorial justice. Standing near the site of a former market for auctioning slaves, and viewing the suspended steel columns, each representing a county where lynchings took place, was such a powerful experience. I found it impossible to take in this view without reflecting on the meaning of the violent actions carried out by white Americans, intent on terrorizing the black portion of our population because of the color of their skin.
The memorial, created by the Equal Justice Initiative, focuses on the violence perpetrated by white people against black people from 1877, when Union troops left the South, up to 1950. The horrors of lynchings went beyond the physical violence. White people normalized these horrific events as entertainment and often brought their children to watch. Oftentimes, photographers sold postcards as keepsakes after the event. For the over 4,000 black Americans murdered in this way, and for black Americans in general, lynchings represented the greatest form of humiliation and dehumanization. These lynchings weren’t confined to the Southeast, either. As I looked through the memorial, I saw names from New York, Illinois, and Indiana, all Union states during the Civil War.
Time has not healed the wounds created by this violence. The memory of lynching carries on in the form of injustices such as mass incarceration and police shootings. In America, lynchings have happened, are happening now, and will continue to happen unless we address and recognize these atrocities.
As a Jewish American, I look to the steps Germany has taken to recognize and atone for their actions during the 20th century. In particular, I think of Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which partially inspired The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. As the brother of Andrew Goodman, a young white man who suffered the same fate as these thousands of black individuals, I know the wounds can never be fully healed, but we must try. I look to this memorial as one way to atone for the racist actions of terrorists who fought to preserve a hateful way of life.
David Goodman (Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is, I hope, a step forward towards healing. If visitors to the memorial keep an open mind, they’ll realize that until black lives matter, no lives do. Until we can all face the reality behind our country’s history and rightfully feel shame and remorse, the wounds black Americans have suffered will never heal.
David Goodman is the brother of slain civil rights activist Andrew Goodman and president of The Andrew Goodman Foundation.
by: Duvalier Malone
date: 2018-05-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/05/07/wake-bill-cosby-verdict-there-finally-justice-emmett-till/582657002/
Bill Cosby was convicted Thursday of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. AP reporter Michael Sisak explains how it all unfolded in the Pennsylvania courtroom. (April 26) AP
On the surface, it probably seems that the recent Bill Cosby verdict and the Emmett Till case are not connected. But they are bound by a common thread, which is the justice system of the United States. If our society is finally ready to give justice after decades of the forced silence of victims, then it's time for Carolyn Bryant Donham to face justice for what she did to Emmett Till.
Let me start by saying this is not a defense of Cosby. I repeat, this is not a defense of Cosby. This is simply a critical examination of the facts.
I know many will take offense with what I'm saying. There are going to be a lot of people who scoff at the idea of an 83-year-old facing prison time for a crime that was committed many years ago.
But I wonder how many of those same people celebrated Cosby's conviction, applauding the guilty verdict as they proudly proclaimed that "#TIMESUP"?
Well then, the time is up for Bryant too.
No, I'm not trying to co-opt a movement that was built to finally give women a voice and a platform to fight against those who assaulted them and took away their control for years. I feel their pain, and I will always be a proud supporter of any movement to empower and liberate women.
But just as these social justice warriors are fighting to end these atrocious crimes against women, they must fight for justice for everyone.
Women have been victims of heinous crimes. Till was a victim too. His life was taken because of the lies of Donham when she accused the 14-year-old of whistling at her and then making crude remarks and grabbing her in 1955.
Last year, Donham made headlines when she finally admitted that she lied. She made it all up, conjuring a horrid (and false) story that led to Till's murder. She lied, and Till was killed.
When Donham made this admission of guilt, I held a rally to demand justice. I demanded justice for the Till family, and for Emmett Till and his mother (who died in 2003 and will never know the truth about her son). But when I made these demands, I was met with a forceful pushback from those who felt that it was atrocious and inhumane to declare that a woman in her eighties should be held responsible for her actions some 60 years prior.
But now I feel a measure of vindication because none of those people expressed these sentiments when Cosby was being prosecuted for indecent assault of Andrea Constand, a white woman in Philadelphia. No one expressed that it was wrong for a man in his early eighties to be convicted and face jail time for crimes that he allegedly committed decades earlier.
I don't have a stance on Cosby. It's up to the courts, and the American justice system has spoken. But I have to ask: Why is this same justice system so silent when it comes to Donham?
If Cosby can face prosecution and jail time for his past crimes and indiscretions, then Donham must pay for her past crimes. Based on her own words, she is an accessory to murder.
I'm demanding that our justice system not single out certain people to serve justice.
Serve justice to everybody.
If she goes to trial for the murder of Till, Donham would be the first white woman in America to face a courtroom for a civil rights murder.
It's not too late! It's never too late to demand justice unless society is ready to admit that we have a different set of laws for black men than we do for white men and white women.
My critics will probably say that the statute of limitations is up. Well, my answer to that is simple: Where were the statute of limitations in the case of Cosby? The judge in the Cosby case allowed testimony from 5 women who claimed that they were assaulted by Cosby in the 70's and 80's.
The truth of the matter is this: When our society wants to give justice, we give justice. It's just that everybody doesn't get the same justice.
This is why I'm asking all of you to stand together. If you are a part of the #metoo movement, then lend your voice to this cause. I want justice for all, not just for men, not just for women, not just for blacks and not just for whites. I want justice for everyone.
It's easy for America to assign guilt and punishment to a black person in America, but it seems extremely difficult to do the opposite. This is evidenced by the many white police officers who continue to walk away free after murdering black men and women. In many cases, there's not even a trial.
This is a continuance of the injustice that African Americans have historically faced in America, and it shouldn't be. I shouldn't even need to write this column, and I wouldn't have to if our justice system would defend the victims (Emmett Till and his family) of Donham as it defends the victims of Cosby.
Till was of the same worth as any other person. His life mattered, and it still matters. And if we could put prejudices aside, it would be plain to see that this black life deserves justice just as the white lives do in the case of Cosby.
The law is the law. We cannot bend the law and use it differently when it comes to whites and blacks. No. The standard has been set, and it should be upheld.
Duvalier Malone (Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Our society should be fair. The Till family deserves to finally have an end to this terrible chapter in their family history. America deserves to finally have an end to this horrible moment in this country's history. And we all owe it to ourselves to finally do the right thing.
Duvalier Malone is an author, motivational speaker, community activist and CEO of Duvalier Malone Enterprises, a global consulting firm delivering services to non-profits and underserved communities throughout America. He lives in Washington, D.C.
by: Deborah Barfield Berry
date: 2018-05-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/06/civil-rights-national-park-service-holds-meetings-state-landmarks/581272002/
(Photo: File photo/Clarion Ledger)
The National Park Service will host six public meetings in Mississippi this week to discuss requests to include several civil rights sites under the federal park system.
The meetings are:
Monday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
The Delta Center for Culture and Learning / Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area
Delta State University Jacob Conference Center, Ewing Hall
Mississippi 8 West
Cleveland
Monday, 5 – 7 p.m.
Tallahatchie County Courthouse and Emmett Till Interpretive Center
120 N. Court St.
Sumner
Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Two Mississippi Museums Auditorium
222 North St.
Jackson
Tuesday, 5 – 7 p.m.
Medgar Evers Library
4215 Medgar Evers Blvd
Jackson, Mississippi 39213
Wednesday,, 5 – 7 p.m.
The Depot
256 W. Beacon St.
Philadelphia
Thursday, 5 – 7 p.m.
Biloxi Visitor Center
1050 Beach Blvd.
Biloxi
Written comments are due June 1. They can be submitted online at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/MSCR_SRS or by mail:
Mississippi Civil Rights Sites Special Resource Study
Attn: Justin Henderson
National Park Service- Denver Service Center
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
Lakewood, CO 80228
Source: National Park Service
by: Deborah Barfield Berry
date: 2018-05-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/06/civil-rights-landmarks-could-become-national-monuments/582124002/
The home of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers could become a National Park Service site.
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
WASHINGTON — Every year, Deborah Watts and other relatives of Emmett Till make a 30-mile pilgrimage through the heart of Mississippi tracing the path of the 14-year-old who was murdered there more than 60 years ago.
One stop is the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, where two men accused of killing Till in 1955 were acquitted.
“It’s a painful part of our past,’’ said Watts, co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation. “We do it for the purpose of remembering, never forgetting and educating ourselves and others on what really happened."
Educating the nation about Till's death, which became a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, could soon also become an expanded mission for the National Park Service.
The park service is considering whether to designate the courthouse and other civil rights sites in Mississippi as national monuments and include them in the federal park system. The effort to highlight key sites in Emmett Till's life and death is part of a broader push by congressional lawmakers and others to highlight the importance of civil rights landmarks in the nation's history.
“We can’t speak about civil rights unless we speak about Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley,” said Watts. “It was the catalyst for starting the civil rights movement … We’ve got to tell the truth about what happened.’’
Mobley had an open casket funeral in Chicago to show the world how Till, who had been visiting family in Mississippi, had been brutally beaten and shot in the head. Witnesses said two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, kidnapped Till, whose body was later found floating in the Tallahatchie River. Although they were acquitted, they later admitted in a magazine article to kidnapping and killing Till.
Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Terri Sewell of Alabama are pushing for significant but sometimes little-recognized civil rights sites — including courthouses, homes, jails and even bus stops — to be included in the national park system.
The Bryant store in Money, Mississippi, photographed here in 2007, is the location where Emmett Till allegedly whistled at a white woman in 1955.
If successful, the change would bring more national attention and greater preservation protections to these important landmarks. Most of the locations are in the Deep South, which was ground zero of the movement.
“There’s a general interest around making sure that history reflects accurately what went on,’’ said Thompson, whose district is home to several key civil rights sites. “Very few people dispute the fact that African-Americans and the civil rights history in the South specifically has gone unaccounted for in many instances."
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., spoke Sunday at a get-out-the-vote rally hosted by the Alabama NAACP in Birmingham.
There have been other recent efforts to recognize the turbulent history of African-Americans, particularly in the South. Just last month, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a lynching memorial, opened in Alabama. Earlier this year, civil rights activists celebrated the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016 in the nation’s capital, has an entire floor dedicated to the civil rights movement.
Thompson said there is "no better custodian" than the National Park Service to help restore and maintain civil rights sites.
“We’ve been working with them for quite some while trying to get a real focus on that part of Mississippi’s history that not only needs to be told, but needs to accurately reflect what really happened,’’ said Thompson.
The National Park Service will host six public meetings starting Monday in Mississippi to discuss requests to preserve civil rights sites there.
Among the sites under consideration are the home of Medgar Evers, a field secretary for the Mississippi NAACP who was shot in his driveway in June 1963, and the Old Neshoba County Jail in Philadelphia, where three civil rights workers — James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner — were held before being killed later by members of the Ku Klux Klan in June 1964.
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., is part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.
Congress passed a bill last year to conduct a study on the historical significance of civil rights sites in Mississippi and whether they should be under the National Park Service. The meetings are part of that process, which can generally take up to two years. The deadline for public comment is June 1.
Ben West, Southeast regional chief of planning for the National Park Service, said civic engagement will play an important role in the outcome. The agency will submit a report to Congress, which will decide whether to approve the designations.
The park service will consider the national significance, the suitability and feasibility of potential sites, including cost, and whether there are other alternatives to managing them.
Federal officials and congressional lawmakers are pushing to include the home of civil rights activist Medgar Evers under the National Park Service. the home is a popular stop for people exploring the Civil Rights movement.
West said looking at civil rights sites in Mississippi is an important part of "telling the nation’s history.''
West continued, “This is bigger than Mississippi. I think there’s a lot of interest outside the state.''
In Alabama, Sewell and local officials successfully pushed to include civil rights landmarks in the National Park Service system.
Before leaving office in 2017, then-President Obama designated two sites in Alabama as national monuments, including the Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, which includes the 16th Street Baptist Church and the A.G. Gaston Motel.
“Civil rights and voting rights sites are national treasures that tell the story of the movement’s fight for freedom and equality in the face of hate and injustice,’’ Sewell said.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said among sites in Mississippi that should be considered for inclusion in the Natiobnal Park Service is the gravesite of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville.
The Bogalusa, Louisiana, home of civil rights activist Robert Hicks, who headed the local chapter of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. In March, the National Park Service announced a $500,000 African-American civil rights grant to help preserve the home.
South Carolina Reps. James Clyburn, a Democrat, and Mark Sanford, a Republican, introduced a bill last month that would expand the Beaufort National Historic Landmark, among other things.
Last December, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended several sites for national monuments, including the Evers' home in Mississippi. Separately, a House subcommittee recently approved legislation proposed by Thompson and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, that would also formalize that designation, but Republican leaders have not yet brought it to the floor.
Thompson said other sites in Mississippi should also be considered, including the gravesite of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville, the Emmett Till Museum in Glendora and the funeral home in Tutwiler, where Till’s body was brought before being returned to Chicago.
“This part of our history, for me, is personal because so much of who I am was on the backs and lives of people" who fought and died for civil rights, said Thompson. "There’s history there. We can’t ever let it be forgotten.’’
Watts, who makes her annual "Till Trail of Tears and Terror'' accompanied by family, journalists and others, applauds the National Park Service and Thompson for wanting the country to remember Till's death and its impact. But she said it's still a cold case. No one has been convicted of his murder.
“We are still looking for justice for Emmett," she said. “Coupled with justice for Emmett, I think we would be very honored because the country will remember and hopefully will never forget."
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-05-06
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/nletter/the-clarion-ledger-now/2018/05/07/cl-now-ex-chickasaw-co-worker-awarded-over-200-k-push-make-civil-rights-landmarks-national-monuments/587618002/
Many historical Civil Rights landmarks can be found in Birmingham, Alabama, where the city's tumultuous past helped to pave the way for a better future. On January 12, President Obama officially dedicated these spots as National Historic Monuments. Time
Good afternoon. Today is Monday, May 7, and this is your CL NOW! newsletter.
Ex-Chickasaw County worker awarded over $200,000 in lawsuit
A federal judge has added $120,000 to the jury award of $83,447 to a former Chickasaw County employee who said he was fired for running for sheriff.
In August, a federal jury in Oxford awarded Lamon K. Griggs compensatory damages in his lawsuit against the Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors.
Push to make civil rights landmarks national monuments
The park service is considering whether to designate civil rights sites in Mississippi as national monuments and include them in the federal park system. The effort to highlight key sites in Emmett Till's life and death is part of a broader push by congressional lawmakers and others to highlight the importance of civil rights landmarks in the nation's history.
Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Terri Sewell of Alabama are pushing for significant but sometimes little-recognized civil rights sites — including courthouses, homes, jails and even bus stops — to be included in the national park system.
Starkville aldermen gets Muzzle 'award'
The Starkville, Mississippi, Board of Aldermen, which rejected an application for a community event that would have been the town's first-ever Pride parade, was bestowed a Jefferson Muzzle, a tongue-in-cheek award from a free-speech group.
The Charlottesville, Virginia-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression on Sunday announced the seven winners of its Muzzles, given annually to those the group deems the previous year's most egregious offenders of free expression.
The board later reversed its decision.
by: The Clarion-Ledger
date: 2018-05-03
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/05/04/usm-honoring-civil-rights-pioneer-clyde-kennard/580860002/
A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker was placed in front of Southern Miss' Kennard-Washington Hall to honor Clyde Kennard, who attempted to be the first black student at the university. Lici Beveridge/Hattiesburg American
More than 60 years ago, the University of Southern Mississippi turned Clyde Kennard away as its first black student. Now the institution is honoring the late civil rights pioneer with a doctorate.
Between 1955 and 1959, Clyde Kennard made several attempts to enroll at the University of Southern Mississippi, but he was denied entry by college, local and state officials.
(Photo: The Clarion-Ledger)
“This will be an important day for the University of Southern Mississippi as we award Mr. Kennard, albeit posthumously, with a degree representing the education he sought and so rightfully deserved,” USM President Rodney D. Bennett said in a statement. “As President of the University, and especially as its first African-American president, I am honored to be part of our institution’s progress in moving toward this outcome.”
The honor comes as Kennard's perseverance has been recognized by a new documentary by Alysia Burton, "Measure of Progress: The Clyde Kennard Story."
Between 1955 to 1959, Kennard made several attempts to enroll at Southern, but he was denied entry by college, local and state officials.
Although his efforts were obstructed, Kennard persisted until he was falsely accused of multiple crimes and ultimately sentenced to seven years at the State Penitentiary at Parchman.
While there, he was diagnosed with cancer but was denied proper medical treatment until he was critically ill. He was released on parole in January 1963 and died on July 4, 1963, at the age of 36.
After Clarion Ledger published stories showing that Kennard had been framed, Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, civil rights activists and others pushed for his exoneration.
On May 17, 2006, Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich exonerated the decorated Korean War veteran.
"It did begin here, and, yes, it should end here," the judge said. "To me, this is not a black-white issue. It is a right-wrong issue. To correct that wrong, I'm compelled to do the right thing and declare Mr. Kennard innocent."
To atone for its role in this injustice, in 1993, USM renamed the student services building on its Hattiesburg campus Kennard-Washington Hall in honor of Kennard and Walter Washington, the first African-American student to receive a doctoral degree from the institution.
In 2014, USM formally established the Kennard Scholars Program, which helps eligible students become and remain successful scholars and eventually future graduates of the University. Offering a variety of resources, which include a mentor program, academic enrichment, and civic engagement activities, more than 40 students have benefitted from this program since its inception.
“Bestowing the honorary doctorate upon Mr. Clyde Kennard demonstrates the importance of his efforts to achieve a quality education at the University of Southern Mississippi,” said Eddie Holloway, dean of students. “It further indicates the honor and respect that our institution now has for him, and we thank him for his heartfelt sacrifice.”
On Feb. 2, a historical marker honoring Kennard was installed in the heart of USM’s Hattiesburg campus to memorialize Kennard’s story. As the 26th marker of the Mississippi Freedom Trail, this landmark commemorates Kennard as one of the people in Mississippi who played a pivotal role in the modern civil rights movement
“The University of Southern Mississippi has taken a number of steps to be an example of diversity and inclusion, and more than 60 years later, we are home to a diverse student body representing 72 countries, all 50 states, and every county in Mississippi,” Bennett said. “Presenting this degree during the University’s most significant event serves as a reminder to all of Mr. Kennard’s legacy and the ideals he fought to achieve.”
USM’s Spring 2018 Commencement exercises will be held at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. May 11 in Bernard Reed Green Coliseum on the Hattiesburg campus, and at 10 a.m. May 12 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.
by: Clarion Ledger
date: 2018-05-01
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/02/parchman-prison-shakedown-yields-drugs-knives-and-cell-phones/572903002/
(Photo: Mississippi Department of Corrections)
Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall detailed Wednesday the drugs, weapons, cell phones and other contraband discovered at the State Penitentiary at Parchman during the most recent shakedown.
On Friday, officials seized these items at Parchman's Unit 29: 38 cell phones, 30 chargers, 40 packs of spice, 29 bags of tobacco, three bags of marijuana, 12 bags of crystal methamphetamine, 41 shanks, two free-world knives, more than 50 green dot numbers, and four pairs of tennis shoes.
“In addition to security measures already in place, we are no longer allowing private vehicles among the housing units,” Hall said in a news release. “We are escorting officers to their job assignments. Only non-security and escort units are permitted.”
The shakedown under Operation Zero Tolerance occurred as the three state-operated prisons and the three state-owned privately operated prisons remain under a lockdown that began a week ago Friday.
Officials said the lockdown and more shakedowns will continue as the agency investigates information indicating potential security breaches.
“Whether you are staff, an inmate or a vendor," Hall said in the release, "if you are caught with contraband, we are referring your case to district attorneys for prosecution."
by:
date: 2018-05-02
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/picture-gallery/news/2018/05/02/parchman-shakedown-gallery/34488551/
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-05-02
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/05/03/prison-dance-program-dancing-free/564653002/
In the courtyard of the largest women's prison in Italy, inmates gather to perform a flash mob dance in honor of Pope Francis. The women perform their routine to "Pope is Pop" a song about Pope Francis written by Italian composer Igor Nogarotto. Vid Newslook
FLOWOOD — Twenty women crowd into a small room, ready to show off their newly learned dance skills. Some are nervous and giggling while the confident few gravitate to the front of the class. Toward the back of the room, a couple of women stand with their back against a concrete wall, fiddling with their hands and casting glances.
Then the music begins. The women immediately snap to attention. Beyoncé’s "Formation" blares from a CD player precariously placed on a wooden table and the women move as one, their bodies popping in synchronization with the beat.
The lone window AC unit isn’t enough to keep them cool, so they open the door and let the breeze in.
Sweating, some women roll up their white shirtsleeves or their pants legs. Many pull their hair into a messy bun or a ponytail. But they never stop dancing. By the second run through of the song, the women who were lined up against the back wall have moved forward; one has her feet planted firmly while the other has begun shuffling from side to side. Both are moving their hands to the rhythm.
When the instructors leave the class for the day, the women will stay behind. Their white, sweat-drenched shirts are emblazoned with MDOC on the back. Their pants are all the same green and white striped cotton. Each woman in the class is in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The class, Dance to Be Free, is part of a Colorado-based nonprofit that aims to connect incarcerated women with the movement of dance. It's completely free for prisons that choose to participate. A former Jackson native, Tommy Buffaloe has helped fund the organization as it grows.
"I just thought it was a neat idea," Buffaloe said. "Physically and emotionally, it's very helpful to the women in prison. It's noncontroversial and it's relatively cheap to do."
Katherine Shoulders, regional director of programming for Dance to Be Free, said a main goal is to give women an opportunity to momentarily escape from their current constrictions.
"It's much more than a dance class," Shoulders said. "We're trying to allow these women to get in touch with emotions, to feel heard, to have both respect for each other, because they have to work in community to teach the classes, and also to have some self-respect and to realize they are of value."
Founded by Lucy Wallace, Dance to Be Free was in nine prisons across the United States. Tuesday, the Flowood Restitution Center made No. 10.
“They seem pretty confident in themselves,” Wallace said after a class Wednesday afternoon. “It’s just been my hunch that the South is where it’s at for us … it’s more rewarding.”
Wallace has taught the dance class in prisons in Colorado, Arkansas, Hawaii, Nebraska and Washington. The prisons have ranged from maximum to minimum security. Some have an array of support classes for inmates while others barely have outlets to plug in a CD player. During her first foray into Mississippi, Wallace said the women seemed to connect with her and the program more than women in other states.
“Every place is like a different universe,” she said. “There’s a lot of us in a small space but they’re doing so well. It’s the Southern vibe.”
One of the dancers is 48-year-old Alona Jones of Ripley, who is nearing the end of a four-year sentence for residential burglary and grand larceny. Jones, who has been at the Flowood Restitution Center for two years and is scheduled to be released in September, said she instantly took to the class.
In January, Dance to Be Free sent the center a series of DVDs of Wallace teaching step-by-step dance moves. The center then offered it as a 12-week class. Approximately 20 women, including Jones, graduated from the class a few weeks ago.
Jones said she enjoyed dancing next to the woman she’s been watching through a computer screen.
“We are so excited about the lady that’s in the DVDs being here,” she said. “Ms. Lucy, she’s great.”
The class, she said, gives the women an opportunity to "come together and not worry about what happens inside or outside of these walls and just turn it up."
Jones said the center would offer a Zumba class once a year but the women have never had the opportunity to take a scheduled dance class on a regular basis. Wallace will be with the women until Friday but, while she’s here, she’s training women who want to be class instructors after she leaves. Dance to Be Free will continue sending the center updated materials so the women have new dances to learn.
Jones doesn’t know if she’ll teach at the center but likes the idea of dancing once she’s released. It’s been a release both mentally and emotionally, she said. Her body, however, is still getting used to the idea.
“We’re having an awesome time,” she said. “I’m 48 years old, I’m a little sore. I almost couldn’t get out of bed this morning.”
Amanda Baugh, 35, of Biloxi has never danced formally a day in her life. A former softball player who describes herself as a "ball of energy," Baugh is used to being outside playing sports. Now, though, she's anxious to show off her new moves to her 13-year-old daughter at home.
"She's going to be thrilled that I can come home and we can do this together," Baugh said. "It's something different for us to cherish and grab a hold to."
Throughout the class, women were smiling and laughing and encouraging each other. If one knew a move better than the rest, the women would encourage her to move to the front and teach them.
While they were serious students during the class, Flowood Restitution Center Chaplain Gwen McClinton said she sees a lightness in the women that she hasn't seen before.
"It seems like the name of it, they get free from all of the stress they've been through," McClinton said. "When they start dancing, they're in another world. I can see the joy."
Baugh, who is serving time for commercial burglary, said she doesn't shy away from her conviction. But she's looking forward to the life she'll have once she's released. Two days worth of dance classes opened up emotions in her she didn't know she was still hanging onto.
"I dwell on things when I'm not motivated," she said. "When you're in this type of environment, you have to be positive, you have to get in that mind frame. It's so hard to not think about the negative and what I've been through. But dancing, I can be myself without any judgment. In here, you're labeled as an inmate instead of a human. I know these stripes don't define who I am."
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-05-02
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/05/03/less-than-third-passed-latest-bar-exam-become-licensed-mississippi-attorney/563385002/
The passing rate for the bar exam to become a licensed attorney in Mississippi continues a downward spiral.
The most recent exam preliminary results, from February, show 28 of the 90 applicants, or less than a third, passed the exam. In February 2017, of the 87 individuals who took the exam, 27 passed, based on an examination of bar results released by the Administrative Office of Courts.
The February 2017 results were later revised to show 36 of 88 passed.
Mississippi Supreme Court spokeswoman Beverly Kraft said applicants can ask to have their tests regraded, which could alter preliminary results.
The bar exam is given in February and July of each year. The fee is $850 to take the exam.
Over the last several years, the passage rate in the state has dropped from a high of about 75 percent.
The Mississippi Supreme Court annual report for 2017 said 262 people took the bar exam overall in 2017 during the February and July exams. The pass rate was 52.2 percent, down from the previous year when 68.8 percent passed. In 2015, 75.1 percent passed.
No one purports to know for sure why the passing rate is declining, but some have suggested it may be that law schools are accepting less qualified students.
Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency, said a 2015 investigation by the national organization found that law schools were accepting more students with lower incoming credentials than ever before.
A Cleveland woman filed a complaint in Hinds County Chancery Court over her failed 2015 bar examination. Zundria Crawford wanted permission to sue the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions, but the judge denied her petition. Crawford has filed an appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Mississippi College School of Law Dean Patricia Bennett has said there is no explanation for the decline that is unique to Mississippi.
February bar exam results in Alabama show 101 of the 311 people taking the exam passed, a 32.5 percent rate. In Louisiana, 151 of the 247 applicants who took that state's bar exam passed, a 61 percent rate.
According to the Supreme Court of Tennessee Blog, one law school's scores primarily brought down the passage rate for the whole state. Of the 281 prospective lawyers who took the exam in February, the total passage rate was 35 percent. Vanderbilt Law School had a 100 percent rate and the University of Memphis School of Law had a 58 percent rate. But Nashville School of Law posted an overall passage rate of 13 percent.
Bennett said the bar passage rates of both Mississippi law schools — MC and the University of Mississippi — have remained competitive, but can always improve.
University of Mississippi School of Law Dean Susan Duncan said 73.4 percent of Ole Miss' first-time exam takers passed the February exam. She said students retaking the bar exam tend to have the highest failure rate.
Overall, about 64 percent of Ole Miss law school graduates passed the February bar exam, Duncan said.
Duncan said there is such a smaller number taking the February exam than the July exam so it's difficult to get a clear picture based on the February results.
"Our standards haven't gone down," Duncan said.
But the overall declining passing rate for the bar exam isn't being overlooked, and school officials have instituted some required bar review courses to help students be more prepared for the exam.
Mississippi Bar exam pass rate:
Source: Mississippi Supreme Court annual report
by: Sarah Mearhoff
date: 2018-04-27
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/28/mississippi-sued-restricting-prisoners-access-books/561208002/
"Pretty much all of Jackson, Mississippi is incarcerated," says Tracey Chandler who gathered with other supporters to protest unfair laws, corruption and the poor treatment of prisoners on Thursday. Hear them explain why you should care. C. Todd Sherman/The Clarion-Ledger
JACKSON — A southern Mississippi prison and the Mississippi Department of Corrections are being sued for restricting inmates' access to free books.
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the Mississippi Center for Justice and law firm DLA Piper argues that a policy change at South Mississippi Correctional Facility violates the First Amendment by only allowing inmates to receive religious books for free.
Big House Books, which is a nonprofit, mails books and educational materials - like fiction and nonfiction books, puzzle books, GED manuals and religious texts - directly to Mississippi inmates, usually for no cost. But beginning last May, the prison in Leakesville began mailing the books back. The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman began doing the same.
When questioned, both facilities said only religious books could be mailed for free to inmates. They said all other books could be donated to the prison library or purchased by inmates.
It is unclear what prompted the change.
Many of Big House Books' materials are donated, so they are able to send books at no cost to inmates. Inmates can write to Big House Books to request specific books or types of books.
While Big House Books continues its work with other prisons in the state, they have been unable to mail nonreligious books to South Mississippi and Parchman inmates since the new policies took effect.
Mississippi Center for Justice Advocacy Director Beth Orlansky told The Associated Press that the center is suing just South Mississippi, not Parchman. She said she hopes the litigation will encourage change in both facilities, though.
In the center's Thursday news release, Orlansky said while religious books are important inside prisons, so are secular books.
"With this lawsuit, we seek simply to restore the prior practice at the prison so that prisoners can receive books in the mail whether paid or free, whether religious or secular," Orlansky said.
South Mississippi inmates Charles Owens and Jess Green joined Big House Books in the suit, claiming they have been blocked from receiving free books because of the prison's new policy. The Mississippi Department of Corrections, Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall, South Mississippi Correctional Facility and South Mississippi Superintendent Jacquelyn Banks are all defendants.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the department does not comment on active litigation.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-04-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/30/mississippi-girl-earns-full-ride-scholarship-harvard-university/564543002/
Mississippi high school senior Shakira Hall has a long list of accomplishments. She can add to them an acceptance letter and a full ride Bill Gates Scholarship to Harvard University.
The Jefferson Davis County High School student has never made less than an A and scored 32 out of 36 on her ACT test.
"Honestly, I wasn't even going to apply to Harvard, because I didn't think I could get in," Hall said.
"Finally, the day before the deadline, the Harvard application was due, I just said why not."
Hall traveled over 1,400 miles from her home in Bassfield to commit to Harvard University.
"It's not the norm that you find someone in Mississippi going to get an Ivy League education, especially being from the area I'm in," Hall said.
"Don't let your area define who you are," Hall said. "Just because I'm from a small town, it didn't define me. You just have to become your own person. If you have a goal and you want to achieve it, just stay focused on that goal. Keep praying, stay faithful, adjust realize what you want to do."
"If the elevator to success doesn't work, you have to take the stairs," Hall said. "There's no easy way to anything. Sometimes, you have to do extra to get to where you are trying to get in life."
"You have to be so motivated that you don't want to tell people what you're thinking about, because you know they'll say you cant do it." Hall said. "It's so huge, and they might be terrified by what you are trying to achieve."
Hall will be Valedictorian at Jeff Davis County High. She plans to study abroad and major in government and minor in Spanish. Hall hopes to make an impact in Mississippi,, WDAM reported.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-04-29
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/30/prison-book-ban-leads-federal-lawsuit/564682002/
After months of unsuccessfully attempting to send books to people in Mississippi prisons, the Mississippi Center for Justice has filed suit in federal court against the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Big House Books, a Mississippi-based nonprofit that sends free books to the incarcerated, and Charles Owens and Jess Green, two men serving time at the South Mississippi Correctional Institute, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
The lawsuit alleges the prison only allows inmates to receive books if they "have been purchased or if the books are religious," excluding "novels, history books, GED preparation handbooks or any other secular books."
By doing so, MDOC is violating the "First and Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution," the lawsuit claims.
"Religious books certainly are important inside a prison, but so are secular books," Beth Orlansky, MCJ advocacy director, said in a release. "With this lawsuit, we seek simply to restore the prior practice at the prison so that prisoners can receive books in the mail whether paid or free, whether religious or secular."
The prison began returning packages of books sent to individual inmates by Big House Books in 2017. Prison officials reportedly told Big House Books they could send religious books instead.
The Clarion Ledger reported on the issue in December 2017. MDOC spokeswoman Grace Fisher said then that prisons preferred if Big House Books sent books to the facility instead of individual inmates. Inmates could then check the books out from the library.
Fisher was not immediately available for comment Monday.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/23/sheriffs-complain-reducing-number-state-inmates-county-regional-jails/542118002/
Sheriffs in counties with regional jails say they will have a hard time keeping the lights on in the future in the facilities they borrowed millions of dollars to build at the state's request.
Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall speaking before sheriffs and others about MDOC reducing inmate population in county regional jails. Jimmie E. Gates
Sheriffs came to the state Capitol on Monday for a hearing to voice concerns about regional jails losing inmates and money.
Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall has informed sheriffs in counties served by the 15 regional jails that MDOC will reduce state inmates down to the original contractual number for each jail. That figure is 80 percent of the maximum number of inmates for each of the jails. Most of the jails have maximum capacity from 250 to 400.
During the hearing, Hall laid the blame for having to reduce inmate levels at regional jails on the Legislature's decision to not fully wipe out the Mississippi Department of Corrections' overall deficit of $19.3 million.
Lawmakers didn't provide money to cover a $3.6 million deficit for regional jails, but provided more than $7 million in deficit appropriations for private prisons, leading some to question whether the state was putting private prisons ahead of counties.
"Why is the state willing to pay a private company more to house their inmates than they pay their own county regional jails for the same custody level inmates?" asked Ed Hargett of the recently formed Mississippi Association of Regional Jails.
Chickasaw County Sheriff James Meyers said the state approached the county about building its regional jail and the county issued $11.1 million in bonds to finance the construction.
With the plan to reduce inmates at regional jails and other expenses, Meyers said the regional jail is losing money.
Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner said the maximum amount the state allows is $29.74 per inmate per day for regional jails to house state inmates. MDOC pays an additional $20 per inmate per day for inmates above the contract amount.
However, with the state's plan to reduce inmates down to contract amount, the counties will lose that additional revenue.
Waggoner said they can survive on $29.74 if they have enough inmates, but he said if they don't, the jail may not be open in five years.
Hall said the cost at the private prisons is $41.74 per inmate per day.
The state contracts with Utah-based Management and Training Corp. to run at least three private prisons.
According to MDOC's inmate statistics for April, there are about 3,167 inmates in private prisons and about 4,186 in the 15 regional jails.
Hall said the issue is that regional jails mostly housed minimum to medium security inmates, but the private prisons are where more more violent offenders are incarcerated and some at East Mississippi Correctional Facility have severe mental problems.
The department has been housing additional inmates at the regionals because of the closure of some the state-owned South Mississippi Correctional Institution units resulting from lack of staffing and officer safety concerns.
Holmes County Sheriff Willie March said MDOC plans to reopen 400 beds at SMCI. Inmates from regional jails will be used to fill the spaces, he said.
Hall said MDOC will use existing staff for security, but won't have additional staff for other programs.
MDOC also plans to reopen the once privately run Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood as a state-owned facility.
Hall said the Delta prison is housing offenders not classified for regionals, and MDOC is operating the Delta facility, not a private contractor.
She said funds to operate the prison will come from the consolidation of four facilities.
Hall said the state built too many prisons and at one point was over incarcerating people, but that trend has turned.
House Corrections Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, said the meeting was productive, but it's not much that can be done at this point. He said the discussion needs to resume in December for the upcoming 2019 Legislature that begins in January.
But some other lawmakers urged sheriffs to communicate with Gov. Phil Bryant to ask if he calls a special session to include deficit funding for regional jails.
by: Michelle J. Millben
date: 2018-04-21
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/22/amy-wax-said-black-students-cant-excel-law-school-bless-her-heart-we-can-and-do/538009002/
(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)
Professor Amy Wax was removed from teaching first-year courses at the University of Pennsylvania law school after she made disrespectful comments about the academic performance of black students.
Specifically, without providing any data, she said last fall that she had not seen a black student graduate at the top quarter or top half of his or her class at the law school. She went on to suggest that some black students should not attend college. In short, she promoted the concept of black academic inferiority, and without any substantiation.
I would not argue that Wax is a racist or that her conservative and mildly archaic views (go ahead and Google for nighttime reading, as they are many) should be dragged through the mud in the public square of ideas. I will say that many students of color across the country, including myself, can identify with this terrible example of racial stigmatization.
When I was in college, I arranged a meeting with a very misguided lawyer in academia, who boldly attempted to set me on a different career path because she believed the color of my skin would have a significant impact on my ability to succeed in law school.
I remember that discouraging meeting like it was yesterday, unfortunately. I was completing my junior year of college in my home state of Oklahoma. Because I believed a legal education would propel me into a career of public service, I excitedly set up a meeting with this lawyer to discuss my interest in attending law school.
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Now this lawyer … bless her heart. (That’s what people in the South and Midwest say when they want to insult someone and not feel bad about it.)
I headed to the meeting wearing my heart on my sleeve and my goal of a future career defined by service close in my heart. The meeting began pleasantly, as the lawyer shared her professional journey and career accomplishments. I was impressed and a bit intimidated.
Eventually, we started talking about how best to approach preparing for the LSAT and applying to law school. Then, abruptly, things took a very negative and dark turn.
All of the sudden, our discussion wasn’t about sound advice and tips for applying to and succeeding in law school. Instead, this lawyer noted the color of my skin, made assumptions about who I was, and offered negative statistics — without providing citations — about black student performance to suggest I would not do well on the LSAT exam and I would likely struggle with admission to law school.
Bless her heart.
Now for the record, I graduated from college with honors — cum laude to be exact — and I made the Dean’s List and the President’s Honor Roll. Yet this lawyer, bless her heart, tore apart my aspirations because she believed the color of my skin would have a significant impact on my ability to succeed.
That meeting defeated me. It broke my heart. And her words had me thinking, “Well, maybe I’m not good enough. And maybe I’m not cut out for a legal career in public service.”
After about a week (or two) of sulking, I found the courage to throw away her negative comments. I was reminded that the only way I was going to better the world was by being the best version of who I believed I was created to be. Thus, this became my new mantra: “Be good at what you’re good at — YOU!”
If you feel like you were meant to be a scientist, be a scientist! If you believe in your heart that you were destined to be an artist or musician, then be one! We need scientists, artists and musicians. We need you techies and engineers. We need you experts on politics, business and economics. We need you poets! We need you medical professionals and legal minds and we need leaders in criminal justice and religion! We need you craftsmen and women and tradeswomen and men. We need you makers!
We need all of your collective talent to be authentically serving this world. If you self-limit because of someone’s beliefs or thoughts about you, you may never do that one thing; you may never answer the call to service; you may never fix a problem you were tailor-made to solve!
Because I acknowledged my truth and owned up to the goals that were in my heart, I did not listen to that lawyer’s advice and I ignored her critical comments about my race. If I had allowed her comments to influence me — and had I chosen not to pursue a legal education — I would have missed the amazing opportunities I had to serve my country in Congress, the Justice Department and Barack Obama's White House.
That very misguided lawyer, bless her heart, taught me to hold fast to every dream and to strive to live out the most authentic version of who I was created to be. Because we are limited only by the size of our dreams and our desire to achieve them, not by uncited statistics and unverified data.
As for Professor Wax, well, bless her heart, too.
Michelle J. Millben, a former Justice Department and Capitol Hill aide, was special assistant to the president in the Obama administration, advising the White House on congressional matters.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-04-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/27/man-gets-prison-mississippi-violating-immigration-law-multiple-times/559291002/
Efrain Garcia Monterroso was caught among 15 other people crammed into two Honda Pilots passing through the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Monterroso was bound for Florida where he worked shoveling horse manure.
This week in Gulfport a judge sentenced him to a year in prison because this was his fourth time entering the United States illegally, the Sun Herald reported.
Public defender John Weber argued that 49-year-old Guatemalan man should be sentenced to time served — 86 days. Federal sentencing guidelines called for zero to six months because Monterroso does not have a criminal record. Weber said Monterroso has been traveling to the U.S. for 28 years to work and feed his family.
More: Mississippi deputy fired, caught on video shoving inmate
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris asked for a harsher sentence because of Monterroso's repeated violations. He asked that U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden sentence Monterroso to two years behind bars.
"This is a serious offense," Ozerden said. "The sentence needs to reflect that." He pointed out that Monterroso illegally entered the country in 2008, 2014 and 2015.
U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped the Hondas in January on Interstate 10 in Hancock County. The occupants were from Guatemala and Mexico, according to a criminal complaint.
Outside the courtroom, Weber said Monterroso's family had scraped together $11,000 so that he could work around racehorses in Florida.
The drivers, Kenneth Samuel Hernandez-Valdez and Ever Anibal Silva-Escobar, have entered guilty pleas and are set to be sentenced on July 17.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-04-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/27/mississippi-deputy-fired-caught-video-shoving-inmate/559550002/
GULFPORT, Miss. — A Mississippi deputy who was caught on video shoving an inmate in a transportation van has been fired.
Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson announced the results of an internal investigation Thursday. He declined to identify the deputy or inmate involved.
The sheriff tells news outlets that the bystander's video shows deputies transferring a disorderly inmate from one van to another. Peterson says the deputy was "required" to use force after the inmate began to argue.
Peachrich Pouerie McLemore says she told her son to record the use of force on Monday when she saw a deputy slam a shackled inmate's head into the van.
The deputy has 10 days to appeal.
by: USA Today
date: 2018-04-24
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/04/25/listen-emmanuel-macron-keep-iran-nuclear-deal/549689002/
502 Bad Gateway
nginx/1.11.3
President Donald Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France have toasted to continued warm relations between their countries. (April 24) AP
Whether it's pulling out of the Paris climate accord or rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, President Trump has made his share of foreign policy mistakes.
But nothing, so far, would match the blunder of a decision to jettison the agreement that prevents Iran, one of the world's most threatening regimes, from developing the world's most terrifying weapons.
French President Emmanuel Macron plans to use his three-day state visit to Washington this week to try to salvage the deal, signed in 2015 by China, the European Union, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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Among the reasons it would be wrong to abandon the agreement:
► Iran is complying, according to 11 consecutive inspection findings. A Trump decision to decertify, expected on or before May 12, would clear a path for Iranian hard-liners to revive the shelved nuclear program. A Middle East nuclear arms race could ensue, along with the threat of military conflict.
► Renewed economic sanctions would let Iranian leaders who've mismanaged their economy, triggering street demonstrations and plunging the currency, to again shift blame to a newly demonized America.
► The Iran agreement is based on a simple trade-off — the lifting of harsh economic sanctions in return for denuclearization. Trump and Kim Jong Un are expected to meet soon to discuss a similar deal involving North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But why would Kim strike an agreement with someone who so cavalierly breaks America's word?
Until now, Trump's aides have managed to restrain his desire to upend the Iran agreement negotiated by his predecessor. But the moderating voices of former national security adviser H.R. McMaster and former secretary of State Rex Tillerson are gone, replaced by the more hawkish John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, the CIA director nominated to replace Tillerson.
There's certainly plenty to criticize about the Iran deal. It freed up billions of dollars for Tehran to invest in regional trouble-making: interfering in Iraq, fomenting extremism in Yemen, sending troops and material to bolster a Syrian dictator, menacing Israel, and expanding a long-range missile program. And many, though not all, of the Iran deal's prohibitions expire in dates stretching from 2025 to 2030.
But the parties have years to revisit those sunsets. In the meantime, the Iran deal provides the most intrusive inspections employed against a country that wasn't defeated by war. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors go anywhere they need.
As long as they do, the world is a safer place.
— USA Today
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/27/could-immigration-ruling-do-away-life-sentences-some-mississippi-offenders/551236002/
President Trump’s pick for Supreme Court Justice, Neil Gorsuch just sided with liberals in a case involving immigration. Buzz60
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week in an immigration case could potentially impact Mississippi’s habitual offender law.
The nation’s high court declared a California law unconstitutionally vague as to what constitutes a crime of violence. The U.S. Department of Justice was attempting to use the law to deport a legal immigrant to his native Philippines.
The U.S. Supreme Court opinion was James Dimaya was a lawful permanent resident of the United States with two convictions for first-degree burglary under California law. After his second offense, the government sought to deport him as an aggravated felon. An immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals held that first-degree burglary is a crime of violence in California. The board reasoned the offense carries a substantial risk of the use of force.
Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority opinion, said a previous decision gave the court the direction to declare the law unconstitutionally vague.
Kagan said in the opinion that, as with a previous case, the California law clause had both an ordinary-case requirement and an ill-defined risk threshold, leading to guesswork and intuition. It invited arbitrary enforcement and failed to provide fair notice.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined in the opinion, said before holding a lawful permanent resident like Dimaya subject to removal for having committed a crime, the Immigration and Nationality Act requires a judge to determine that the ordinary case of the crime of conviction involves a substantial risk that physical force may be used.
“But what does that mean? Just take the crime at issue in this case, California burglary, which applies to everyone from armed home intruders to door-to-door salesmen peddling shady products,” Gorsuch said. “How, on that vast spectrum, is anyone supposed to locate the ordinary case and say whether it includes a substantial risk of physical force? The truth is, no one knows.”
The Supreme Court held that the term “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague and violates the due process cause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Some believe the court’s ruling could impact Mississippi’s habitual offender’s law that uses a crime of violence to sentence a person to life in prison after two prior felonies.
In one such case, Patricia Ann Brown was sentenced to life imprisonment after she was convicted for possession of less than two grams of cocaine.
Patricia Brown was sentenced to life in prison as a habitual offender.
Brown was convicted in 1988 of armed robbery. At the time, the Mississippi statutes did not define the term “crime of violence,” but provided for mandatory life imprisonment for any person who had a total of three convictions, one of which was for a “crime of violence,” said her attorney, Jim Waide of Tupelo, who is trying to get Brown's life sentence overturned.
When sentencing Brown on the armed robbery case in 1988, then-Circuit Judge Frank Russell found the enhanced portion of the statute did not apply to Brown because she wasn't in possession of the gun and was not even at the scene of the armed robbery, but was convicted as an accessory.
However, more than a decade later in 2009, a different judge sentenced Brown on the cocaine charge as a habitual offender, citing her conviction to accessory to armed robbery as a crime of violence, and gave her life imprisonment.
Waide believes the significance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling is that many persons in Mississippi sentenced to life in prison as habitual offenders prior to the state clarifying in a new law in 2014 what constitutes a crime of violence could be serving illegal sentences.
In another Mississippi case, Charlie Blount of Jackson, also known as Charlie Blunt, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for stealing a pickup.
Also, Johnny Coleman of Rankin County was sentenced to life without parole for being a peeping Tom.
Some prosecutors argue that many habitual offenders have received numerous breaks for criminal activity by the time they are sentenced.
The prosecutors believe the best thing is to try to prevent individuals from becoming repeat offenders.
Others argue a person's sentence should reflect the crime, and it makes no sense for an individual to be serving a life sentence on a cocaine possession of less than two grams or for stealing a pickup.
Last week, Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall said Mississippi built too many jails and prisons and sentenced too many people to prison.
She said the trend is now changing and the effort is to keep violent offenders in prison while seeking alternatives to prison for offenders not convicted of violent offenses.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/23/another-alleged-victim-describes-encounter-date-rape-mcgee/532777002/
A rape kit — also called a sexual assault evidence collection kit — is a package of items used by medical professions in gathering and preserving physical evidence following an allegation of sexual assault. Kathy A. Bolten/The Register
The deceptive thing about many rape survivors is their scars usually don't show.
On her Facebook page, the 19-year-old from Brandon is smiling, beautiful, active. But she sometimes fights dissociation and other emotions over what she says is a rape she's kept secret for four years.
After seeing coverage in mid-April of an Ole Miss student allegedly raped by another Ole Miss student, Dustin McGee, 20, her high school classmate, the woman decided she needed to tell her story that she says involved the same man.
The Clarion Ledger does not identify by name victims or alleged victims of sexual assault.
McGee, according to police and multiple other sources, was known to some from his high school as "Date Rape McGee." The woman from Brandon said she was there when McGee first got that nickname.
"I know where that name came from. One of my friends was where that came from," she said.
She said McGee, who is from Rankin County, had tried to block her friend in as she was leaving a party. There were several witnesses to the incident, and while nothing sexual happened, she said, it freaked her friend out, prompting her friend to coin the nickname.
After issuing a news release about the Ole Miss student's allegation of an April 9 rape, along with McGee's mugshot, Oxford police confirm others have reached out with information on past encounters with the suspect.
Both the woman who created the nickname and the woman from Brandon have spoken with Oxford police. Authorities confirmed the woman from Brandon has filed a report with Brandon police as well.
"We don't have any additional charges yet, but we have talked to some ladies who have come forward," Oxford Police Department Lt. Jeff McCutchen said.
There are multiple victims that she knows of, the Brandon woman said. She wants them to know there is hope, and that telling your story can help keep others from being victimized.
The Brandon woman said she had known McGee in high school and had considered him a friend. He was a year older than her, and they had shared a class.
"Dustin had a reputation for being really aggressive with girls," she said.
One day when she was 15 years old, he offered her a ride home from school, she said, and the situation got out of control.
"Basically he told me I wouldn’t be able to go all the way home until I gave him what he wanted," she said. "It came down to me being forced. I didn't want to do it."
While it wasn't violent, she said she felt like it would have been if she had put up much more of a fight. She was confused and ashamed, she said. She immediately started to distance herself from McGee, and she didn't tell anyone what had happened. At 15, she didn't know really how to deal with it.
As more women started to share their stories of various assaults in the media, the woman from Brandon said she began to consider telling hers. It wasn't until she read the account given to the Clarion Ledger by the mother of the alleged victim in Oxford, however, that she decided to come forward.
The mother said her daughter had been kidnapped, beaten, bitten and raped. The mother also asked that other women who may have had encounters with the suspect come forward.
"When I saw how brutally he allegedly hurt her, I was like, 'Something needs to be done about that,'" the Brandon woman said.
She said she called a detective in Oxford and was referred to the Brandon Police Department. Then, she decided it was time to tell those closest to her.
"After I talked to Oxford, I told my mom because I could see me becoming more involved than I had initially planned to be," the woman from Brandon said. "I just wanted to come forward because there are other girls who I've spoken to that aren’t willing to come forward because of fear. I just wanted to be someone to stand up for the girls who were afraid."
Original story: Bond in rape case set; mother of alleged victim describes ordeal
The mother of the alleged victim in Oxford said her daughter was leaving a party at the same time as McGee when he offered to share an Uber ride. She was acquainted with McGee, but they were not on a date. The mother said her daughter indicated at that time she had no reason to fear for her safety.
The mother said her daughter was taken to the suspect's home where he assaulted and beat her for around an hour until he passed out. Medical reports given to the Clarion Ledger by the woman's mother show she had bruises and hematomas on her neck, breasts, abdomen, genitals, legs and knees. She had been bitten on her left breast.
On April 10, Justice Court Judge Carolyn Bell set bond at $20,000 for McGee, who is facing kidnapping and rape charges. The alleged victim's mother, along with many others who joined the outcry on social media, says that's unacceptable.
Unless something unexpected develops, McCutchen said the case should go to the grand jury in May and hopefully authorities will know the outcome by June.
But for victims of any sexual predator, reports like these resonate in everyday life all the time.
"I backed out of trying to have relationships with boys," the Brandon accuser. "I've had a few relationships since, but I can tell when I get uncomfortable and I start to pull away."
The woman from Brandon she said she hopes others who have information pertinent to the suspect will continue to come forward. While the concern of backlash exists, she said she's willing to tell her story for the sake of the others who don't feel they're able to yet.
"I'm not scared," she said.
Anyone with any further information on McGee is asked to call the Oxford Police Department at 662-232-2400 or contact your local law enforcement.
by: Kim Chandler
date: 2018-04-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/23/new-lynching-memorial-evokes-terror-victims/542526002/
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Visitors to the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice first glimpse them, eerily, in the distance: Brown rectangular slabs, 800 in all, inscribed with the names of more than 4,000 souls who lost their lives in lynchings between 1877 and 1950.
Each pillar is 6 feet (2 meters) tall, the height of a person, and made of steel that weathers to different shades of brown. Viewers enter at eye level with the monuments, allowing a view of victims' names and the date and place of their slaying.
As visitors descend downward on a slanted wooden plank floor, the slabs seemingly rise above them, suspended in the air in long corridors, evoking the image of rows of hanging brown bodies.
The memorial and an accompanying museum that open this week in Montgomery are a project of the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative, a legal advocacy group in Montgomery. The organization says the two sites will be the nation's first "comprehensive memorial dedicated to racial terror lynchings of African Americans and the legacy of slavery and racial inequality in America."
There is one column for each of the 800 U.S. counties where researchers uncovered lynchings. Most of the roughly 4,400 killings happened in the South, but states coast-to-coast are represented.
Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, said he wanted to create a space for people to confront and "deal honestly with this history," just as South Africa has sites about apartheid and Germany memorializes victims of the Holocaust.
"We don't have many places in America where we have urged people to look at the history of racial inequality, to look at the history of slavery, of lynching, of segregation," said Stevenson, who is black.
"For me, this was a response to the silence I have seen throughout my life. We've got 59 markers and monuments to the Confederacy in Montgomery. We have a lot of people who spend a lot of time talking about mid-19th century history, but they don't ever talk about slavery."
The memorial opens the same week that Alabama marks Confederate Memorial Day, an official state holiday in which state offices will close.
The first installation visitors see up close comprises statues of six slaves with chains around their necks, lash marks on their backs. A mother, face twisted in horror, cradles an infant in one arm and stretches out her other hand reaching for something, or someone, outside her grasp.
Beyond the sculptures are monuments to those who lost their lives to "racial terror" lynchings after the Civil War. A section of epitaphs gives the brief story behind some the names:
Some descendants of victims say they hope to make the trip to Alabama to see the memorial.
Caldwell Washington, 23, was found hanging from a tree in 1933 in what authorities in Taylor, Texas, first called a suicide. But family members and supporters say the finding overlooked a key fact: his hands were tied behind his back.
Washington's granddaughter, Johnnye Patterson, said the family was gratified to learn that Washington's name is included on the memorial as a lynching victim. That's particularly true for Patterson's mother, Johnnye Mae Washington Patterson, who was Washington's daughter and has lived with a lifetime of pain.
"They didn't ever believe he committed suicide. It didn't make sense that you find someone hanging in a tree with his hands tied behind him," Johnnye Patterson said.
The museum accompanying the memorial is called Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. It is located on the site of a former slave depot in downtown Montgomery, and seeks to explore slavery's legacy.
"You are standing on a site where people were warehoused," announces a statement written on the first wall visitors see as they enter.
Down a dark hallway, images of talking slaves are projected on walls behind cell bars. The first is of a woman who is pleading for the children who were taken away from her.
The museum explores the eras of enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow and modern criminal justice issues that are the focus of the Equal Justice Initiative's legal work. Several of the organization's clients are featured, including Ray Hinton, a man whose conviction was overturned after 30 years on Alabama's death row.
Stevenson, who works with death row inmates, has had judges presume he is a defendant when he sits at the defense table. He doesn't believe that slavery disappeared but "evolved." He said what he means by that is the myth of white supremacy that was created to justify slavery didn't disappear in 1865.
To understand the issues of today, he said, people have to confront and understand the past.
"This is a long-festering, long-simmering malady that is not going to go away on its own. We are going to have to treat it. I believe truth-telling and a way to confront this history is the way that treatment has to begin," Stevenson said.
AP writer Jay Reeves in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/23/sheriffs-complain-reducing-number-state-inmates-county-regional-jails/542118002/
Sheriffs in counties with regional jails say they will have a hard time keeping the lights on in the future in the facilities they borrowed millions of dollars to build at the state's request.
Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall speaking before sheriffs and others about MDOC reducing inmate population in county regional jails. Jimmie E. Gates
Sheriffs came to the state Capitol on Monday for a hearing to voice concerns about regional jails losing inmates and money.
Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall has informed sheriffs in counties served by the 15 regional jails that MDOC will reduce state inmates down to the original contractual number for each jail. That figure is 80 percent of the maximum number of inmates for each of the jails. Most of the jails have maximum capacity from 250 to 400.
During the hearing, Hall laid the blame for having to reduce inmate levels at regional jails on the Legislature's decision to not fully wipe out the Mississippi Department of Corrections' overall deficit of $19.3 million.
Lawmakers didn't provide money to cover a $3.6 million deficit for regional jails, but provided more than $7 million in deficit appropriations for private prisons, leading some to question whether the state was putting private prisons ahead of counties.
"Why is the state willing to pay a private company more to house their inmates than they pay their own county regional jails for the same custody level inmates?" asked Ed Hargett of the recently formed Mississippi Association of Regional Jails.
Chickasaw County Sheriff James Meyers said the state approached the county about building its regional jail and the county issued $11.1 million in bonds to finance the construction.
With the plan to reduce inmates at regional jails and other expenses, Meyers said the regional jail is losing money.
Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner said the maximum amount the state allows is $29.74 per inmate per day for regional jails to house state inmates. MDOC pays an additional $20 per inmate per day for inmates above the contract amount.
However, with the state's plan to reduce inmates down to contract amount, the counties will lose that additional revenue.
Waggoner said they can survive on $29.74 if they have enough inmates, but he said if they don't, the jail may not be open in five years.
Hall said the cost at the private prisons is $41.74 per inmate per day.
The state contracts with Utah-based Management and Training Corp. to run at least three private prisons.
According to MDOC's inmate statistics for April, there are about 3,167 inmates in private prisons and about 4,186 in the 15 regional jails.
Hall said the issue is that regional jails mostly housed minimum to medium security inmates, but the private prisons are where more more violent offenders are incarcerated and some at East Mississippi Correctional Facility have severe mental problems.
The department has been housing additional inmates at the regionals because of the closure of some the state-owned South Mississippi Correctional Institution units resulting from lack of staffing and officer safety concerns.
Holmes County Sheriff Willie March said MDOC plans to reopen 400 beds at SMCI. Inmates from regional jails will be used to fill the spaces, he said.
Hall said MDOC will use existing staff for security, but won't have additional staff for other programs.
MDOC also plans to reopen the once privately run Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood as a state-owned facility.
Hall said the Delta prison is housing offenders not classified for regionals, and MDOC is operating the Delta facility, not a private contractor.
She said funds to operate the prison will come from the consolidation of four facilities.
Hall said the state built too many prisons and at one point was over incarcerating people, but that trend has turned.
House Corrections Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, said the meeting was productive, but it's not much that can be done at this point. He said the discussion needs to resume in December for the upcoming 2019 Legislature that begins in January.
But some other lawmakers urged sheriffs to communicate with Gov. Phil Bryant to ask if he calls a special session to include deficit funding for regional jails.
by: Jeff Amy
date: 2018-04-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/24/stuck-jail-mississippi-defendants-spends-months-behind-bars-awaiting-trial/546841002/
Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer of Noxubee County had the prime of their lives taken from them. Billy Watkins/Clarion Ledger
BRANDON, Miss. — Jerry Sanders has been sitting in a jail cell on a relatively minor charge of methamphetamine possession for more than a year — longer than the sentence he could get if he’s convicted.
And with no money to post bail or hire his own lawyer, he may be sitting there for weeks or months more.
“I miss my children, I miss my woman, I miss my dog, I miss my job, I miss my home – everything,” Sanders, 58, said recently by videoconference from inside the Rankin County jail in Brandon.
Long pretrial detentions are not unheard of elsewhere in the United States. But poverty, scarce resources and a pattern of locking up people for low-level crimes make them particularly prevalent here in the country’s poorest state.
A recent survey of Mississippi jails conducted by the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law — released exclusively to The Associated Press — shows that 2,500 defendants — more than one-third of all of those jailed before trial — have been in jail 90 or more consecutive days. More than 600 have been in jail longer than a year.
The most recent census conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2013, showed an average pretrial jail stay in Mississippi of 40 days, the sixth-longest in the country. The census also revealed that Mississippi had the second-highest number of local jail inmates per capita, behind Louisiana.
In this April 12, 2018, photograph, Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, discusses county jail inmates, in Jackson, Miss. Johnson and law students collected data showing that Mississippi inmates waiting for trial often spend months or even years in local jails. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
Cliff Johnson, who directs the Ole Miss branch of Chicago-based MacArthur, said he hopes the information will show the true extent of long pretrial jail stays in Mississippi and bolster efforts to lessen them. MacArthur has repeatedly sued cities and counties in Mississippi for jailing poor people who can’t afford to pay bail or fines.
Data was nearly impossible to compile until last July, when the state Supreme Court, lobbied by the MacArthur center, ordered sheriff’s offices to provide it.
The numbers reinforce what Johnson says he already knew: “Mississippi’s criminal justice system, for a variety of reasons, is set up so that lengthy pretrial incarceration is not only possible, it’s common.”
Among those reasons:
“They’ve been convicted of nothing,” Johnson said. “They’re presumed innocent, and I think we lose sight of that fact.”
On the same day The Associated Press interviewed him, Mark Chandlee, a part-time public defender in Lauderdale County, was handling an armed-robbery plea in which the defendant had been jailed just a few months shy of two years.
“I don’t really have much standing to get the case rolling until they’re indicted,” Chandlee said.
In January, records show, a Lauderdale County man pleaded guilty to disposing stolen property. His sentence carried no prison time, but he’d already been in jail 310 days.
Such long jail stays pressure people into pleading guilty, public defenders say.
“Spending time in a county jail, it can make guys crack,” said Marvell Gordon, a public defender in Lauderdale and Yazoo counties.
In this April 6, 2018, photograph taken in Magee, Miss., Kathy McGovern says she can't understand why her boyfriend, Jerry Sanders, has been in a local jail in Mississippi for over year on a low-level methamphetamine possession charge. McGovern, a Waffle House waitress, says she can't afford the money to hire a lawyer or the $5,000 that would be needed to cover Sanders' $50,000 bail. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
Too poor to scrape up the $5,000 needed to cover his $50,000 bail, or to hire his own lawyer, Sanders said he’s ready to plead guilty to the felony charge. He knows he’s been jailed so long that he would be immediately eligible for release.
But Sanders’ girlfriend, Kathy McGovern, said she can’t even get the part-time public defender to answer her calls.
“Simple drug charge, why are you holding him for over a year?” she asked.
Lauderdale County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell acknowledges there is a problem and says he has told his assistants “to do everything they can to speed things up.”
Money is also a reason for delays in presenting evidence and conducting autopsies. Crime Lab Director Sam Howell says one of the state’s four labs is six months behind on testing, because of a lack of analysts to verify and weigh illegal drugs. Many autopsies from last year remain incomplete because Mississippi only has two medical examiners, Howell said. After news stories about the delays, lawmakers this spring allotted money to hire four more beginning July 1.
In this April 12, 2018, photograph, Dr. Tom Recore, a forensic psychiatrist with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, discusses efforts to reduce waiting times to evaluate and treat mentally ill inmates in local jails, at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, Miss. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
And inmates who may be mentally ill face truly extraordinary delays, said Dr. Tom Recore, a forensic psychiatrist with the state Department of Mental Health.
“There are 15 beds for 82 counties,” he said. “If that sounds like it’s not a lot, your ears are not deceiving you.”
Recore said 90 to 100 inmates statewide need evaluation at any given time, with most waiting three to four months. The wait time got shorter after more evaluators were hired and counties began using private contractors. But some of the 60 people currently awaiting treatment have been on a list for years, Recore said.
Under a pilot program, mental health professionals are treating inmates directly in two county jails. The state plans to expand the number of beds for prisoners, and lawmakers allotted $1 million to explore a permanent expansion of treatment facilities.
For Sanders, state officials can’t act fast enough.
“I’ve told them I want to plead guilty to my charge,” he said. “I’ve done lost my car, my home, my job, over some nonsense. … I should have been home a long time ago.”
In this April 10, 2018 photograph, a guard dog roams the perimeter of the Rankin County Detention Center in Brandon, Miss. Mississippi inmates waiting for trial often spend months or even years in local jails. A new survey provided exclusively to The Associated Press shows more than one-third of all of those jailed before trial had a stay of more than 90 consecutive days. More than 500 have been in jail longer than a year. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/24/police-brutality-allegation-being-investigated-harrison-county-sheriff/547037002/
Harrison County woman shot video of deputy's treatment of inmate after she said deputy slammed the inmate's head into the van.
The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an incident in which a deputy is accused of slamming an inmate’s head into the back of a van.
Peachrich Pouerie McLemore told WXXV 25 in Gulfport that she was trying to back up and saw a Harrison County transport bus and van.
“We had to stop,” she said. “Two officers came around the van with an inmate in shackles, handcuffs and shackles on his feet.”
After some conversation between that inmate and an officer, she said she saw that officer slam the head of the inmate into the back of the van. “I told my son to start recording” on his cellphone, she said.
The video shows an inmate attempting to slide into the van, and the officer slamming him into the back of that van. The inmate and the officer were the same ones in the head-slamming incident, she said.
When she shared the video with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, she said she was told that the inmate was resisting and that they would look into it.
She said the deputy asked her if she knew who the inmate was, and she said no. Then she said the deputy asked why she shot the video, and she replied, “Because the officer slammed his head into the van.”
When she saw it, she became upset because “it could have been my child,” she said. “Just because you’re an authority, you can’t treat people like that. That is somebody’s child. That is somebody’s brother. Above anything, that’s a human being.”
Society won’t accept people mistreating dogs, and they should feel the same about those behind bars, she said. “That was very wrong. That child could have been very hurt.”
TNathan Lokius Fairley, who manages the Mississippi Rising Coalition, said these kinds of videos “are becoming all too common, and we are still not addressing the issue of police brutality in any meaningful sense."
Sheriff Troy Peterson told the Sun-Herald that his office is now investigating. "Everything is transparent,” he said. “We're going to be swift with this. If (deputies) are found guilty on their actions, then they're going to be held accountable for it.”
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/24/police-men-allegedly-bought-pot-colorado-dispensary-and-brought-mississippi/548585002/
When breaking news happens, we want you to see it first hand. Thank you for trusting the Clarion Ledger. Wochit
A year-long investigation by a Jackson Police Department narcotics detective put two men behind bars on Tuesday night for allegedly transporting illegal drugs around 1,200 miles to Mississippi.
Two unnamed suspects were arrested with what's estimated to be around six pounds of marijuana, $15,000 in cash, and a .40 caliber Glock, police said. They were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, police said.
JPD Detective Tarik Williams, who is also a task force officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said he had received information last year that some people were traveling between Colorado and Mississippi, buying marijuana at dispensaries and then smuggling it into the Magnolia state.
"At first I felt it was hard to believe that they were coming all the way from Colorado and bringing marijuana to Jackson," he said.
At some point during the investigation, one of Williams' sources of information fell through, and the lead appeared to be a dead end for a while. When he was able to come across new information, however, he was back on the scent.
Recently Williams received intelligence from the Hinds County Sheriff's Department that the two men had allegedly made the trip several times this year, he said.
"Resources with JPD are very limited," he said. "So as far as interstate interdiction goes, it's hard, but we have an outstanding relationship with the county."
Working together, JPD and the sheriff's office were able to ascertain when the suspects were back in Mississippi. A deputy spotted the suspects on U.S. 49 and units were able to follow them to Northside Drive where they were finally pulled over for running a traffic light.
"They tried to say they had just come out of Yazoo seeing some female friends," Williams said. "I think they (identified) one of the Hinds County vehicles and that’s what made them run the red light."
The men were acting suspicious, Williams said, as police spoke with them and searched their vehicle. One of them also had outstanding warrants. The suspects have not yet been identified by police.
The investigation into the operation continues.
Marijuana plant (Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-04-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/26/greenville-teacher-fired-after-pregnant-student-files-assault-charge/553707002/
While some school systems have a 'no touch' policy with students, others types of discipline are used in other systems. A search for solutions continues in the wake of last week's confrontation in South Carolina. WXIA
(Photo: DONGSEON_KIM, Getty Images/iStockphoto)
CORRECTION/UPDATE: In a story April 25 about a teacher's firing, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a student had filed an assault charge against a teacher. Police say they have received a report, but the student has not formally filed a charge.
A corrected version of the story is below:
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — An unnamed Mississippi Delta teacher has been fired following a video showing her yelling at a student.
The Greenville Police Department says the student told officers that the teacher assaulted her, but police say the student hasn't formally filed any charge. Under state law, a judge would determine probable cause before a teacher could be prosecuted.
The Delta Democrat-Times reports an April 19 video shows a Greenville High School student and the teacher arguing during class. It's unclear what's going on because the video is blurry, but the teacher uses inappropriate language.
Superintendent Janice Page-Johnson confirms the teacher was fired after an in-house investigation.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/26/corinth-has-settled-federal-lawsuit-accusing-city-running-debtor-prison/553616002/
Corinth has settled a federal lawsuit accusing the city of running a modern-day debtors' prison, which has been outlawed for 200 years.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law filed the lawsuit in December in federal court in Aberdeen.
The lawsuit accused Corinth and Municipal Court Judge John C. Ross of unlawfully jailing poor people for their inability to pay bail and fines.
Ross wouldn't comment about the lawsuit when it was filed. The Clarion Ledger is seeking comment from Ross and the city now that the case has been settled.
A federal judge must approve the settlement before it is finalized.
As part of the agreement, Corinth will ensure that defendants arrested without a warrant see a judge within 48 hours, will stop jailing defendants who cannot afford to pay a fine or money bail, will release most people on their own recognizance following arrest, and will allow defendants who are unable to pay their fine in full to choose between a minimum $25 monthly payment plan and community service.
The municipal court judge will also evaluate a defendant’s financial condition prior to imposing any fines or costs, as required by law.
The court will also appoint a public defender to represent any defendant at a show-cause hearing prior to any contempt finding for failing to appear or pay.
“We are more than pleased with the outcome of this case, and the willingness of defendants to enter into a collaborative process to address these issues rather than resort to further litigation,” Sam Brooke, deputy legal director for the SPLC, said in a statement. “The proposed settlement will ensure that the Corinth Municipal Court stays focused on justice and fairness, and eliminates a two-tiered system of justice that previously punished people simply because they were poor. Now, everyone should be treated fairly.”
The agreement also addresses how the court will handle people who fail to appear for a scheduled court appearance following their arrest and release. The court will reschedule the court date and mail a summons to appear in court upon a first failure to appear rather than issuing an arrest warrant. Corinth has also agreed not to arrest or incarcerate any person with an existing failure-to-pay warrant. Any person stopped with an outstanding failure-to-pay warrant will be given a summons to appear in court.
The city will also provide training to all employees who are involved in implementing the agreement.
“Everyone arrested in Mississippi must be taken before a judge within 48 hours, and, except in very rare cases, the law requires that they be released at that first appearance on conditions that do not include buying their way out of jail by giving money to a bail bondsman,” said Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Ole Miss.
“Many Mississippi judges continue to impose money bail in every criminal case they handle despite the fact that they have been reminded again and again to stop using bail improperly," Johnson said. "Some judges are getting the message, but many are not. Those defiant judges who misuse bail are filling our local jails with poor people and costing local taxpayers a huge amount of money in incarceration expenses.”
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/26/mississippi-regional-jails-no-longer-under-lockdown/542081002/
The nonprofit aimed at giving inmates job skills has lost $3.2 million over the past two years, and a watchdog report pointed to a lack of receipts. Wochit
(Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)
Regional jails in Mississippi's prison system are no longer under lockdown, corrections officials announced Thursday.
But they said movement at the other facilities, including the three state prisons, remains limited.
The statewide lockdown came April 20 after incidents at the Marshall County Correctional Facility. Corrections officials said the lockdown was necessary for security reasons, but gave no further explain.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections posted on its Facebook page: "There will be no visitation, commissary, or outside recreation this weekend at all prisons in the MDOC system. Movement is limited until further notice. The lockdown took effect late this (Friday) afternoon for security reasons."
The lockdown came in the wake of three incidents on April 19 at the Marshall County Correctional Facility, which is managed by the Management Training Corp.
Issa Arnita, spokesman for the company, said that at about 10 a.m. that day, a fight broke out in one of the housing units. Several inmates received minor injuries. One was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital and returned a short time later. Two subsequent and separate fights broke out in other housing units involving several inmates and resulting in minor injuries.
In the wake of that, the facility was placed on lockdown, he said. "The investigation is ongoing."
In 2014, another facility managed by Management Training Corp., Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, saw a riot that resulted in the stabbings of nine inmates.
MTC officials said then they regained control after an hour.
In recent years, families of inmates have voiced complaints about frequent lockdowns at Mississippi prisons as the result of contraband or similar issues. Corrections officials have said such lockdowns are necessary to ensure the safety of inmates and staff.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/20/counties-regional-jails-want-state-end-private-prison-contractsdecry-reduction-state-inmates-their-f/532287002/
Sheriffs and other officials in counties with regional jails say they are losing inmates to private prisons and fear their jails could become bankrupt.
The officials are scheduled to come to the state Capitol on Monday to voice concern about the Mississippi Department of Corrections reducing inmate numbers at regional jails.
"It appears that the only way the regionals can survive long term is that the Legislature stop funding the private company ... and give some priority to their own counties," the county officials said in a statement.
The state contracts with Utah-based Management and Training Corp. to run at least three private prisons.
According to MDOC's inmate statistics for April, there are about 3,167 inmates in private prisons and about 4,186 in the 15 regional jails.
And now, there's fear MDOC will reduce inmate numbers further in regional jails for the upcoming budget year beginning July 1, according to Holmes County Sheriff Willie March, who operates the Holmes Humphreys Regional Correctional Facility.
March and others said they have been told by MDOC that because of underfunding for regional jails in budget appropriations, hundreds of inmates could be removed.
MDOC said it is decreasing the number of inmates at regional facilities to contractual levels because it doesn’t have the money to pay counties more. MDOC plans to reduce numbers to the contractual 200 inmates for each regional jail to deal with budget shortfalls. Some of the jails house more than 300 state inmates.
Letters have been sent to all sheriffs housing inmates above the contractual level to notify them of MDOC‘s decision.
The Legislature did not fund a $3.6 million deficit in the regional program in the current budget year, MDOC said.
“I informed lawmakers in writing and at several committee hearings that the agency needed deficit appropriations for four areas: medical, private prisons, regionals and local confinement combined for a total deficit of nearly $20 million this year,” Corrections Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said in a statement. “We took measures to erase the shortage in local confinement and communicated that. However, budget appropriations addressed deficits in private and medical only."
Senate Corrections Committee Chairman Sampson Jackson, D-DeKalb, said Friday that he will be at the Monday meeting.
Jackson said he has been told by MDOC officials that they aren't moving inmates to private prisons, but rather they are reducing inmate numbers at regional jails.
"I'm not a big fan of private prisons, but we have contracts with them," Jackson said.
March and others say one of the private prison's contracts, for the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville, is up for renewal in June.
Jackson said he wants to hear what the sheriffs and county officials have to say, but he said one thing that has to be kept in mind is just about every state agency has received funding cuts in the last couple years.
Regional jails also saw fewer state inmates four years ago. In 2014, MDOC also moved prisoners from regional jails after sweeping criminal justice reforms took effect.
Back then, Stone County Supervisor Dale Bond said both his county and George County lost 80 inmates each over a two-week period, which resulted in a loss of $72,000 each per month.
"We can't go very long before we're deep in the hole," Bond said.
The department values its relationship with counties, Hall said in her statement, but sees no other option.
The department has been housing additional inmates at the regionals because of the closure of some the state-owned South Mississippi Correctional Institution units resulting from lack of staffing and officer safety concerns.
March said MDOC plans to reopen 400 beds at SMCI. Inmates from regional jails will be used to fill the spaces, he said.
Hall said MDOC will use existing staff for security, but won't have additional staff for other programs.
MDOC also plans to reopen the once privately run Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood as a state-owned facility.
Hall said the Delta prison is housing offenders not classified for regionals, and MDOC is operating the Delta facility, not a private contractor. She said funds to operate the prison will come from the consolidation of four facilities.
"Our regional correctional facility is an efficient and effective cost-saving tool for MDOC," March said in a letter to Hall. "Please give us the financial resources to not only keep our staff and MDOC inmates safe, but give the inmates a better chance to obtain marketable job skills for their transition back into society."
Each regional jail can house a maximum of 250 inmates. Most were built with the promise of state inmates taking up 80 percent capacity and the state paying $20 per day for each inmate. The state increased the per-inmate, per-day rate to $29.74 more than a decade ago and $20 per inmate per day over 200 inmates.
March said regional jails can house prisoners at a significantly less cost than private prisons.
The average daily cost per inmate per day at a state correctional facility prison was $49.74 for fiscal year 2016, according to a report released last year by the state watchdog group PEER Committee. Private prisons contracts require they provide a savings of at least 10 percent below the state cost of housing inmates.
“One sheriff explicitly told MDOC to come get the inmates if the agency could not pay the full per diem of $29.74 for all inmates housed at his facility, “ Hall said, referring to March. “MDOC is now doing that, and the sheriff is now complaining.”
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-19
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/20/all-mississippi-prisons-locked-down-no-reason-given/538165002/
A fight inside a maximum security prison in South Carolina turned ugly, leaving 7 inmates dead and at least 17 others seriously injured. Time
(Photo: Photos by Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal via AP )
All of Mississippi’s prisons have been locked down. Corrections officials say it is related to security, but have given no further explanation.
“The Mississippi Department of Corrections has a statewide lockdown, meaning movement is limited,” department spokeswoman Grace Fisher said Friday. “I can’t say how long it will last or go into detail for security reasons.”
The department later posted on its Facebook page: "There will be no visitation, commissary, or outside recreation this weekend at all prisons in the MDOC system. Movement is limited until further notice. The lockdown took effect late this (Friday) afternoon for security reasons."
The lockdown came in the wake of three incidents last Thursday at the Marshall County Correctional Facility, which is managed by the Management Training Corp.
Issa Arnita, spokesman for the company, said about 10 a.m., a fight broke out in one of the housing units. Several inmates received minor injuries. One was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital and returned a short time later. Two subsequent and separate fights broke out in other housing units involving several inmates and resulting in minor injuries.
In the wake of that, the facility was placed on lockdown, he said. "The investigation is ongoing."
In 2014, another facility managed by Management Training Corporation, Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, saw a riot that resulted in the stabbings of nine inmates.
MTC officials said then they regained control after an hour.
In recent years, families of inmates have voiced complaints about frequent lockdowns at Mississippi prisons as the result of contraband or similar issues. Corrections officials have said such lockdowns are necessary to ensure the safety of inmates and staff.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/16/45-arrested-jackson-anti-gang-operation/520132002/
Many of those arrested in an anti-gang operation in Jackson last week could be prosecuted under Project Eject, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
At a news conference Monday in Jackson, U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst said around 60 members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrested 45 people in the initiative that lasted about a week.
Hurst said Project Eject, which stands for "Empower Jackson Expel Crime Together," is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to tackle violent crime, bringing together federal, state and local law enforcement with community leaders, church leaders, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, businesses, schools and residents.
Authorities have not released the names, individual charges, or mug shots of those arrested, citing ongoing investigations surrounding the operation.
The suspects were picked up on warrants ranging from murder, aggravated assault and gun charges, but the task force also cracked down on noncompliant sex offenders. According to authorities, over 70 percent of those arrested were gang members.
"Ranging from Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Simon City Royals, Latin Kings and Aryan Brotherhood among others," Hurst said. "The marshals secured a number of arrest warrants from various federal, state and local partners. And with that information and intelligence they already had, that's how they decided to go after the worst of the worst in the city of Jackson."
Thirty-one of the 45 suspects were identified as gang members through that intelligence, Hurst said, but some also self-identified or could be identified through tattoos. During the arrests, authorities said a number of firearms were seized and several suspects were found to be in possession of various illegal drugs, including marijuana, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine.
"If we're going to make any headway at breaking these gangs, we have to identify them," Hurst said.
The purpose of taking some of the leadership of the gangs off the street is to throw a wrench in their operation, officials said.
"I think any time you take the leaders, there's going to be a disruption," Hurst said. "I'm not going to tell you we're going to be able to stop the gangs forever, but by taking their drugs, taking their guns, taking their proceeds, their cash, I think it's going to put a serious dent in their operation and stunt their growth."
Original story: US Marshals' anti-gang operation nets dozens of arrests in Jackson
“When law enforcement officers work together, we get results,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a release Monday. “The arrest of more than 30 gang members in Jackson is the result of effective collaboration between all levels of law enforcement — federal, state and local — to target the most violent criminals in our communities.”
Posed with a question about whether the state is seeing a surge in gang population, Hurst seemed to allude to the population having always been here.
"We're seeing a surge in law enforcement to address the gang population in Mississippi. Unfortunately some in our community deny there is a gang issue in the state," Hurst said. "But not only these arrests, but the engagement of various gang members this week show that we have a gang problem, not only in Jackson, but I think we'll start to see this around the state."
Previously some law enforcement and other officials downplayed the gang presence in Jackson. Former Jackson Chief Lee Vance often referred to the neighborhood cliques and hybrid groups as "wannabes."
Chief Inspector Don Snider, who oversees the U.S. Marshals Gang and Organized Crime Enforcement Unit and is based out of Virginia, was in Jackson for part of the operation. He said, as have many other gang experts, that the hybrid and neighborhood gangs are no less dangerous because they're not as well known as some of the street, prison and motorcycle gangs.
"Gangs are very specific to the region they operate within. Jackson seems to have a majority of street and hybrid type gangs," Snider said. "The name recognition is not important to us... We don’t care if you’re from a corner gang or a one block street gang or a hybrid gang that’s a neighborhood clique if you’re out there causing violence and hurting people."
Hurst said the task force was "proactively taking the fight directly to the criminal element."
There will be other announcements soon about the prevention, awareness, and prevention pieces of Project Eject, Hurst said.
Agencies involved in the roundup include:
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-04-15
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/nletter/the-clarion-ledger-now/2018/04/16/cl-now-anti-gang-operation-mde-tests-review-surprise-medical-bills/521602002/
In conjunction with Project Eject, the U.S. Marshals task force arrested 45 people in an anti-gang operation in Jackson the week of April 9, 2018. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger)
Good afternoon. Today is Monday, April 16, and this is your CL NOW! newsletter. Here are some of the top stories of the day at ClarionLedger.com.
45 arrested in Jackson anti-gang operation
60 members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrested 45 people in a gang enforcement operation that lasted about a week in Jackson.
"We've tried to target the most violent street gang members, targeting the trigger pullers and the leadership, and by doing that, we're disrupting the whole organizational structure of the gangs we’re focusing on," Chief Inspector Don Snider said. "Hopefully through the arrests, we’re reducing the violent crimes associated with the gangs and the drug trafficking and the firearms crimes."
MDE to review how much students test
The backlash from parents, educators and lawmakers against high-stakes testing and the time it takes away from other educational instruction has prompted state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright to establish a study group charged with reviewing how much students are tested at the state and district levels.
Wright said Monday that House Education Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, and Senate Education Chairman Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, will serve on the task force, which should start meeting this summer.
Balance billing prohibited
Mississippi does have a law prohibiting "balance billing," which is when a health care provider accepts a patients' insurance assignment, then bills the patient for charges above and beyond what the insurer paid.
This applies in non-emergency scenarios, too.
According to the law, if the provider accepts any insurance payment — even a lower, out-of-network payment — the provider should consider the bill paid in full and may not charge the patient extra.
Often, providers are more likely to take the lower insurer-paid rate than risk billing a patient who can't afford the out-of-network costs.
by: Geoff Pender
date: 2018-04-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/13/mississippi-ethics-commission-response-elected-officials/514412002/
Mississippi's public servants frequently seek advice from the state Ethics Commission.
It's time for another installment of "Is it ethical?" — a peek at the issues gnawing away at Mississippi's public servants as they try to do right by taxpayers, make a buck or two for themselves or their families, and stay out of jail.
I like to occasionally peruse advisory opinions by the state Ethics Commission because they give great insight into the dilemmas government officials and employees face and because I have no social life outside of deer season.
Officials struggling with issues such as giving their no-good brother in law a government job or taking a side job with a company that contracts with their government can, anonymously to the public, seek an ethics opinion. They don't have to follow the advice, but doing so can provide some legal cover if the need arises.
You may recall last year we examined issues including whether it was ethical for a school board member shacking up with a teacher to vote to renew the teacher's contract. It was deemed not ethical — the voting on the license, that is. The commission didn't weigh in on any other extracurricular activities.
We also learned that it's unethical for a city fireman to sell shoes to the city's police department or bid on mowing the grass at city parks.
Here's a sampling of recent questions from public servants and the Ethics Commission's responses.
Side jobs
Apparently, some government officials need another source of income. Why not look to government or the businesses they deal with in government? Here are highlights of ethics advice.
New jobs
When public servants leave public service or are considering doing so, they apparently look to the companies their agencies did business with for a new gig.
There have been numerous recent requests on whether a government employee can leave government and work for a company that contracts with the government. The answer generally appears to be yes, they can, so long as they stay out of work under a current contract or a contract on which they worked when they were in public service.
Wonder who enforces or checks that? Hey, Fred, we're about to talk about that government contract you gave us when you were in office. Could you please leave the room?
For instance:
Gift cards, travel
Some other issues on which the Ethics Commission opined include:
There you have it, another installment of "Is it Ethical?" Remember, politicians, make ethics your watch-word in all that you do.
by: Sarah Mearhoff
date: 2018-04-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/13/policy-bullying-eyed-after-12-year-old-hangs-himself/514814002/
According to a federal study released on Tuesday, one in every five middle and high school students has complained of being bullied at school, while the number of reported incidents of sexual assaults on college campuses has more than tripled over the past ten years. Wochit
SOUTHAVEN — Andy Leach was a silly 12-year-old boy with a contagious smile before relentless bullying pushed him to kill himself, his father says.
"Everybody really enjoyed to be around Andy," and he had much to look forward to — he loved being a Boy Scout and hoped to play saxophone in the high school band, Matthew Leach told The Associated Press. "So when we found out he was being bullied in any capacity, we started trying to figure out what was going on."
What exactly prompted Andy to hang himself in his garage after school March 6 remains a mystery. Key details are shrouded by privacy rules. Southaven Chief Steve Pirtle said he can't comment on the police investigation. School officials wouldn't respond in detail to AP questions. Leach gave investigators Andy's cellphone and laptop. He said Thursday that he's still waiting for results.
What has been made public troubles Andy's parents. Mental health experts see shortcomings in the district's anti-bullying policy; a lawmaker who represents the district just south of Memphis, Tennessee, says he'll propose an "Andy's Law" in response.
Leach said Andy began telling them how school bullies called him fat and stupid about a year ago. Later, a group of students cornered him, saying "You're not going to make it out of this bathroom."
"These kids are awful. They're mean. They're cruel," Andy's mother, Cheryl Hudson, told WATN .
The bullying intensified two months before his death, after Andy announced to family and friends that he might be bisexual. He was confused, questioning himself and his faith, Leach said. Word spread inside Southaven Middle School, and bullies pounced.
"There was a lot going on in Andy," Leach said. "I think the inner turmoil and the name-calling, the bullying that went with it, finally pushed him to a point where he started making some decisions."
A counselor sat down with Andy and another student in February after Leach called an assistant principal. He said it was the only intervention he's aware of. Andy stopped sharing feelings after that, and only later did his parents learn what he was facing, he said.
"It's absolutely ridiculous that kids are acting this way, that they feel no fear of punishment," Leach said.
The DeSoto County School District denied an AP records request, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
"All bullying reports are treated with the utmost importance," a statement from district spokeswoman Katherine Nelson said. "All claims are investigated thoroughly, and school counselors are trained to help students and intervene when they are aware of a situation."
But the district's posted policy, written in 2010, lacks other "key components" promoted by stopbullying.gov. It
It focuses on how to report complaints but doesn't describe procedures for investigating and responding to them, imposing consequences, or making sure victims have access to physical, mental or legal help. Once an initial complaint is made, all it requires of school authorities is to notify parents and "arrange such meetings as may be necessary with all concerned parties."
Bullying expert Michael Sulkowski said making the victim and bully meet can "add fuel to the fire."
"The child who's being bullied is disempowered, is potentially frightened for his or her safety and certainly their social status," Sulkowski said. "It's not appropriate to expect them to confront his or her bullies, even in front of a teacher or administrator."
Sulkowski, who teaches psychology at the University of Arizona's College of Education, said model policies establish enforceable consequences. They instruct schools to offer continued emotional support and to communicate with parents to make sure harassment doesn't follow the victim online.
What's most striking about Andy's case, he said, is an apparent "lack of communication between the adults."
Andy's parents say they now understand more about red flags — like when their son made excuses to avoid school. Leach says he monitored Andy's digital life but couldn't see messages that disappeared or were deleted.
"He didn't really come to us about a lot of things," Hudson told WREG .
After Andy's death, Leach found scattered writings and drawings depicting suicide dating back months in Andy's notebooks, but nothing indicating a breaking point. Hudson told the station "it was found out that he was going to be involved in a fight after school," but she declined to elaborate.
Other cases have led to criminal charges.
Two 12-year-olds await prosecution on charges of cyberstalking a 12-year-old classmate in Panama City Beach, Florida, before she hanged herself in January. The Panama City News Herald reports she'd been bullied in and out of school, and just before she killed herself, one defendant told her to "just do it" before ending a video chat.
Mississippi law punishes bullying as a misdemeanor, with up to six months behind bars and $500 in fines.
Rep. Steve Hopkins, a Republican from Southaven, said Andy's death "just broke my heart." He says his "Andy's Law" would make convicted bullies do harder time, take "the handcuffs off counselors" and establish a state lottery to fund bullying prevention and mental-health programs, among other things.
Of 44,193 reported suicides in 2015, only 409 involved kids 10 to 14. In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey , about a third of high-school students identifying themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual say they were bullied on campus and tried to kill themselves in the prior year, compared with 6 percent of heterosexual peers.
"We want to make sure parents don't suffer from this because of lack of information and lack of policies enforced," Leach said. "We need to dig in, find out what's going on and make some noise."
by: Jeff Amy
date: 2018-04-12
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/13/court-orders-tests-inmate-reopening-chance-execution/514881002/
An inmate convicted of killing a prison guard must be re-evaluated to determine whether he is too intellectually disabled for the death penalty, the Mississippi Supreme Court said Thursday.
In a 5-4 ruling , justices ordered a fresh evaluation of Willie Russell, originally sentenced to death for stabbing and killing prison guard Argentra Cotton in 1989 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The case will go before a Sunflower County Circuit Court judge, who will again be asked to decide whether Russell should be executed or spared.
Russell originally went to Parchman on convictions of robbery, kidnapping and escape after abducting a guard from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and leading police on a high-speed chase in 1987. He was convicted of killing Cotton, had his death penalty set aside, and then was sentenced to death a second time. He came within an hour of being put to death in 1997 before a federal appeals court stopped the execution.
The current proceedings center on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that issued a broad ban on the death penalty for people with mental disabilities.
Sunflower County Circuit Judge Better Sanders set aside Russell's death sentence in 2015. But the state Supreme Court found that Sanders should have agreed with the state's position that it needed to administer additional tests before its experts could form an opinion.
Associate Justice James Maxwell wrote for the majority that "Russell was never evaluated on the specific criteria for intellectual disability," set out by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Chief Justice William Waller Jr., dissenting on behalf of the four judges, said there had been enough testing and would have allowed Russell's commutation to stand.
Two earlier intelligence tests showed Russell's IQ was low enough that he shouldn't be executed. Waller wrote there was no reason to administer a third test.
Waller's dissent argued that a 2006 exam was only incomplete because of a need for outside information on Russell's school and life history that the defense provided as part of the hearing before Sanders.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/12/jackson-5th-worst-eviction-mississippi-8th/503994002/
Matthew Desmond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Evicted," discusses how devastating evictions can be to families. Wochit
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
More than 24 people on average are evicted each weekday in Jackson from places they are renting — the fifth highest rate among cities of more than 100,000.
It's a situation that puts families in a downward spiral, said Princeton University sociologist Matthew Desmond, who conducted the research for the Eviction Lab.
Those evicted often lose more than just a place a live, said Jeremy Eisler, an attorney with the Mississippi Center for Justice who worked for decades as a legal aid lawyer. Constables sometimes put a padlock on those rental homes so that tenants can’t reenter.
“It means all your possessions are on the other side of the door — your furniture, your clothing, your medication and other items,” Eisler said. “And because you’re evicted, your children’s schooling may be interrupted, or they might be held back a year.”
Matthew Desmond is a Princeton University sociologist and author. His book, "Evicted," on the problem of evictions won the Pulitzer Prize.
Adds Desmond: “They may lose custody of their children.”
Nationwide, nearly 4 million renters have experienced eviction, according to a 2017 survey by Apartment Life.
With its eviction rate of 8.8 percent, Jackson ranks higher than Atlanta (5.1 percent), Memphis (4.9 percent), Detroit (5.2 percent), New York City (1.61 percent) and Chicago (1.1 percent), he said. “Jackson is quite high — twice as high as Milwaukee (4.3 percent).”
In a single year in Jackson, landlords evicted more than 6,300 renters — an average of 1 out of 13 renters.
But Jackson isn’t the highest rate in Mississippi. That belongs to Horn Lake, which ranks seventh in the nation among mid-sized cities in eviction rates (12 percent). Gulfport (9.68 percent) ranks 22nd, Pascagoula (9.4 percent) 25th, Southaven (7.9 percent) 40th and Olive Branch (6.8 percent) 63rd.
Desmond said a lot of reporting on the nation’s housing crisis has focused on the steep rent prices in places such as San Francisco, Seattle and New York City.
“The eviction crisis is another level, and it often affects poor communities,” said Desmond, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Evicted," on the subject. “Houses are renting for $500, and families still can’t afford it in places like Mississippi.”
He said there is a correlation between eviction and poverty. Not surprisingly, a higher rate of eviction can be seen in the Mississippi Delta, stretching north to places such as Memphis, St. Louis and Detroit, he said.
Preliminary data in Milwaukee has shown there is also a correlation between an increase in evictions and an increase in violent crimes, Desmond said. “Eviction rips apart the fabric of the community.”
Overall, Mississippi (4 percent) ranks eighth in the nation, trailing South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Indiana.
Some places are trying new approaches in hopes of stopping the cycle of evictions. The city of Cleveland, Ohio, has set up a community court where social workers can help tenants, who may have lost their jobs, been devastated by medical bills or suffered other setbacks.
“It’s about seeing if some problems can be addressed on that spot,” Desmond said. “That’s a win for everyone.”
In November, voters in Lawrence, Kansas, shifted a 1/20th of a penny sales tax from city transit improvements to an affordable housing trust fund.
Investments in affordable housing, Desmond said, more than pay for themselves in benefits to society.
Law favors landlords
He said at least one reason for the rise in evictions in the U.S. is that rental charges have increased at a much faster rate than wages.
Overall, studies show that many of those renting live paycheck to paycheck and have little savings.
Ideally, experts say, housing costs consume no more than 30 percent of income.
But most of those who are poor spend more than half their income on housing and utilities, studies show. And nearly a quarter of those remaining spend more than 70 percent to cover rent and electricity.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated the state, the Mississippi Center for Justice did a study tracking the outcomes of eviction cases in Justice Court in five coastal counties.
“When a tenant was represented by a lawyer, the tenant won 96 percent of the time,” said John Jopling, housing law director for the center. “Tenants lost 99 percent of the time when they weren’t represented by lawyers.”
Justice Courts are designed to aid landlords, providing them prepared affidavits to fill out, but there are no similar forms to aid tenants, he said.
He sees a problem with Justice Courts, where the only education required of the judges is a GED or high school diploma.
“I’m not saying they aren’t qualified. I’m not saying they aren’t provided training,” he said. “I am saying they are not trained in the same fashion as attorneys. Admissibility of evidence and due process are just not a part of their secondary nature.”
Jopling said those that appear in Justice Court in Mississippi have no right to counsel. And even if they qualify for assistance, there is only one legal aid lawyer per 21,000 poor Mississippians.
Desiree Hensley, a professor of law who oversees the Low-Income Housing Clinic at the University of Mississippi School of Law, said the law favors Mississippi landlords. “People can go from having shelter to being homeless in a couple of weeks,” she said.
There is a lack of due process, she said, because serving a summons may involve nothing more than tacking it to the front door of an apartment that the family has already left.
And evicted families may be required to pay thousands more than the rent they missed, she said.
Last year, the state Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Montgomery County Justice Court Judge Keith Stokes Roberts. Justices ordered him to pay $5,400, saying he failed to give a tenant a chance to fight his decision.
In 2014, Marci Gastineau was accused of bouncing a $450 rent check. But when the judge saw the landlord's bill was $546.50, he urged the landlord to hike the amount.
After that, he granted the larger judgment — and an eviction order.
In addition to seeing her paycheck garnished, she lost her car and had to file for bankruptcy.
At the recommendation of the Commission on Judicial Performance, the Mississippi Supreme Court sanctioned the judge, “but it didn’t put money back into her pocket,” Hensley said.
Lack of decent and affordable housing plagues Mississippi, she said. “A lot of people assume if you’re low income, you’re paying a couple of hundred dollars a month to live in poor conditions. The truth is that people are competing for stuff in poor condition.”
She marvels at some rent charged, she said. “You find out the rent is $700, and they’re living in a hovel. It should not even be inhabited.”
Following “basic due process would reduce the wrongful eviction numbers" in Mississippi, she said.
Jackson metro area landlord Derek Ginn said eviction can sometimes be a lengthy process and can decimate landlords who rely on that income.
He said after payments for the mortgage, tax and insurance, landlords may only clear $225 a month — profit that may be eaten up by repair expenses for plumbing, roofing and central air.
It's unfair to paint the landlord "as the bad guy," he said. "That's not always the case."
Hard choices
Aisha Nyandoro runs the Jackson nonprofit Springboard To Opportunities, which helps struggling families find stable housing and success.
Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of the nonprofit Springboard To in Jackson, said it might be something as simple as school fees or prom dresses that cause families to fall behind in rent. “If you have no money, $60 is a lot,” she said. “People may say, ‘Do I pay rent or give this opportunity to my kids?’”
Or if their car hits a pothole and messes up a tire, she said, they don’t have the money to replace the tire, and the car sits.
“All these things pile up,” she said. “For a lot of families, it’s not life or death, it’s everyday life.”
Many of those who struggle feel hopeless, she said. “They are no longer seeing the Yellow Brick Road.”
In Mississippi, more than one in five people live in poverty, and many of them are children and single mothers.
Nyandoro's nonprofit focuses on stable housing for families and puts them in touch with resources, she said. “Families have hope for the first time. They’re doing a budget, saving money, going back to school and working. The kids are saying, ‘I can go to college.’ These are small things that really matter.”
After her Belhaven condo was broken into a third time, Ebony Beals, a 38-year-old mother, almost gave up. She sent her oldest daughter to live in California, and she moved into a shelter with her youngest daughter.
Two months later, she found out they could no longer stay at the shelter.
A friend volunteered to let them move in, but a month later, they had to leave and they began living from motel to motel.
“We didn’t have anywhere to go,” Beals said. “I had given up all our possessions. We just had the clothes on our backs.”
Then she received a call back that Northwoods Village had an opening, and she moved in March 2011.
Having stable and affordable housing allowed her to return to school and receive training as a hair stylist, she said. “I knew that I wanted my own salon, and I had been praying, praying and praying.”
That prayer came true when a customer walked in one day, talking about a salon for sale, she said. “It was the most exciting thing in the world.”
On Aug. 6, 2016, she opened her own hair salon and will soon celebrate her second anniversary. She volunteers with Springboard To.
Her advice to those struggling? “Don’t give up,” she said, “and don’t get comfortable.”
Top 5 Cities for Evictions:
National Average: 2.35%
Source: The Eviction Lab
Top 10 States for Evictions:
National Average: 2.35%
Source: The Eviction Lab
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/12/teens-vaping-dangerous-cannabinoid-oil/510854002/
The Madison Police Department wants parents to be aware of what their kids are vaping. Therese Apel/ Clarion Ledger
Madison police have issued a warning to parents after several incidents in which teenagers were vaping Cannabidiol oil, also known as CBD Oil.
Teens are using the Galaxy and Green Mist brands of CBD Oil, according to Madison Police Department, and it can be dangerous.
Madison Police Department Assistant Chief Robert Sanders said so far four cases are being investigated in the city, and surrounding departments may have at least two to four more. MPD investigators continue to make contact with other agencies to see how widespread the problem could be.
The ages of the teens range from one middle schooler to several 10th- through 12th-graders, Sanders said.
None of the incidents have resulted in death or permanent damage to the teenagers, authorities said, but the department felt the need to make the citizens aware of the potential threat.
"The common similarity is that the kids turn ghostly white and then they pass out. The blood pressure drops to a point where it becomes a serious health risk," Sanders said.
"What we're trying to figure out is are there some kind of properties in it that are causing the rapid drop in blood pressure and these kids to pass out. This could eventually result in death if they don't get the medical attention they need."
CBD is a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. Research is being done into the potential therapeutic uses of CBD. Cannabidiol oil is legal, but its safety has been disputed before.
According to the Military Times, the Army released a warning in January advising soldiers not to use electronic cigarettes or vapes containing CBD oil. The Army said the oils could also contain synthetic cannabinoids, concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, and other hazardous substances.
The release from the Army Public Health Center said approximately 60 patients with medical conditions potentially related to vaping products marketed as containing CBD oil were seen at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the Naval Medical Center at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Sanders said he is not trying to debate the merits or dangers of vaping, or even of CBD oil. The point, he said, is to make sure people are aware of the risks of using CBD vape oil until it's clear what is causing the health problems.
"What we’re saying is this is a health concern and these kids are on the brink of death so obviously something's going on," he said. "We can’t just say, ‘Oh, that’s not illegal,’ and just turn our heads. We’re not going to do it, not when it’s affecting the lives of these kids."
Some kids are vaping at school with a device called a Juul, which looks like a thumb drive and hooks to a computer to charge, authorities said. If a child is seen with it, it could look like he or she was simply using a data storage device.
Police are learning a lot of new things about vaping itself through the investigation. The new smoking technology means they have to learn some of the basics before they can get into the specifics, Sanders said.
"This is all kind of a learning curve for us. We’re not going to give up, because whenever you have kids passing out on the verge of dying, we’ve got to do something about that," he said.
There are no criminal implications in the case, Sanders said. Police want to gather as much information as possible so as to get the products pulled off the shelves if they're not safe.
Parents are asked to contact the Madison Police Department at 601-856-6111 if they are aware of similar incidents and they will be put in contact with an investigator.
by: Michelle Malkin
date: 2018-04-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/12/student-data-mining-scandal-under-our-noses/510261002/
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he believes it is "inevitable" that there will be regulation of his industry. (April 11) AP
While congresscritters expressed outrage at Facebook’s intrusive data grabs during Capitol Hill hearings with Mark Zuckerberg this week, not a peep was heard about the Silicon Valley-Beltway theft ring purloining the personal information and browsing habits of millions of American schoolchildren.
It doesn’t take undercover investigative journalists to unmask the massive privacy invasion enabled by educational technology and federal mandates. The kiddie data heist is happening out in the open — with Washington politicians and bureaucrats as brazen co-conspirators.
Facebook is just one of the tech giants partnering with the U.S. Department of Education and schools nationwide in pursuit of student data for meddling and profit. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Pearson, Knewton and many more are cashing in on the Big Data boondoggle. State and federal educational databases provide countless opportunities for private companies exploiting public schoolchildren subjected to annual assessments, which exploded after the adoption of the tech industry-supported Common Core “standards,” tests, and aligned texts and curricula.
The recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act further enshrined government collection of personally identifiable information — including data collected on attitudes, values, beliefs and dispositions — and allows the release of the data to third-party contractors thanks to Obama-era loopholes carved into the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.
And the so-called school-to-work pipeline creates endless avenues into taxpayer coffers for firms pitching data-gathering initiatives to “align” student learning with “skill sets” and “competencies” desired by corporations.
Facebook, for example, joined with the Department of Education’s federally sponsored Digital Promise initiative last fall to develop a system of “micro-credentialing” badges for adult students in digital marketing. You can be sure it’s not merely out of benevolence and public interest that Zuckerberg’s empire is training thousands of these students to learn “Social Media Marketing Basics,” “Marketing with Facebook Pages,” “Marketing with Facebook Ads” and “Marketing with Instagram.”
As a parent and educational privacy advocate Cheri Kiesecker reported, the Facebook/Digital Promise partnership is “a wonderful data collection and marketing tool for Facebook and the US Department of Ed, but it is incredibly alarming for students’ privacy and security.”
Facebook is on the march from luring adult students into its orbit to encroaching on secondary and elementary school-age users through its Messenger Kids app and “whole-child personalized learning” programs funded through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. CZI, a “philanthropic investment company” funded with up to $1 billion in Facebook shares over the next three years, is headed by Jim Shelton. He’s a former program officer at the Gates Foundation and a key Common Core champion in the Obama administration.
“Personalized learning” is an edutech buzz phrase for hijacking the classroom and hooking students and teachers on branded software and hardware — iPads, smartboards, computerized portfolios, homework apps, you name it — without any evidence that such shiny objects improve academic performance.
Under the guise of customizable assessments, public and private preschools in Colorado experimented with toddlers whose student activities and social/emotional behaviors were tracked using the TS Gold (Teaching Strategies Gold) system — funded with $30 million in Race to the Top subsidies under the Obama administration. As I reported in 2014, parent Lauren Coker discovered that TS Gold assessors in her son’s Aurora, Colorado, public preschool had recorded information about his trips to the bathroom, his hand-washing habits and his ability to pull up his pants.
Sunny Flynn, a mom with kids in Jefferson County, Colorado, asked all the right questions: “What security measures are being used to protect this data? Who exactly has access to this data? How long will the data be stored? What is the proven benefit of a kindergarten teacher putting all of this data into a database?”
With little public oversight, Google has infiltrated schools through its “free” Google Apps for Education suite. As I’ve reported previously, Google is building brand loyalty through its questionable certification program that essentially turns teachers into tax-subsidized lobbyists for the company. GAFE enrollees are “trained” on Google products, earn certification, and then open up consultancy businesses and bill their school districts (i.e., the public) to hawk Google’s suite of products to other colleagues.
And this week, 23 parent and watchdog groups filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleging that Google is violating child protection laws by collecting personal data of and advertising to those aged under 13.
Over the past four years, Google has admitted “scanning and indexing” student email messages sent using GAFE and data mining student users for commercial gain when they use their accounts for noneducational purposes. Google can collect student/family data to target ads through related services outside the GAFE suite, such as YouTube for Schools, Blogger and Google Plus. These are not covered under the already watered-down federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Michelle Malkin (Photo: Creators Syndicate)
Under the Obama years, Grand Canyon-sized loopholes in federal student and family privacy protections opened data mining to third-party private entities. Those have yet to be closed by the Trump administration. Why not? It’s time to drain the student data-mining swamp and their facilitators in Washington. For the children.
by: Bracey Harris
date: 2018-04-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/12/mississippi-school-testing-teacher-shortage/503849002/
Schools are required to employ licensed teachers in order to meet state accreditation requirements. But not all districts have that option. Wochit
Records obtained by the Clarion Ledger show that many students preparing to sit for high-stakes tests starting Monday have spent part or all of the school year being taught by long-term substitutes or educators granted temporary or provisional certification.
More than a quarter of the state’s 144 districts are considered critical teaching shortage areas.
The Clarion Ledger requested from each of the 41 districts in critical shortage areas a breakdown listing vacancies by subject area and grade level. More than half of the 19 districts responding by the time of publication listed teacher vacancies in tested grades or subjects.
In Jackson Public Schools, the state's second-largest district, officials are considering offering teacher candidates a $2,500 signing bonus to fill more than 100 anticipated vacancies for the next school year.
More: Children in these districts are taught by unlicensed teachers. Does it matter?
The hope is that the district won’t have a repeat of this year when the district started the year more than 200 teachers short.
A majority of those vacancies, many of them in tested subjects, were never filled.
Assistant Superintendent Laketia Marshall-Thomas said the district relies on data from screening assessments to identify skills gaps in all students and provide subsequent interventions, whether taught by a certified teacher or not.
"We have to let the data decide who needs the support," she said.
The Mississippi Department of Education has acknowledged that students of color and from poor backgrounds are more likely to have inexperienced or uncertified teachers, resulting in an equity gap.
Such is the case for the Clarksdale school system.
The district located in the Mississippi Delta was still struggling to fill 15 positions when students returned from winter break.
“Without a certified person, in the classroom, it’s really difficult to move a school,” said Clarksdale Superintendent Dennis Dupree.
Five classes in core tested subject areas such as math and English at one of the district’s middle schools, Oakhurst Intermediate Academy, he said, are taught by teachers lacking the proper credentials to be considered highly qualified.
“Good teachers — good teachers period. That’s what we’ve got to have,” Dupree said.
There’s debate about how much this factors into student performance.
A body of education research has found the most important school-related factor to a student’s academic performance is his or her teacher.
Education advocates are divided, however, over whether teacher quality can override factors outside the schoolhouse’s control that also impact student performance such as poverty.
So, what should the expectations be for a school system in a staffing crisis?
“Improvement,” Dupree said. “We’re not satisfied; we don’t want to be a D or an F.”
Two hours up the road, Marshall County Superintendent Glenda Hale is eager to see how the district’s ninth-graders will perform on the state’s Algebra I exam.
The 3,000-student district, which is rated as successful on Mississippi’s accountability system, sits in the northeast corner of the state, part of a six-county stretch bordering Tennessee.
While the district’s teacher shortage is not as severe as some of the school systems in the Delta, administrators have scrambled, at times, to fill math positions, long considered one of the hardest areas to staff nationwide.
The district turned to online math courses last spring in response.
Initially, the program was used for only higher-level courses such as Algebra II and Geometry.
But this year the district has had to teach all of its mathematics courses online for one of the district’s three high schools.
Students in the district will take their Algebra I test next month, which will serve as a litmus test of sorts, for how the program is working.
Retired teachers come in once a week to help students, while an assistant teacher is present daily for the actual video presentation and to proctor tests.
Weekly planning meetings are held to anticipate questions students might have, since instructors working off-site won’t always be able to provide an immediate response to a student’s inquiry.
“It’s just been kind of a lifesaver with us not having the math teachers available,” Hale said.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-04-11
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/12/task-force-releasing-officers-ids-shooting-deaths-agrees-future-public-input/509233002/
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba banned the release of mug shots by the police of persons shot in officer-involved shootings Wochit
The mayor's task force examining if and when to release an officer's name in a Jackson police-involved shooting has agreed to allow the public to speak at future meetings.
More: Jackson mayor's task force will explore naming officers in police-involved shootings
On Wednesday, the 21-member task force also elected Jackson attorney T.J. Lawrence to chair the group and Ruben M. Banks, a senior at Jim Hill High School, as vice chairman.
The task force elected to give members of the public 10 minutes of time to speak at future meetings.
Safiya Omari, the mayor's chief of staff, outlined to members the boundaries of their mandate.
"We should begin to think about where we stand on this issue and some of the key points.This issue is often framed in regards to transparency and trust with the community. Officers' concern is officer safety...We have to come to a balance, the community has to have transparency, and we want to build a relationship of trust with our officers," Omari said.
Lawrence was director of marketing the city under the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, the current mayor's father. He spearheaded the popular #iftheygunnedmedown social media campaign that examined the effect of selective framing after the officer-involved shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Banks is a JROTC cadet commander in the Civil Air Patrol and a member of the Cadet Advisory Council and Wing Honor Society.
More: Member of Jackson mayor's task force on parole for capital murder
The task force plans to meet at different locations across the city every first and third Monday from 5-6 p.m. Members will convene in the conference room of the Jackson Police Training Academy at 3000 St Charles St. on April 16.
by: Sid Salter
date: 2018-04-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/11/election-offers-mississippi-dems-shot-alabama-senate-miracle/504345002/
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed the first female U.S. senator from Mississippi, state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Thad Cochran. Geoff Pender/Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE – Mississippi Democrats are hoping for a repeat of the political “miracle” that handed their counterparts in Alabama a U.S. Senate seat last December.
Alabama voters had not elected a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. Senate since 1986 when they chose current U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. Shelby was elected as a Democrat in 1986 and was re-elected in 1992.
But in 1994, two years into his second term, Shelby switched parties to the GOP after Republicans won control of both houses of Congress in the 1994 mid-term elections. Shelby this week assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a post previously held by former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, the Republican from Mississippi who just stepped down on April 1.
Fast-forward to 2017 in the state where Republican President Donald Trump – according to the polls - enjoys his greatest popularity. A special U.S. Senate election was held to fill the vacancy created when then-Alabama Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions was named to the post of U.S. Attorney General by Trump.
In that race, marred by wild sexual misconduct allegations against controversial Republican nominee and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, Democrat Doug Jones pulled one of the biggest upsets in modern Southern political history by winning the race.
Continue reading after gallery
Now, in a non-partisan special election made necessary by Cochran’s retirement due to declining health, Mississippi faces a Nov. 6 special election to choose Cochran’s permanent successor. That race will pit Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who took office this week as Cochran interim successor in the U.S. Senate against GOP State Sen. Chris McDaniel, former Democratic U.S. Secretary of State and Mississippi Congressman Mike Espy, and Democratic Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton.
After focusing over the last couple of columns on the Hyde-Smith and McDaniel standoff for winning the votes of Mississippians predisposed to vote for Republicans, let’s take a look at the choices facing state voters predisposed to vote for Democrats.
The two Democrats who have formally entered the race are a study in contrasts — not the least of which are their ages and their political experiences.
Espy, 64, a native of Yazoo City, is the scion of one of Mississippi’s most influential black political families. He is the grandson of legendary African-American businessman and entrepreneur T.J. Huddleston Sr. Espy became the first black Mississippi elected to Congress since Reconstruction in 1986 when he unseated Republican incumbent U.S. Rep Webb Franklin. He was re-elected to that post three times.
In 1993, Espy became the first African-American to hold the post of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture after being appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton. In 1994, Espy resigned from the cabinet post after accusations and a later 30-count federal indictment alleging that he accepted over $35,000 in illegal gifts from the industries he regulated.
Espy was in 1998 acquitted of all 30 counts, with most neutral observers dismissed as appearing to be yet another political assault through the onerous and often partisan special prosecutor system in Washington. Current Republicans in Washington are complaining about the same system today.
Espy’s brother, Henry W. Espy Jr., is the former longtime mayor of Clarksdale, a post currently held by his nephew, Chuck Espy. Chuck Espy is a former four-term state legislator. That’s where Espy’s political history may hit a snag among the state’s black voters loyal to Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, seen by many as the state’s most powerful black political figure.
Thompson, D-Bolton, defeated Henry Espy in the 1993 special congressional election that first sent him to Congress as successor to Mike Espy. Chuck Espy also was an unsuccessful challenger to Thompson for his U.S. House seat in 2006.
Shelton, 41, is the Democratic wild card in the Senate race. Outside of the northeast Mississippi media market, Shelton’s name recognition is suspect when compared to Espy. Still, his success in coalition building is evidenced by his mayoral election in a town that has long favored GOP mayor.
Those factors noted, the likelihood of the Alabama “miracle” replicating in Mississippi is slight but not impossible. Proponents of open primaries should love this special election free-for-all.
Sid Salter is a contributing columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-04-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/11/upheaval-hinds-county-court-system-one-circuit-judge-retires-another-leaving/506880002/
Who will the governor appoint to replace Hinds County Circuit Judge Bill Gowan, who abruptly retired at the end of last month?
A decision could come very soon, said an official withf the judicial appointment advisory committee that will make a recommendation to the governor. Attorney Bill Smith said 11 applicants applied and he expects a new judge will be named very soon.
The person selected by the governor will serve out the remainder of Gowan's term, which ends in January.
Gowan's retirement means two of Hinds County Circuit Court judge seats will be open in the November general election. Hinds County voters will also elect a new circuit judge in to replace Jeff Weill, who isn’t seeking reelection. Weill is running for a Mississippi Court of Appeals post.
There had been speculation that Gowan wouldn’t seek reelection this year, but his decision to retire before his four-year term ends in January was unexpected.
Gowan was initially elected a circuit judge in November 2010 to serve out the term of then-former Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter.
The person appointed by the governor could have an advantage in the November general election, but it’s not guaranteed.
In 2009, then-Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Malcolm Harrison to serve out the term of DeLaughter, who left office after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents in connection to a judicial bribery case. However, in the 2010 regular election, Gowan defeated Harrison to serve a full term on the bench.
Prior to then, in July 2008, Gowan was selected by the Mississippi Supreme Court to serve as special Hinds County Circuit Court judge to help move cases through the judicial system. He was the former undersheriff and legal counsel for the Hinds County Sheriff's Department.
Two candidates have qualified to run in the November election for the post. They are attorneys Trent Walker of Jackson and Gerald Kucia of Clinton.
Current Hinds County Youth Court Judge Bill Skinner is expected to be a candidate, but he has yet to qualify. The qualifying deadline is May 11.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-10
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/11/mississippi-interracial-couple-evicted-rv-park-owners-charged/504824002/
Mississippi landlord evicts couple from RV park after learning they were an interracial couple. The Clarion-Ledger
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Mississippi RV park owners who refused to rent to an interracial couple in 2016 have been charged with violating the Fair Housing Act.
Linda and Gene Baker, the owner and manager of the RV park in Belden, are charged under the act that prohibits housing providers from refusing to rent because of race or color.
Gene Baker acknowledged to the Clarion Ledger at the time that he asked the interracial married couple to leave his RV park near Tupelo. Baker, who lives in Aberdeen, said he did it only because "the neighbors were giving me such a problem."
He could not be reached for comment regarding the latest development. But he reportedly told Housing and Urban Development officials the eviction had nothing to do with race.
Erica Flores Dunahoo is Hispanic and Native American, and her husband, Stanley Hoskins, a National Guardsman who fought in Afghanistan, is African American.
Erica Dunahoo said she was glad to hear that the Housing and Urban Development had charged Baker. “Hopefully this will stop stuff like this,” she said. “I don’t understand it.”
Until being kicked out of the RV park, the couple had not experienced mistreatment in Mississippi during their decade together, she said.
Marriages between white and black Mississippians were illegal in Mississippi until 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out laws that barred interracial marriage. A year later, the Fair Housing Act made it illegal to refuse to rent to people on the basis of their "race, color, religion, sex or national origin."
In the decades since, cultural barriers have begun to fade.
In 2011, The New York Times featured Mississippi as having one of the nation's fastest growing multiracial populations — up 70 percent between 2000 and 2010.
Two years ago, Dunahoo, then 40, and her husband, Stanley Hoskins, then 37, who have two children, were looking to rent an RV space when she contacted Baker. "We were trying to save money to get our life on track," she said.
On Feb. 28, 2016, she arrived at the RV park and gave Baker a $275 check for rent for the month.
"He was real nice," she said. "He invited me to church and gave me a hug. I bragged on him to my family."
The next day, she said Baker telephoned her and said, "Hey, you didn't tell me you was married to no black man."
She said she replied that she didn't realize it was a problem.
"Oh, it's a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my mother-in-law," she quoted him as saying. "They don't allow that black and white shacking."
"We're not shacking. We're married," she replied.
"Oh, it's the same thing," she quoted him as replying.
She said he told her, "You don't talk like you wouldn't be with no black man. If you would had come across like you were with a black man, we wouldn't have this problem right now."
She said she replied, "My husband ain't no thug. He's a good man. My husband has served his country for 13 years. He's a sergeant in the National Guard."
Hoskins called the situation "ludicrous."
He and Dunahoo, who retained her last name after marriage, went to talk to Baker again.
She said she had "prayed and prayed" for Baker to change his mind.
He didn't.
Baker returned the $275 the couple paid, and they relocated to another RV park where the rent is higher — $325 a month.
Dunahoo said she reported the matter to the NAACP because she believes Baker should not be allowed to turn away interracial couples. "I just want it to be where everybody is treating everybody equally."
Asked if he had a problem with a mixed-race couple, Baker replied, "Oh, no."
He said his church lets interracial couples attend.
Dunahoo said he told her they could attend their church, but "we're not allowed to be members."
Baker explained that if neighbors have a problem, "the best thing you can do is what the neighbors want to do."
Asked if he would rent the RV space if another interracial couple showed up, he replied, "I'm closing it down, and that solves the problem."
The charge is slated to be heard by an administrative law judge. If the judge concludes that discrimination has occurred, he or she may award damages to the complainants for their loss as a result of the discrimination as well as impose civil penalties.
"This month we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination because of race," said Anna María Farias, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. "This case reminds property owners that they have an obligation to treat all people fairly and demonstrates HUD's continuing commitment to fighting housing discrimination."
J. Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi Law School, said the charges send the message that small-unit landlords must obey the Fair Housing Law, too.
Johnson, who represents the couple and consulted with Ole Miss’ Low-Income Housing Clinic, said HUD lawyers were moved by Dunahoo’s story.
"This is a story about a mother devastated by the thought of her daughters ever thinking of themselves as less than," he said. "She refused to just walk away from it as many victims of racism do every day. They have become accustomed to shrugging it off.
“The good news here is the U.S. government, during the Trump administration, is offended enough by this behavior to take on a case in Belden, Mississippi, in a trailer park with five hookups. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
by: Glenn Harlan Reynolds
date: 2018-04-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/10/why-dont-we-punish-law-enforcement-when-they-fail/503743002/
Things got pretty heated between NRA spokeswoman, Dana Loesch, and Broward County Sheriff, Scott Israel, during a CNN Town Hall meeting on gun control. USA TODAY
Law enforcement keeps failing, and people keep dying. Where are the consequences? Where is the accountability?
Despite receiving a warning directly from the Russian government, the FBI failed to stop the Tsarnaev brothers from staging the Boston Marathon bombing. Despite having plenty of resources, the Charlottesville police failed to stop a car attack that left a woman dead. The FBI interviewed Omar Mateen, the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooter, and considered criminally investigating him. They didn’t — possibly because his father was an FBI informant.
The FBI also missed numerous "red flags" before the San Bernardino shooting. And despite having lots of warning, the FBI, the Broward County schools and the Broward Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Scott Israel all failed to stop Nikolas Cruz from shooting up a high school.
And yet these repeated failures — among others — keep getting swept under the rug as we look for “solutions” to the problem of violence. No doubt Israel and the others whose incompetence made it possible for Cruz to kill his classmates were relieved to see our national discourse veer into questions of whether Laura Ingraham should lose sponsors for mocking David Hogg’s college-admissions failures, instead of their own failures to do their jobs.
But now comes a hero to remind us what it’s really all about.
Parkland student Anthony Borges, who used his body to shield 20 fellow students from the gunman, emerged from the hospital over the weekend to remind us that the shooting resulted from the failures of the sheriff and school superintendent to protect students.
In his statement, Borges said the school’s Promise program — designed to keep student offenders out of the criminal justice system — created a permissive atmosphere and gave Cruz a pass on behavior that, if prosecuted, would have left him ineligible to purchase a gun.
According to Borges, Israel and school superintendent Robert Runcie "failed us students, teachers and parents alike on so many levels."
There seems little room to argue. The Miami Herald published a chilling timeline about how authorities were warned about Cruz but failed to act. Then, once the shooting started, cowardly deputy Scot Peterson — who has since resigned, the only person so far to pay any price for failure — did not enter the school. Nor did three other deputies who hid behind cars in the parking lot. And when reinforcements arrived, they “established a perimeter” instead of immediately seeking out and engaging the shooter, as the department’s own doctrine demanded.
Since then, we’ve had a lot of what the father of genuine hero Borges, according to the family's lawyer, calls “bubblegum hero stuff.” But there’s been no accountability for the adults whose incompetence, or worse, made this slaughter possible. And, as with the earlier examples above, that’s par for the course. Over and over again, when the government fails, there are no consequences for those overseeing the failing.
This is why calls for more gun control ring hollow. When the laws that would have prevented Nikolas Cruz from getting a gun failed because those in charge of executing them chose — chose — not to enforce them, because doing so would have made the school’s crime reports look bad, then it’s hard to believe that more laws will make a difference.
Glenn Reynolds (Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
You know what might make a difference, though? Consequences.
Consequences for those who failed Parkland’s kids. Sheriff Israel shouldn’t still have a job. Neither should School Superintendent Runcie. And a lot of deputies and FBI agents should be facing, at the least, sharp (and public) questioning about why they failed here.
If we’re not willing to impose basic accountability on those in charge of keeping kids safe, then we don’t really care and everything else is just noise. So which is it?
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-04-09
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/10/member-mayors-task-force-parole-capital-murder/501635002/
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba banned the release of mug shots by the police of persons shot in officer-involved shootings Wochit
(Photo: File photo/The Clarion Ledger)
A man appointed to the Jackson mayor's task force on releasing police officer IDs in officer-involved deaths is on parole for capital murder.
Task force member Terun Moore was convicted in Hinds County of capital murder in 2001, and was originally sentenced to life in prison.
Moore is one of 21 persons selected for Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's task force.
Task force members include six Jackson Police Department employees as well as community activists, lawyers and retired Jackson residents.
More: Should officers in shootings be publicly identified? Jackson mayor names task force members
A Hinds County jury found Moore responsible for the death of Michael Evans of Detroit, who was shot in the head during a robbery attempt April 2, 1998, at Lake Hico Park in Jackson. The jury deliberated more than eight hours over two days before reaching a verdict,
Evans had gone to the park with his brother, and the two were planning to leave when the attempted robbery occurred. Bullets were fired as the men drove away, and Evans was hit, according to a Clarion Ledger report at the time.
But the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for defendants 17 or younger convicted of homicide are unconstitutional.
Two years later, the Mississippi Supreme Court said that Moore's sentence was tantamount to life without parole and ordered a new sentencing hearing for him.
Mississippi Justice Ann Lamar said that in resentencing Moore, the trial judge must look at Moore's age at the time and "how children are different and how those differences counsel against irrevocably sentencing them to a lifetime in prison."
Moore, who turned 38 Monday, was just seven days shy of his 18th birthday when Evans was killed.
While in prison, Moore filed a motion for post-conviction relief, which alleged facts not known at the time of trial would have yielded different results in the trial.
Hinds County Circuit Court held an evidentiary hearing in 2009, during which
convicted accomplice in the attempted robbery, James Washington, recanted his previous trial testimony that identified Moore as the shooter. Washington claimed police promised him a plea agreement to a lesser sentence for manslaughter in exchange for testifying that Moore was the shooter. He named Kewanee Coleman, who testified at the original trial, as the shooter.
But the Court of Appeals upheld Moore's conviction, citing his alleged confession to several police officers, the questionable nature of recanted testimony and the word of several witnesses who ID'd Moore as the shooter, including Evan's brother Louis Avery, who testified he didn't see who fired the shots but saw Moore with a gun in his hand..
"Moore has produced no additional evidence to corroborate Washington’s new version of the shooting," the court concluded.
It takes a four-fifths majority of the parole board to grant parole to an offender accused of a violent crime. Moore was paroled on Oct. 12, 2017, a Mississippi Parole Board official confirmed. He had served 19 years in prison, including time served before his trial.
The recently paroled Moore participated in a "Mercy Me" prison program with the University of Mississippi in November, which explored successful methods to avoid prison recidivism.
Lumumba, whose father, the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, had represented Moore at trial, said Moore stood out to him as an ex-offender who "isn't backing into a corner" following his release from prison.
The mayor urged the community to keep an open mind on Moore and his task force selections.
"We are fearful of those who have been most impacted by the judicial system. But he (Moore) would know better than anyone its faults and what has contributed to his experience...If we're fearful of having a conversation with people, including ex-offenders, we'll never find resolve," the mayor said.
Jackson Police Department spokesman Roderick Holmes said Interim Chief Anthony Moore "is not providing any comment at this time" on the mayor's task force.
by: Sarah Mearhoff
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/09/attorneys-defend-mississippi-prison-conditions/499980002/
JACKSON — The state of Mississippi has "abandoned its responsibility to provide basic needs" to inmates at a privately run prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical care, an attorney for the prisoners said Monday.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is home to 1,200 inmates, 80 percent of whom have been diagnosed with a mental health problem.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections "receives report after report and does nothing. That is the definition of deliberate indifference," plaintiffs' attorney Erin Monju said in closing arguments from the federal courthouse in Jackson.
Warden Frank Shaw testified during the five-week trial that the prison follows protocol and the facility is no worse than any other. Attorneys for the government defended the facility, including its regular use of solitary confinement.
"Coloring books and timeout isn't going to work for criminals," defense attorney William Siler said.
The prison, located outside of Meridian, is operated under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corp. MTC is footing the bill of the legal defense team, but lawyers are defending the state of Mississippi. Plaintiffs say the state has been aware and complacent of the prison's unconstitutional conditions.
In a SPLC news release sent after Monday's closing arguments, Jody Owens, SPLC's managing attorney for Mississippi, said the state's Department of Corrections "allows this prison to fail at even the most fundamental tasks."
Rev. C.J. Rhodes, pastor of Mt. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, and a member of Clergy for Prison Reform, second from left, leads a prayer vigil with area clergy, following a news conference where on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Monday, April 9, 2018. Rhodes explained why the group was monitoring a federal trial in which inmates say they live in unsanitary and excessively violent conditions at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a state prison that is operated privately under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corps, Monday, April 9, 2018 in Jackson, Miss.
"The result is a place so dangerous and so violent that it shocks corrections experts, yet the department keeps handing taxpayer money to private companies to run the prison and its services," Owens said.
The state's attorneys said the groups suing Mississippi have an agenda and want to litigate private prisons out of business.
"We need to get out of their (MTC's) way and let them run their prison," Siler said.
Privately run prisons can be a political hot potato. Lawmakers often tout their lowered costs and better performance than state-run facilities, but opponents point to understaffing, health care cuts and a lack of transparency.
One of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' first orders in the Trump administration was to reverse an Obama-era directive phasing out the use of private prisons. It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the private prisons may be needed given the administration's aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws.
Several inmates testified during the trial about the conditions inside the prison. They described being jumped or shanked, sometimes in their own cells, with little help from prison guards. Such inmate violence, the warden said, is common.
"It's the nature of prisons," Shaw said. "It's the nature of the beast."
But the inmates' attorneys argued that the number of assaults at the prison is high and the result of inadequate supervision because of the prison's short-staffing. And they say guards abandon their posts and do not perform their minimum job functions.
Plaintiffs say this lack of supervision not only results in inmate assaults but also poses a risk in the case of medical emergency. Plaintiffs say one inmate died this year after lying unconscious on the floor of his cell amid his feces and urine, as other inmates banged on the housing unit's door attempting to get medical assistance. Four other inmates have died so far this year.
Inmates regularly take extreme measures to get officers' attention — lighting their cells on fire or cutting themselves and reaching through their door's tray slot.
In one video provided as evidence by plaintiffs, guards did not respond to the scene of a cell fire until five minutes after flames could be seen from outside of the cell.
Inmate Terry Beasley, who testified in March, said he has diabetes and can go into shock and eventually die if his blood sugar drops too low. When asked by plaintiffs how he feels knowing it can take guards minutes to respond in emergency situations, Beasley began crying and said, "it's scary."
Inmates said they had seen cockroaches and mouse droppings throughout the facility, particularly in the kitchen, and had to deal with sewage backing up into cells and bathrooms.
The warden blamed the plumbing problems on inmates.
"In most cases, when we have those issues, it's inmate related. They've either flushed something down they shouldn't have or torn something up," Shaw said.
U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. said he planned to take "several days" to issue a written ruling.
by: Sarah Mearhoff
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/09/attorneys-defend-mississippi-prison-conditions/499980002/
Pastors hold prayer vigil over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian and other prisons Wochit
JACKSON — The state of Mississippi has "abandoned its responsibility to provide basic needs" to inmates at a privately run prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical care, an attorney for the prisoners said Monday.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is home to 1,200 inmates, 80 percent of whom have been diagnosed with a mental health problem.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections "receives report after report and does nothing. That is the definition of deliberate indifference," plaintiffs' attorney Erin Monju said in closing arguments from the federal courthouse in Jackson.
Warden Frank Shaw testified during the five-week trial that the prison follows protocol and the facility is no worse than any other. Attorneys for the government defended the facility, including its regular use of solitary confinement.
"Coloring books and timeout isn't going to work for criminals," defense attorney William Siler said.
The prison, located outside of Meridian, is operated under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corp. MTC is footing the bill of the legal defense team, but lawyers are defending the state of Mississippi. Plaintiffs say the state has been aware and complacent of the prison's unconstitutional conditions.
In a SPLC news release sent after Monday's closing arguments, Jody Owens, SPLC's managing attorney for Mississippi, said the state's Department of Corrections "allows this prison to fail at even the most fundamental tasks."
Rev. C.J. Rhodes, pastor of Mt. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, and a member of Clergy for Prison Reform, second from left, leads a prayer vigil with area clergy, following a news conference where on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Monday, April 9, 2018. Rhodes explained why the group was monitoring a federal trial in which inmates say they live in unsanitary and excessively violent conditions at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a state prison that is operated privately under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corps, Monday, April 9, 2018 in Jackson, Miss.
"The result is a place so dangerous and so violent that it shocks corrections experts, yet the department keeps handing taxpayer money to private companies to run the prison and its services," Owens said.
The state's attorneys said the groups suing Mississippi have an agenda and want to litigate private prisons out of business.
"We need to get out of their (MTC's) way and let them run their prison," Siler said.
Privately run prisons can be a political hot potato. Lawmakers often tout their lowered costs and better performance than state-run facilities, but opponents point to understaffing, health care cuts and a lack of transparency.
One of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' first orders in the Trump administration was to reverse an Obama-era directive phasing out the use of private prisons. It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the private prisons may be needed given the administration's aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws.
Several inmates testified during the trial about the conditions inside the prison. They described being jumped or shanked, sometimes in their own cells, with little help from prison guards. Such inmate violence, the warden said, is common.
"It's the nature of prisons," Shaw said. "It's the nature of the beast."
But the inmates' attorneys argued that the number of assaults at the prison is high and the result of inadequate supervision because of the prison's short-staffing. And they say guards abandon their posts and do not perform their minimum job functions.
Plaintiffs say this lack of supervision not only results in inmate assaults but also poses a risk in the case of medical emergency. Plaintiffs say one inmate died this year after lying unconscious on the floor of his cell amid his feces and urine, as other inmates banged on the housing unit's door attempting to get medical assistance. Four other inmates have died so far this year.
Inmates regularly take extreme measures to get officers' attention — lighting their cells on fire or cutting themselves and reaching through their door's tray slot.
In one video provided as evidence by plaintiffs, guards did not respond to the scene of a cell fire until five minutes after flames could be seen from outside of the cell.
Inmate Terry Beasley, who testified in March, said he has diabetes and can go into shock and eventually die if his blood sugar drops too low. When asked by plaintiffs how he feels knowing it can take guards minutes to respond in emergency situations, Beasley began crying and said, "it's scary."
Inmates said they had seen cockroaches and mouse droppings throughout the facility, particularly in the kitchen, and had to deal with sewage backing up into cells and bathrooms.
The warden blamed the plumbing problems on inmates.
"In most cases, when we have those issues, it's inmate related. They've either flushed something down they shouldn't have or torn something up," Shaw said.
U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. said he planned to take "several days" to issue a written ruling.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-04-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/05/domestic-disturbance-officer-involved-shooting/488702002/
There are few details available after a domestic disturbance call leads to an officer-involved shooting in Tishomingo County.
Deputies responded to a call at a residence on County Road 294 in the Burnsville area around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, WTVA reported. Possible gunshots had been reported at the scene, according to WCBI.
Investigators said a deputy was involved in a shooting while at the scene. One person was airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/05/man-shot-flowood-police-files-federal-complaint/490666002/
Police looking for a more inexpensive and accessible body camera now may only have to look as far as their own cellphone. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland). Buzz60
A man shot by police in the parking lot of the Flowood Kroger last month has filed a federal complaint on civil rights violations and is seeking damages.
Kenara Vonzell McDavid says in court documents that he was sitting in his car in the Kroger parking lot when "an unreasonably violent Kroger employee verbally assaulted and humiliated him." He had allegedly just driven up to ask about some medication.
McDavid said in the court documents that the Kroger employee used a racial slur as he confronted him.
Shortly thereafter, McDavid said a Flowood police officer approached him, pointed a pistol at him when he started his car, and shot him. According to McDavid, he was shot before he even put the car in gear.
"After Mr. McDavid was verbally assaulted, humiliated, threatened, physically assaulted, and suffered violent battery from the first unreasonable gunshot," the court document reads, "Mr. McDavid avoided imminent death and sustained battery of unreasonably cruel, violent, police gunfire."
Flowood Police Chief Richie McCluskey said that McDavid would not cooperate with police, and that McDavid tried to run over one of the officers after they approached him. He said that's when police opened fire.
McDavid said he was trying to escape alive when he drove off and crashed into a ditch.
"Mr. McDavid is not guilty. I have requested body cam and patrol car video, as well as any other evidence. At this time, I am unaware of any evidence which may justify the use of deadly force during an attempted custodial police detention, since Mr. McDavid was not under arrest when he was repeatedly shot at close range," Yoder said. Yoder said at least nine rounds were fired, striking McDavid six times.
Yoder said in the lawsuit that his client is pleading for "venue and a fair forum."
The complaint, which targets the city of Flowood, Police Chief Richie McCluskey, Mayor Gary Rhodes, the state of Mississippi and others yet to be named. He also seeks damages and a jury trial.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is conducting the probe into the shooting, which is routine for police-involved shootings.
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-04-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/05/state-supreme-court-rules-lgbtq-mom-not-anonymous-sperm-donor-parent-custody-case/490898002/
Jones County Circuit Clerk Bart Gavin said circuit ckerks have been confused by directives from the AG on whether to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. By Geoff Pender
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
The state's highest court on Thursday ruled a chancery judge was wrong to deny parental rights to a woman whose wife had a child before they divorced.
Christina "Chris" Strickland had been kept from the 6-year-old, who shares her last name, for 14 months after Strickland divorced her wife, Michelle Day, in 2015.
Day is the biological mother of the child conceived through in virto fertilization.
More: Mississippi woman seeks parental rights in same-sex divorce
Rankin County Chancery Judge John Grant had ruled the anonymous sperm donor, not Strickland, had parental rights that must be terminated before Strickland could argue her parental rights.
Strickland was given some visitation and required to pay child support, though she was denied full legal rights as a parent.
Mississippi Supreme Court justices overturned Grant's decision, saying Strickland is an equal parent to Day and should be treated like any other parent.
"There was ample evidence the then-married couple jointly and intentionally agreed to have Z.S. (the child) through the use of AI (artificial insemination)," the decision reads.
The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered the case back to Chancery Court to determine the custody of the child using the normal "Albright" analysis, which considers the parents' employment, health, moral fitness, emotional ties to the child, etc.
"I feel this is going to change Mississippi and help other parents out," Strickland told the Clarion Ledger Thursday. "I'm not the only parent out there that's not on the birth certificate of the child they've raised."
The next step for Strickland is to be added to her son's birth certificate, which "finally gives me closure on something I've been asking for since 2011 when my son was born," she said.
Strickland's legal battle has received national attention and serves as a case study in the aftermath of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court marriage equality ruling and a 2016 ruling in which a federal judge found Mississippi's same-sex adoption ban unconstitutional.
Even after their marriage was recognized, the chancery judge did not recognize Strickland's parenthood.
"The court finds two women cannot conceive a child together," Grant wrote. "The court doesn't find its opinion to be a discriminatory statement, but a biological fact."
"The natural father may never come into court. He may never be known and probably won’t be, but he is still a father; and that is a right that our Supreme Court has recognized for many, many years," Grant concluded.
Strickland said that because her case went to the Supreme Court, a new precedent has been set and "it helps everybody out now, not just myself."
New York-based advocacy group Lambda Legal represented Strickland during the Supreme Court hearing. Lambda Legal Counsel Beth Littrell said biology alone does not make you a parent.
Grant's ruling, Littrell said, was "an insult to thousands of Mississippi's families with children who are not genetically tied to both parents."
"Whether you are married to the same sex or not, an anonymous sperm donor should never trump the parental rights of spouses, whether same or different sex, who plan for, provide for, care for, and love their children," she said.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-04-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/06/jackson-potholes-rap-video-going-viral/493117002/
Uber driver Jermaine Johnson decided to express his frustration with the condition of Jackson streets by creating a song about it.
Johnson recorded a video of himself rapping to the tune of "God's Plan" by Drake.
by: Anthony McDougle
date: 2018-04-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/06/investigation-underway-after-suspect-dies-jpd-custody/493537002/
A look at crime numbers in Jackson. Wochit
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is launching an investigation after a suspect died in the custody of the Jackson Police Department.
Authorities responded to America's Best Inn in the 2400 block of U.S. Highway 80 West after 11 p.m. Thursday night regarding a disturbance. At the scene, they were informed an unidentified female had been assaulted by a male, also unidentified, in the parking lot.
The suspect cooperated with officers and was taken into custody and shortly after was observed having complications. American Medical Response responded to the scene to assist the suspect and later informed officer he had died. Preliminary findings by the Hinds County Coroner revealed the death was medically related and is being ruled a natural death.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the actual cause. The identity of the deceased is not yet being released.
by: Justin Vicory
date: 2018-04-05
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/06/judge-jeff-weill-announces-candidacy-state-court-appeals/492720002/
Public Defender Michele Harris criticizes Judge Jeff Weill after he finds her in contempt. Jimmie Gates/The Clarion-Ledger
Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill has announced his candidacy for the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Weill, a former state court prosecutor and Jackson city councilman, has served as a circuit judge the last eight years.
Weill is running for the 4th district, second position, which includes a part of Hinds County and 14 southwestern Mississippi counties.
The seat is currently held by Chief Judge L. Joseph Lee, who is also seeking re-election.
Weill said while the 10 judges on the appeals court are from diverse judicial backgrounds, none has experience as a circuit judge. These judges frequently rule on appeals from circuit courts, lending Weill what he believes to be an upper hand in many cases that appear before the court.
“I firmly believe that adding a circuit court judge who has presided in many complex jury trials will enhance the ability of the appellate court to properly decide appeals from trial courts,” Weill said.
"My time spent in the trenches will bring a much needed practical viewpoint to the process," Weill said.
In a Clarion Ledger breakdown on appeals statistics from circuit judges' rulings from Jan. 1. 2013, to Dec. 31, 2015, with some opinions issued in 2016, Weill had eight of his 38 cases or rulings on motions reversed on appeal, a rate of over 21 percent.
Weill was a former assistant district attorney under DA Dunn Lampton in Pike, Lincoln, Walthall and Copiah counties, where he prosecuted cases in southwest Mississippi.
The Republican Weill was elected twice to Jackson City Council and twice in nonpartisan elections to the Hinds County bench.
Weill had announced late last year that he would not seek re-election. He said he will serve out his term, which ends Dec. 31.
Weill is a graduate of Michigan State University and the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is an elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Tylertown and an active supporter of Stewpot ministries, Meals on Wheels and the Boy Scouts.
Weill, and wife Tracy have been married 30 years and have three sons, Alan, Joshua and Elliot.
The election will be held Nov. 6 for the eight-year term.
The salary for the chief judge of the Court of Appeals went up in 2016 from $108,130 to $147,578. Associate judges’ salary also increased that year from $105,050 to $144,827.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/09/mississippi-prison-conditions-trial-closing-arguments/498547002/
In its lawsuit against Mississippi, the American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center argue that the state has been aware of East Mississippi Correctional Facility's unconstitutionally abusive conditions. Special to Clarion Ledger
(Photo: Special to the Clarion Ledger)
Closing arguments are set in a federal trial in which inmates say they live in unsanitary and excessively violent conditions in a Mississippi prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center argue the conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility are unconstitutionally abusive. The state's lawyers say the prison conditions are acceptable, and many of the prisoners' problems are self-inflicted.
More: Mississippi inmate raped twice behind bars in less than a year
Closing arguments are expected Monday.
The state prison is operated privately under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corps.
Inmates have testified to U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. that they live in poor conditions with inadequate health care.
Warden Frank Shaw has testified that the prison followed state and company protocol and the facility has no worse conditions than other correctional facilities.
by: Sarah Mearhoff
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/09/attorneys-defend-mississippi-prison-conditions/499980002/
Pastors hold prayer vigil over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian and other prisons Wochit
JACKSON — The state of Mississippi has "abandoned its responsibility to provide basic needs" to inmates at a privately run prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical care, an attorney for the prisoners said Monday.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is home to 1,200 inmates, 80 percent of whom have been diagnosed with a mental health problem.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections "receives report after report and does nothing. That is the definition of deliberate indifference," plaintiffs' attorney Erin Monju said in closing arguments from the federal courthouse in Jackson.
Warden Frank Shaw testified during the five-week trial that the prison follows protocol and the facility is no worse than any other. Attorneys for the government defended the facility, including its regular use of solitary confinement.
"Coloring books and timeout isn't going to work for criminals," defense attorney William Siler said.
The prison, located outside of Meridian, is operated under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corp. MTC is footing the bill of the legal defense team, but lawyers are defending the state of Mississippi. Plaintiffs say the state has been aware and complacent of the prison's unconstitutional conditions.
In a SPLC news release sent after Monday's closing arguments, Jody Owens, SPLC's managing attorney for Mississippi, said the state's Department of Corrections "allows this prison to fail at even the most fundamental tasks."
Rev. C.J. Rhodes, pastor of Mt. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, and a member of Clergy for Prison Reform, second from left, leads a prayer vigil with area clergy, following a news conference where on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Monday, April 9, 2018. Rhodes explained why the group was monitoring a federal trial in which inmates say they live in unsanitary and excessively violent conditions at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a state prison that is operated privately under a contract with the Utah-based Management and Training Corps, Monday, April 9, 2018 in Jackson, Miss.
(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)
"The result is a place so dangerous and so violent that it shocks corrections experts, yet the department keeps handing taxpayer money to private companies to run the prison and its services," Owens said.
The state's attorneys said the groups suing Mississippi have an agenda and want to litigate private prisons out of business.
"We need to get out of their (MTC's) way and let them run their prison," Siler said.
Privately run prisons can be a political hot potato. Lawmakers often tout their lowered costs and better performance than state-run facilities, but opponents point to understaffing, health care cuts and a lack of transparency.
One of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' first orders in the Trump administration was to reverse an Obama-era directive phasing out the use of private prisons. It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the private prisons may be needed given the administration's aggressive enforcement of drug and immigration laws.
Several inmates testified during the trial about the conditions inside the prison. They described being jumped or shanked, sometimes in their own cells, with little help from prison guards. Such inmate violence, the warden said, is common.
"It's the nature of prisons," Shaw said. "It's the nature of the beast."
But the inmates' attorneys argued that the number of assaults at the prison is high and the result of inadequate supervision because of the prison's short-staffing. And they say guards abandon their posts and do not perform their minimum job functions.
Plaintiffs say this lack of supervision not only results in inmate assaults but also poses a risk in the case of medical emergency. Plaintiffs say one inmate died this year after lying unconscious on the floor of his cell amid his feces and urine, as other inmates banged on the housing unit's door attempting to get medical assistance. Four other inmates have died so far this year.
Inmates regularly take extreme measures to get officers' attention — lighting their cells on fire or cutting themselves and reaching through their door's tray slot.
In one video provided as evidence by plaintiffs, guards did not respond to the scene of a cell fire until five minutes after flames could be seen from outside of the cell.
Inmate Terry Beasley, who testified in March, said he has diabetes and can go into shock and eventually die if his blood sugar drops too low. When asked by plaintiffs how he feels knowing it can take guards minutes to respond in emergency situations, Beasley began crying and said, "it's scary."
Inmates said they had seen cockroaches and mouse droppings throughout the facility, particularly in the kitchen, and had to deal with sewage backing up into cells and bathrooms.
The warden blamed the plumbing problems on inmates.
"In most cases, when we have those issues, it's inmate related. They've either flushed something down they shouldn't have or torn something up," Shaw said.
U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. said he planned to take "several days" to issue a written ruling.
by: Emily Wagster Pettus
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/04/09/abortion-clinic-widens-mississippi-restrictions-lawsuit/500121002/
Under a bill proposed by Republican state lawmakers, physicians would have to report significantly more information to the state Department of Health Services after they perform an abortion. Wochit
Mississippi's only abortion clinic is expanding its challenge of a state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.
The clinic, Jackson Women's Health Organization, filed papers Monday asking a federal court to block state restrictions that have been the law for years, including a 24-hour waiting period that requires a woman to make two trips to the clinic — one for counseling and one to have the abortion.
The 15-week ban is the most restrictive abortion law in the United States, and the clinic sued the state hours after Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed it into law March 19. A federal judge put it on hold the next day. The clinic argues that the 15-week ban is unconstitutional because it prohibits abortion about eight weeks before a fetus can survive outside the womb.
Nancy Northup is president and CEO of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the clinic. She said the Mississippi restrictions are about "shaming women" and reducing access to abortion.
"As the restrictions pile up and women face higher and higher barriers to the care that they need, young people, women of color, those who live in rural areas and low-income populations suffer the greatest harm," Northup said Monday in a conference call with reporters.
Other longstanding Mississippi restriction being challenged Monday are a requirement that all abortions must be done by a physician and the counseling mandate that the clinic says makes providers give "false, misleading and medically irrelevant information" to any woman seeking an abortion.
"These laws are designed for one purpose only, and that's to put us out of business as well as removing a woman's right to decide her future," Diane Derzis, who owns the Mississippi abortion clinic, said on the conference call.
Bryant said after signing the 15-week ban that the new law "protects maternal health and will further our efforts to make Mississippi the safest place in America for an unborn child."
The 15-week ban and responding challenge set up a confrontation sought by abortion opponents, who are hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable. Current federal law does not. Some legal experts have said a change in the law is unlikely unless the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court changes in a way that favors abortion opponents.
The Mississippi clinic performed 78 abortions in 2017 when the fetus was identified as being 15 weeks or older, the lawsuit says. That's out of about 2,500 abortions performed statewide, mostly at the clinic.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-04-08
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/04/09/week-civil-rights-history-100-000-witness-mlk-funeral-procession/499731002/
Civil rights pioneer Charles McLaurin recalls hearing Martin Luther King Jr. speak — and later playing touch football with him and his staff. Clarion Ledger
April 9, 1865: Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee remarked this morning that it would be “useless and therefore cruel to provoke the further effusion of blood.” He met Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House and surrendered. Ten days later, Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in North Carolina, effectively ending the Civil War.
April 9, 1866: Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 over President Andrew Johnson's presidential veto. The legislation declared that everyone born in the U.S. was now a citizen.
April 9, 1947: In response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation on interstate buses, a group of 16 black and white men rode South together on the first freedom ride, known as the “Journey of Reconciliation.” The Congress of Racial Equality and the Fellowship of Reconciliation sponsored the ride, meant to challenge Jim Crow laws. Two African Americans, Bayard Rustin and Andrew Johnson, served on a chain gang for 30 days after their conviction in North Carolina.
April 9, 1962: Cpl. Roman Ducksworth, a military police officer, was asleep on a bus when he arrived home to Taylorsville, Mississippi. William Kelly, a local policeman, struck Ducksworth and ordered him off the bus. Kelly hit Ducksworth again and then shot him. Kelly claimed he shot Ducksworth in self-defense, and he was never prosecuted. Later he sent a message to Ducksworth’s father: “If I’d known it was your son, I wouldn’t have shot him.” The father replied, “I don’t care whose son it was, you had no business shooting him.” Ducksworth was buried with full military honors, including a 16-gun salute by an integrated honor guard. He is among 40 martyrs listed on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
April 9, 1968: More than 100,000 people observed the mule-drawn coffin of Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. His body had lay in state, "the black suit tidily pressed, the wound in the throat now all but invisible," Time magazine wrote. "Many of those who filed past could not control their tears. Some kissed King's lips; others reverently touched his face. A few women threw their hands in the air and cried aloud in ululating agony." The procession passed by the Georgia Capitol, but Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox refused to close state government in honor of the slain civil rights leader, calling him an “enemy of the country.”
April 10, 1862: At the request of President Abraham Lincoln, Congress pledged financial aid to any state that undertook gradual emancipation with compensation to those who owned slaves. The Confederate states rejected this offer.
April 10, 1956: Three members of the Citizens’ Council assaulted singer Nat King Cole during a segregated performance at the Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama. Police apprehended the attackers, who apparently wanted to abduct Cole as part of their campaign against rock ‘n’ roll, unaware that Cole was a big band singer. Birmingham’s mayor ran backstage and apologized to Cole, an Alabama native. The singer reappeared onstage to a standing ovation.
April 11, 1865: Someone held a light while President Abraham Lincoln delivered his last speech to a crowd gathered in the darkness outside the White House, just two days after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered. Lincoln expressed generosity toward the South, a vision for reforming the Union and support for African-American suffrage. Hearing those words, John Wilkes Booth vowed this would be Lincoln’s last speech, assassinating the president three days later.
April 11, 1955: Roy Wilkins became executive director of the national NAACP after the death of longtime NAACP director Walter White, who had led the NAACP for 26 years. White’s fair complexion had enabled him to pass for white, investigate lynchings and publish the names of those involved. Wilkins went on to lead the NAACP through some of its most difficult years. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson awarded Wilkins the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He served for another decade.
April 11, 1968: President Lyndon Johnson signed a civil rights act that came to be known as the Fair Housing Act. The act outlawed discrimination in the sale, rental or leasing of 80 percent of U.S. housing. It also protected civil rights workers and made it a federal crime to cross state lines with the intention of starting a riot.
April 12, 1861: The American Civil War began, lasting four years. More than 600,000 died in battle — almost as many as died in all other U.S. conflicts combined. During the war, tens of thousands of African Americans fled slavery, escaping to Union lines for freedom. By the end of the war, more than 180,000 African Americans, mostly from the South, went on to fight with the Union forces, and slavery as an institution no longer existed.
April 12, 1864: The Battle of Fort Pillow took place at Fort Pillow, 40 miles north of Memphis. According to Union sources, after the Union troops surrendered, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s men massacred the mostly African-American troops in cold blood. Confederate sources insisted, however, that the troops never surrendered. In his memoir, U.S. Gen. Ulysses Grant quoted Forrest as justifying the slaughter: “The river was dyed with the blood of the slaughtered for 200 yards. … It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that Negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners.”
April 12, 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed along with fellow ministers Fred Shuttlesworth and Ralph Abernathy after they were arrested on Good Friday in Birmingham, for “parading without a permit” by marching downtown.
April 13, 1873: On Easter Sunday, the White League, a paramilitary group intent on securing white rule in Louisiana, clashed with Louisiana’s almost all-black state militia. The death toll was staggering: only three members of the White League died, but some 100 African-American men were killed. Of those, nearly half were killed in cold blood after they surrendered. What happened became known as the Colfax Massacre.
April 13, 1964: Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie "Lilies of the Field." Within three years, he was Hollywood’s top box office draw. In 1999, the American Film Institute named him one of the Greatest Male Stars of all time. In addition to acting, Poitier went on to direct movies, write a memoir and serve as an ambassador. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor.
April 14, 1775: The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage held four meetings. Reformed in 1784 as the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, Benjamin Franklin later served as its president.
April 14, 1853: Harriet Tubman made her first of 19 trips back to the South to ensure that hundreds of others who were enslaved also made their way to freedom. She was never caught, despite a $40,000 reward for her capture. In an interview, she recalled her own freedom, saying, “I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now I was free. There was such glory over everything … I felt like I was in heaven.”
April 14, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Vice President Andrew Johnson took over as President.
April 14, 1957: Malcolm X led a demonstration outside the police station in Harlem to protest the beating of a Muslim, demanding his transfer to a hospital.
April 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson broke through the color barrier in Major League Baseball, becoming the first African-American player in the 20th century. He was active in the civil rights movement and became the first African-American television analyst in Major League Baseball and the first African-American vice-president of a major American corporation. In recognition of his achievements, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Major League Baseball has retired his number “42,” which became the title of the movie about his breakthrough. Ken Burns’ four-hour documentary reveals that Robinson did more than just break the color barrier — he became a leader for equal rights for all Americans.
by: CJ Rhodes
date: 2018-04-03
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/04/if-gov-bryant-signs-law-drug-courts-would-improve/486365002/
Last Monday, when Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 387 into law, the state of Mississippi once again demonstrated its commitment in recent years to making our justice system fairer, less costly, and better at keeping Mississippi safe. The new law provides that incarceration cannot follow the nonpayment of fees or fines until the judge makes an individualized inquiry into the defendant’s ability to pay, and only upon finding that nonpayment was willful is incarceration allowed. The law also grants judges the authority to work out payment plans for indigent defendants.
Clergy for Prison Reform is humbled to have been a part of the confluence of diverse actors — Americans for Prosperity, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, Right on Crime and the Southern Poverty Law Center — seeking this single moral outcome, and we applaud Representatives Gipson and Bomgar for championing this legislation.
We also urge the Governor to sign into law another important piece of legislation. On March 27, 169 state senators and representatives voted to pass the final version of Senate Bill 2841. Not one legislator voted against it. Signing SB 2841 into law would help improve rehabilitation efforts that make communities safer.
SB 2841, would improve drug court programs and remove barriers to successful reentry. Under current state law, drivers’ licenses can currently be suspended for any violation of the controlled substance laws, regardless of whether the individual was driving. SB 2841 would narrowly tailor suspensions to convictions that involve impaired driving. The bill would also provide that people serving probation or parole shall not be denied earned-discharge credits solely based on nonpayment of fees or fines if a determination of indigence is made. This essentially would extend the protections of HB 387 to ensure poverty is not being criminalized in Mississippi.
A couple days after SB 2841 passed, it was Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, and I could not help but contextualize reforms passed by the Mississippi Legislature with the story of "the good thief."
For those unfamiliar with the story, two men were crucified at the same time as Jesus, and according to Luke 23:39–43, when one of the men mocked Jesus, the other man — the "good thief" — rebuked him for it, saying in part, "We have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." After confessing his guilt, he asked Jesus to be his savior, and Jesus replied to him, "Amen I say to you today you will be with me in Paradise."
In his Homily “De Latrone beato,” Eusebius of Emissa wrote, "Although punishment began in the thief, it was perfected in a new manner in the martyr.” Saint Chrysostom wrote, “We find no one before the thief to have merited the promise of paradise, not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, not Moses, not the Prophets or Apostles, but before all we find the thief.” Thus, even while serving his sentence, a child of God is capable of tremendous redemption. A system that limits his freedom to his wealth can be said to be neither fair nor just.
The Rev. CJ Rhodes is president of Clergy for Prison Reform and pastor at Mount Helm Baptist Church in Jackson.
by: Christina Dent
date: 2018-04-04
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/04/05/everyone-benefits-ending-our-criminal-approach-drug-use/483385002/
(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Opioid overdoses. Drug addictions. Lives torn apart. Those are the headlines today. These are terrible problems in our society and I think they have been caused in part because we don’t treat drug use and drug addiction as public health crises. Whenever we hear the word drug, our first response is, “let’s get law enforcement on this.” Instead, I think we should be calling public health officials.
For decades we’ve taken this public health issue and attached a criminal justice label to it. And it just hasn’t worked. In fact, the problems have gotten worse, not better. Millions of lives have been destroyed by our criminal approach, on top of the lives destroyed by drug use itself. Yet our reaction to the destruction has largely been to enforce our criminal approach more zealously. We’ve ramped up policing and given harsher sentences, but the destruction only gets worse. This is predictable. Doubling the trauma will never produce flourishing. It leaves people crushed and families torn apart.
More: Drugs kill more Americans than guns, cars and AIDS. How we got here.
More: Mississippi toughening up narcotics overdose investigations
The criminal justice system certainly has its place. It is the right tool for acts of aggression such as theft, rape, and murder. There are victims in aggressive crimes, and they deserve justice. Policing those acts makes our communities safer. Drug use, though, isn’t aggressive. It has no victim. Yet we are treating it as a crime, which not only fails to address why a person is using drugs, it fails to offer a solution to actually help them.
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I’m a politically conservative Christian wife and mother of three young sons. I value strong families and productive citizens. But criminalizing people for drug use is producing broken families and unemployable citizens through the crippling effect of a criminal record. If we really want flourishing people, we will lay down the wrong tools and focus all of our efforts and taxpayer dollars on the right tools – research-based prevention, treatment for addiction, and community support for people in recovery.
Recently I saw a young man in a local court who had been arrested for possession of an illegal drug and been in jail for several months. He had never been in trouble with the law before and had a wife and young daughter at home. Who are we helping by imprisoning this young man? We’ve traumatized him with jail, destabilized his family, spent thousands of taxpayer dollars, potentially wrecked his employment opportunities for life, and haven’t addressed the health issue of his drug use. We’re losing on every front. Yet this scenario is playing out for thousands of Mississippians every year. Everyone can agree that this man shouldn’t have been using an illegal drug. But if our response to his bad decision only makes life worse for him, for his family, and for the rest of us, that’s the definition of a failed policy.
We should set aside the criminal threats and address the actual issue and offer people treatment, employment, and connection to the community. This won’t fix everything, but it will give more people the chance to get the help they need and live productive lives with their families. We don’t have to crush people who are broken. We can work towards giving every person the best opportunity to thrive. But we can only move towards that when we stop trying to scare people into the behavior we want and traumatizing them when they don’t comply. I supported a criminal approach to drug use for most of my life because I thought it was advancing my conservative values. I realize now that it’s working directly against them. Drug use and addiction are complex issues that demand our engagement, but they’re not criminal ones.
Christina Dent and her family live in Ridgeland. She can be reached at christina.b.dent@gmail.com.
by: The Clarion-Ledger
date: 2018-04-06
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/readers/2018/04/07/what-youre-saying-mike-espy-david-hogg-and-federal-judges/494384002/
Watch out NRA, David Hogg is coming for you
David Hogg, a student who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, is a powerful spokesman for more effective gun regulation and control. He has taken the moral high ground on this issue. His criticism of Republicans, of the National Rifle Association, and of specific public figures who support the NRA has been, shall we say, vicious. He takes on all comers like a trained boxer.
Laura Ingraham, a FOX News “Hedda Hopper,” whose primary job on her talk show is to assassinate character, found this out the hard way when she mentioned that Hogg, who has an excellent grade point average, was not selected by some of the colleges he had applied for. Hogg responded with a “right cross” and several hard body blows that sent Laura’s sponsors running for cover and forced Hedda, I mean Laura, to apologize for the sake of her job.
David is tough. The right hates him and will be “gunning” for him in the future. I feel sorry for the right. Incidentally, the right hates him not for his stance on guns, but because he’s better at what the right does than they are. Keep your guard up, NRA. This “dangerous” child is coming for you.
Joe Bush
Terry
Maybe Mississippi should ignore a federal judge
The latest change in the abortion law in Mississippi was put on hold by a federal judge. I think that we should ignore his authority over Mississippi and simply shut down the lone abortion clinic here.
If California can ignore immigration law and the authority of the federal government just to get Democratic voters then why can't we ignore their authority to save lives?
Just saying.
John Mark McNair
Thanks for the John Perkins story on Easter
Thank you for running the wonderful article on the front page of the Easter Sunday edition on John Perkins. He is a wise godly man who has led by example and given his life on behalf of racial reconciliation the way racial reconciliation should be done.
Like so many social ills in our culture, the solution to racial conflict begins with our hearts. Perkins' ability to forgive the injustices he suffered in the 1960’s and 1970’s and the positive impact of his voice in the middle of so much division and bitterness should inspire every person who calls Jesus, “Lord.”
Marilyn H. Tinnin
Editor and Publisher
Mississippi Christian Living
Mike Espy is a flawed candidate and not good for Mississippi
In the article regarding Mike Espy as the forerunner for the Senate seat ahead of Republicans, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Chris McDaniel: I want to ask people if they remember the shame brought to Mississippi by his scandal?
Espy was accused of taking kickbacks from Tyson Foods. Bill Clinton appointed Espy as his first agricultural appointee. Espy was charged with lying to the prosecutor and tampering with evidence by having an employee attempt to destroy evidence. Espy resigned under fire but was indicted. He was acquitted of all charges.
Do we need this to shame Mississippi again? This happened in 1997. Do 20 years erase the shame on the State of Mississippi?
Mary Baughn
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-04-01
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/02/police-involved-shooting-new-details-pearl/479691002/
When breaking news happens, we want you to see it first hand. Thank you for trusting the Clarion Ledger. Wochit
Pearl Police Department said a weekend officer-involved shooting stemmed from a call of a pedestrian lying on the side of I-20.
A call to 911 described someone who appeared to be in the fetal position near the edge of the roadway. An officer was dispatched to check on the pedestrian, later identified as Oscar Willie Leontez Curtis, 24, of East Cohea Street in Jackson.
The officer accidentally passed Curtis' location and pulled to the side of the road and turned on his emergency blue lights before beginning to walk back toward the pedestrian, police said.
The officer, who was wearing a uniform and carrying a flashlight, announced himself to Curtis as he approached, according to officials.
As he approached, Curtis allegedly pulled a gun and shot at the officer. The officer returned fire, non-fatally striking the suspect.
Residents of the area told the Clarion Ledger that they heard sounds like fireworks or backfires, and then heard someone yell, "Drop the gun," multiple times.
Curtis was transported to a local hospital where he was evaluated, treated and subsequently released back into the custody of the Pearl Police Department. After being booked, he was transported to Rankin County Jail.
Original story:: Pearl officer involved in shooting; man arrested
Curtis has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a felon, brandishing a weapon, and discharging a firearm within the city limits.
His preliminary court date is set for 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The involved officer has been placed on administrative leave per policy while the incident is being investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-03-31
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/04/01/officer-shoots-suspect-pearl-circumstances-unclear/476777002/
Two Mississippi officers were saved by their bullet resistant vests in one week. Therese Apel
Pearl residents said they heard gunshots Saturday and then heard someone yell, "Put the gun down!" multiple times in a shooting that involved a Pearl police officer.
A release from Pearl Police Department said the shooting at 8:56 p.m. took place on I-20 East between Pearson Road and Airport Road.
"Thankfully and by the grace of God combined with the officer’s training and quick response, the officer did not sustain any physical injuries as a result of the incident," the release reads.
Oscar Willie Leontez Curtis, 24, of East Cohea Street in Jackson, was charged with one count of assault on a law enforcement officer. He was transported to the Rankin County Jail with bond to be set at a later date.
Pearl police, in spite of making statements asking the public to "assist in the investigation by not speculating, assuming, or making social media posts that are unfounded or untrue," released no information on what transpired before the officer and Curtis reportedly had guns on each other.
"Due to the incident being an officer-involved shooting, no other details can be released at this time," the release reads.
More: Jackson mayor's task force will explore naming officers in police-involved shootings
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in, officials said. Confirmation from MBI is being sought.
"The City of Pearl, as well as Rankin County law enforcement, will not tolerate any attempts to harm our communities, let alone our public safety officers that have taken oaths to protect and preserve our society," the release said.
It's unclear if other Rankin County law enforcement were actually involved in the investigation.
This is a developing story.
by: USA Today
date: 2018-03-30
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/04/01/other-view-police-shootings-arent-just-local-matter/472610002/
In the space of 10 days, two more unarmed black men died at the hands of police — one in Sacramento, another in Houston — and two Baton Rouge police officers escaped being charged in the 2016 shooting death of another black man.
The incidents have revived outrage over an issue that nationwide protests shined a spotlight on in 2014: the disproportionate number of unarmed black men killed by police.
The earlier shootings energized the Black Lives Matter movement. President Obama and his Justice Department helped defuse tensions by investigating some of the shootings and finding systemic racial bias in police departments in cities from Ferguson, Mo., to Baltimore to Chicago. And for a time, Americans sat up and paid attention.
But promises made back then have mostly fallen by the wayside. And it is as tragic as it is inexcusable that so little has changed.
More: Black lives matter as part of the whole: Column
Stephon Clark was buried Thursday in Sacramento, 11 days after he was killed by city police who pursued him after reports of a man vandalizing vehicles in Clark’s neighborhood. Within seconds of shouting, “Show me your hands. Gun! Gun! Gun!” two officers fired 20 shots. Twenty shots.
Only there was no gun — just a cellphone found by the body of the father of two, who was killed in his grandmother’s backyard. Timothy Davis, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, asserted that “the shooting was legally justified” and that Clark “took a shooting stance and pointed an object at the police officers.”
Actually, the shooting is still under investigation, and no conclusions have been reached. One of the officers commented minutes after the shooting that Clark “kind of approached us hands out and then fell down.” Nothing about a “shooting stance.” Another question: Why did body cam audio go mute minutes after the shooting?
Clark’s death is no singular event. Days later in Houston, another unarmed black man, who’d been standing in a busy intersection with his pants down, was shot by an officer seconds later. No body cam this time. But the man's family reported that he’d been depressed since his two children drowned.
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This year already, 263 people have been fatally shot by police nationally. That’s about three per day and on track to repeat the death toll — nearly 1,000 annually — in recent years, according to a Washington Post database, which does not attempt to distinguish between justified and unjustified shootings.
Even for those viewed as unjustified, few police officers are ever held accountable. Since 2005, just 85 officers have been charged with a crime. Less than 40% have been convicted, some on lesser charges.
News organizations are far ahead of the government when it comes to tracking this important issue. The federal government can tell you that 72 “non-juvenile spotted owls" were identified in a 2016 survey. But the FBI can’t say how many people died at the hands of police.
Despite community and national outrage, President Trump’s spokeswoman made his stance clear Wednesday: Such shootings are a "local matter."
They are anything but. Such shootings taint all honorable, hard-working police officers and put them in more danger. More broadly, civil rights — including the right to live — are a national matter. If minorities are being killed disproportionately, the federal government has a duty to help hold those responsible to account and to end this scourge.
No longer should black families cry out in anguish, as Clark’s grandmother did this week, and have to beg, “Please give us justice.”
— USA Today
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-03-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/23/mhp-cadets-abuse-lawsuit/452232002/
Mississippi is in dire straits with fewer troopers on the road than ever. High ranking officials say it's time to do something. Therese Apel/ The Clarion-Ledger
A Mississippi state trooper and training director who was suspended in February on abuse allegations says cadets were forced to make claims of abuse or they would be kicked out of class.
Gayle Miller McMullin says in a recently filed supplemental complaint that the cadets were coerced by Col. Chris Gilliard to submit documentation of "bogus" abuse that resulted in the unpaid suspension of McMullin and several training officers.
WAPT-TV reported Thursday that McMullin says her bosses are targeting her for filing a racial discrimination lawsuit last year. The complaint says officers have witnessed retaliation against McMullin. It says the ordered suspensions and investigations are meant to intimidate the suspended officers into refusing to testify in McMullin's lawsuit.
It's unclear if WAPT-TV asked Gilliard to comment.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-03-22
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/23/mississippi-toughening-up-narcotics-overdose-investigations/453882002/
Teresa always knew she was loved - but then something in her changed. She got to the point of doing "a thousand dollars of dope a day," she estimates. Wade Patterson/Special to Clarion Ledger
In the wake of a national opioid epidemic, Mississippi is toughening its investigations of drug overdose deaths.
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics announced this week that officials will now respond to the scene of every suspected overdose in the state in order to assist coroners and medical examiners in reporting deaths by opioid overdose.
Overdose reporting forms are also now available online as part of the Bureau's effort. Coroners and medical examiners are required by state law to report overdose deaths to the MBN, but they previously reported by fax. With online reporting, MBN hopes to make reporting faster and simpler.
MBN Director John Dowdy said he hopes the more dogged overdose investigations will help the Bureau crack down on deadly drug dealers more quickly.
"It is vitally important to be proactive in identifying the source of illegal narcotics," Dowdy told The Associated Press.
By immediately showing up to the scene of an overdose, Dowdy said MBN officials can launch into an investigation as soon as possible, talking to potential witnesses or recovering cell phone records to find the source of the fatal drug.
More than 50 state coroners and medical examiners comply with state overdose reporting mandates, according to the MBN, although there are 82 Mississippi coroners. Dowdy attributed this discrepancy to some counties not having "any overdoses to report," and noted that the number of reporting coroners has nearly doubled since 2016.
According to the Bureau, 255 Mississippians were reported to have died by drug overdose in 2017.
President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national public health state of emergency in October. More than 42,000 Americans died by opioid overdose in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- five times more than in 1999.
by: Associated Press
date: 2018-03-24
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/25/lgbt-pride-parade-held-starkville-city-initially-denied-permit/457074002/
(Photo: Luisa Porter/ The Commercial Dispatch, via AP)
STARKVILLE – Thousands of people have marched peacefully in the first-ever gay pride parade in a Mississippi city where officials had tried to block the event.
It happened Saturday in Starkville, weeks after the city council initially denied a parade permit. The council later reversed its decision.
Mayor Lynn Spruill tells The Associated Press about 2,500 people marched, without incident.
Video on the Starkville Daily News website showed people with rainbow balloons. Some roller skated. Several walked with their dogs behind a sign saying, “Unleash Pride.”
The video showed a protester with a sign calling homosexuality an “abomination.”
Starkville is home to Mississippi State University, a land-grant school where fans ring cowbells at athletic events. A photo on the mayor’s Twitter account showed a cowbell covered in tape forming a rainbow pattern.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-03-23
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/24/mississippi-prison-industries-loses-3-2-m-fires-ceo/415867002/
Mississippi Prison Industries has lost $3.2 million over the past two years, and a legislative watchdog found a lack of receipts and financial controls.
The nonprofit’s board on Wednesday fired Brad Curtis as CEO, marking the second termination of its leader over the past several years. Jeff Solari is now serving in his place.
Bob Baughn, who serves on the 13-member board, said the only reason the board fired Curtis was that they “just lost confidence in his leadership.”
A review by, the state's legislative watchdog, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee, found that “many invoices from vendors … were not located in the office.”
And in a sample of travel expenses, the agency “discovered instances where receipts were not attached to the expense reports to substantiate the travel expenditure or the business purpose.”
Baughn knew nothing about any of this, he said. “We’re totally in the dark.”
He said an audit of the nonprofit just took place. “They said we’re fine,” he said. “They’ve given us a clean bill of health.”
Rep. Jerry Turner, who chairs the House Committee on Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency, said despite Mississippi Prison Industries qualifying as a nonprofit, there is no question it enjoys support from taxpayers.
The nonprofit benefits from the almost free labor from the state inmates, he said.
In addition, the nonprofit receives a state grant of more than $250,000, sometimes exceeding $400,000.
Turner wonders where the taxpayer money ends and nonprofit funding begins. “It’s hard to follow the money,” he said.
In fiscal 2017, the nonprofit did see a bump in sales, rising from $6.2 million to more than $10.6 million, largely from a contract with Vero Blue, which builds fish tanks.
Baughn said this business was “keeping us afloat," but is no longer in place. “Hopefully we’ll get the fish back, but we have a couple of other big things lined up that have not been finalized yet,” he said. “That will help a whole lot.”
If those businesses pan out, "we'll be back on good footing financially," he said. "That's one reason we changed leadership — to go a different direction."
In 1990, the state Legislature created the nonprofit, aimed at helping inmates transition from prison to the outside world.
Inmates may be able to learn skills involved in sewing, printing, metal fabrication and recycling. There is also a Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical "clean room."
But unlike the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, inmates don’t receive certification, Turner said.
The Republican from Baldwyn said he has been unhappy with the nonprofit because, despite repeated urgings from lawmakers, it has failed to collaborate with community colleges.
When he toured the nonprofit’s facilities, several inmates shared what sounded like rehearsed lines, he said.
As far as he has seen, he said, “it seems to me they’ve just been more interested in being a money machine than in rehabilitating prisoners.”
Prison Industries officials have long touted the nonprofit as a way to reduce recidivism among inmates, but they have puzzlingly failed to track these numbers on a consistent basis.
In their latest presentation to lawmakers, they cited a statistic from several years ago — a 20-percent recidivism rate (well below the state's rate then of 38 percent).
Meanwhile, critics are challenging benefits.
“As a small business owner who has lost business to Mississippi Prison Industries Corp., I do not believe they should exist,” said Rankin County businessman David Stephens. “History has shown that paying prisoners 25 cents per hour to produce a product, which allows the ‘boss’ to make $100,000 a year, is not the answer. Using prison labor to compete with private industry is unfair to Mississippi businesses, Mississippi taxpayers and even to the inmate.”
The nonprofit trains about 600 inmates at a time.
Tax returns for the nonprofit raise questions about its handling of money.
In its 2015 return, the nonprofit listed travel expenses of $242,742 — nearly twice as much as any other year.
That same year, the nonprofit, which had come under attack from some lawmakers and others, spent more than $537,000 on lobbying the state Legislature.
“Why are they spending high dollars for a lobbying firm like Butler Snow?” Turner asked. “It’s just ridiculous.”
At one point, officials from the nonprofit planned to buy property in Tupelo for a second place for inmates to work, he said. “They had not carried this before the board. The governor knew nothing about it.”
He said he attended a public meeting where the plans were discussed, asking nonprofit officials if any inmates were in line for certification in their areas of training.
“No, not at this point,” he quoted the officials as replying.
He asked if the nonprofit was bringing in merchandise and simply repackaging it.
The response he said he received: “We don’t really know.”
Baughn told the Clarion Ledger that certification in training would be something that the state Department of Corrections would handle. "We give (inmates) the skills," he said. "We're a quasi-state agency."
A new PEER report on the nonprofit is expected this spring.
“It’s not finished yet,” said Executive Director James Barber. “It will be presented in April to the PEER Committee.”
For years, the nonprofit has provided uniforms and socks to inmates, and the state has paid the nonprofit for that service.
Continued losses led the nonprofit to see its cash shrink from nearly $2.8 million in fiscal 2016 to less than $600,000 a year later. The net position has shrunk from more than $5 million to less than $3.3 million.
The PEER review raises questions about the nonprofit’s survival, saying it must rely on continued growth and diversification “to sustain growth in a fragile economy, faced with state government spending cuts.”
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-03-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/26/youre-probably-overpaying-prescriptions-mississippi-making-easier-find-out/449323002/
Learn about prescription drug trends. Wochit
If you have a copay, chances are you've overpaid for a prescription at some point.
That's because an insurance copay can be more expensive than the cash price of the drug — more expensive than if you'd had no insurance and paid out of pocket.
And because of "gag clauses" in contracts between pharmacies and the insurance claims payers, you'd never know this. Until now.
In a bill Gov. Phil Bryant signed in March, which will take effect in July, insurers can no longer prevent pharmacists from telling patients whether their copay is higher than the cash cost of their medication.
A couple of weeks ago, Valerie McClellan went to the Kroger pharmacy in Madison to pick up a prescription for an allergy medication. She learned the copay was going to cost her $50.
"I must have gone 'whoa,'" McClellan said, because the pharmacist did something unusual: he told McClellan how she could get the medication for just $10 by using a coupon online.
"At the time, I remember thinking, 'Wow, I've never had a pharmacist tell me where I can go to save some money,'" she said.
Insurance copays don't take into account the actual price of the medication, so a beneficiary will pay the same amount — whether $5, $25 or $50 — even if the drug is less expensive.
"The consumers, they think that they have insurance, therefore the insurance company or the pharmacy benefit manager is helping lower their drug costs," said Robert Dozier, executive director of the Mississippi Independent Pharmacies Association. "And in some cases, it's not."
In a study released in March, customers paid copays that effectively overcharged them for medications nearly one-fourth of the time.
The analysis, conducted by University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, included 1.6 million people who paid for 9.5 million prescriptions.
The study's authors are calling it the "Copay Clawback Phenomenon" because the overpayments — the difference between the copay and the cash price of the prescription — go to the pharmacy benefit manager, the middlemen that pay drug claims for insurance companies.
And until a few weeks ago, many pharmacists in Mississippi couldn't tell the patient what was going on.
Pharmacy benefit managers in the state were able to include "gag clauses" as part of their contract, so pharmacists couldn't notify a patient if the cost of their prescription was cheaper than their copay, even if they asked.
With a bill this legislative session, Mississippi joined 14 states that have enacted laws prohibiting these gag orders.
"It gives us an extra tool to help people without the fear of retribution," said Jackson's Beemon Drugs owner Lester Hailey. "We're proud of the state for passing this and giving us the freedom to save some money for the consumers. I think it's a great step."
Some pharmacy benefit managers include Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and OptumRx. Express Scripts and CVS Caremark both told Clarion Ledger they do not endorse the use of gag orders.
OptumRx and CVS Health have both faced lawsuits alleging they use the clawbacks. OptumRx told NBC it supports charging the lowest amount to customers while CVS has outright denied the allegation.
Several other insurers face lawsuits regarding the alleged scheme.
Beemon Drugs on Northside Drive in Jackson.
On March 8, Gov. Phil Bryant signed the Prescription Drugs Consumer Affordable Alternative Payment Options Act, sponsored by House Public Health and Human Services Chairman Sam Mims, R-McComb, and others, encouraging pharmacies to communicate with customers about cheaper payment options.
"I feel awesome that that's changed now, that you can have that conversation with your pharmacist, and they can assist you," McClellan said.
Hydrocodone, an opioid, is the most prescribed medication in Mississippi. In the Schaeffer Center study, patients were overcharged for the pill more than one-third of the time. For folks whose copays were higher than the cost of hydrocodone, the average upcharge totaled $6.94.
For other drugs, the average overpayment was much higher — $14.56 for the cholesterol medication Crestor, $17.55 for fluticasone propionate nasal spray and almost $20 for bronchitis medication Ventolin.
For four drugs — zolpidem tartrates like Ambien, cholesterol medication simvastatin, calcium blocker amlodipine besylate and prednisone steroid — patients were overcharged more than half of the time.
Around the time McClellan bought the allergy medication, she said she also paid out of pocket, instead of a copay, for her husband's heart medication, saving her roughly $30.
Add it up, McClellan said, and that's a monthly water bill. Or a tank full of gas.
Had the pharmacist not told her about other payment options, McClellan said she wouldn't have known to ask.
"We just accept that insurance is this, my copay is this, and that's it," she said. "We've been taught we don't have any power over what doctors charge, what medications cost. We just pay it."
That may be starting to change. In an often difficult-to-navigate health care system, Mississippians can save money by asking their pharmacist if their copay is higher than the out-of-pocket cost of their prescription.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2017-12-01
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/03/26/week-civil-rights-history-march-26-through-april-1/458311002/
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Director Pamela Junior talks about the new museum's central exhibition before presenting a question which may provoke introspection in visitors. Sarah Warnock
March 26, 1920: Civil rights pioneer Gladys Noel Bates was born in McComb, Mississippi. An African-American teacher, she earned only half of what her white counterparts earned in Mississippi. In 1948, she sued for equal pay and was represented by NAACP's Thurgood Marshall. The district fired both her and her husband, John. They were barred from teaching elsewhere in the state, but Tougaloo College, a private all-black college that served as a stronghold for civil rights activities, hired her and brought attention to her plight. The couple eventually moved to Denver, where both were hired as teachers. Although the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case four years later, the fight proved worthwhile. Mississippi began paying black teachers more. Bates died in 2010.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met one time, a brief encounter in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 1964.
(Photo: Library of Congress)
March 26, 1937: President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed William H. Hastie as the first African-American federal magistrate judge. Hastie served as a judge in the Virgin Islands before becoming dean of the Howard Law School in 1939. Two years after being appointed to aid Secretary of War Henry L. Stinson in reforming the military's segregationist policies, Hastie resigned from the position to protest the "reactionary policies and discriminatory practices." In 1949, President Harry Truman appointed him judge of the 3rd United States Circuit Court of Appeals, making him the first African American to be appointed as a federal appeals court judge. After leaving the bench, he aided Thurgood Marshall in the NAACP's groundbreaking litigation.
March 26, 1964: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met for the only time — a brief encounter in Washington, D.C. "The two seem inextricably linked in the popular consciousness," This Day in Civil Rights History said. "Malcolm was from the North, King was from the South. Malcolm represented the city, while King fought for the rights of the rural poor. Both men were dynamic speakers and intellectuals. And both, sadly, were assassinated at the age of 39."
March 27, 1867: In what may have been the nation’s first sit-in, a group of black men boarded a “whites only” streetcar in Charleston, South Carolina, sitting among the white passengers. The conductor ordered them to move. They stayed. The police ordered them to move. They stayed. The driver unhitched the horses and left the streetcar. Protests expanded beyond the single line, and police arrested 11. The continuing protests led African Americans to win the right to ride in the streetcars. Their victory expanded in June when the discrimination of railroads, horse-cars and steamboats were also banned.
March 28, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy and James Lawson led a march of sanitation workers in Memphis. More than 1,300 workers had gone on strike after the deaths of two garbage men crushed in the back of a truck. The city had refused to recognize their union and, in response, had hired strikebreakers. As the march moved down Beale Street, some broke windows and looted. The march quickly ended, and King vowed to have a nonviolent march April 5. King didn't live to see that day.
March 29, 1956: Mississippi created a segregationist watchdog agency, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, headed by the governor. The commission infiltrated civil rights groups, smeared civil rights workers and got them fired from their jobs. Soon, other Southern states, such as Alabama, created their own commissions.
March 29, 1973: Tom Bradley became the first African-American mayor for the city of Los Angeles. He went on to serve five terms from 1973 to 1993, narrowly losing a run for governor of California in 1982.
March 30, 1870: States ratified the 15th Amendment, extending the right to vote to all men, regardless of race or whether or not they had been enslaved before.
March 31, 1870: Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, became the first African American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment. Peterson served as a school principal and later became the city’s first black officeholder and the first black person to ever serve on a jury. In New Jersey, March 31 is recognized as Thomas Mundy Peterson Day, honoring his historic vote.
April 1, 1950: Charles Richard Drew, father of the blood bank, died. This African-American physician's expertise led to huge blood banks in early World War II. He was fired when he challenged the racial segregation of blood as unscientific.
April 1, 1952: Chancellor Collins J. Seitz ordered the desegregation of Hockessin Elementary and Claymont High School in Delaware based on assessment of "separate but equal" public school facilities required by the Delaware constitution.
April 1, 1964: Sit-ins at restaurants and hotels in St. Augustine, Florida, ended in the arrests of more than 280 people. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his support to the protests and was arrested in June 11 when he tried to eat at the Monson Motel Restaurant in town. On June 5, the beach cottage where he was supposed to stay was riddled with bullets.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-03-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/26/mississippi-attorney-general-investigating-facebook-user-privacy-practices/459678002/
Shares of Facebook fell more than 5 percent Monday after the Federal Trade Commission said it's investigating the social network over data privacy. Newslook
(Photo: USA Today Network)
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood sent a letter to Facebook Inc. last week putting the social media company on notice to preserve any relevant information for an investigation into the company’s user privacy practices.
Facebook has allegedly provided users’ personal information to third parties without users’ consent or knowledge. The investigation covers the time period starting in November 2013 and forward, according to a news release.
Hood is investigating whether Facebook violated the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act when it gave permission to University of Cambridge Professor Aleksandr Kogan to harvest information of users who downloaded his app, thisisyourdigitallife. Types of information collected included user location, friends of the user, and user activity on the social media platform, which was then sold to a third party.
The Federal Trade Commission is officially investigating the potential misuse of the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users by the company Cambridge Analytica, which had worked for the Trump presidential campaign.
The letter sent to Facebook served as a litigation hold notice, stating that parties have “a duty to preserve potentially relevant information that may be used as evidence in pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation.” It asked Facebook to preserve both paper and electronic documents that would provide information relating to this investigation, specifically “any and all documents and electronically stored information related to Dr. Aleksandr Kogan and his creation and use of an app called “thisisyourdigitallife” that used Facebook to pass data to SCL/Cambridge Analytica.”
“Consumers are repeatedly being victimized by big business’ failure to properly safeguard their privacy rights,” said Hood. “These companies are entrusted with our most personal information and need to be held accountable when they breach that trust. This is why we sued Google, which mined the data of students who used their educational software. We also took the issue to Congress, which just recently passed a bill that no longer gives immunity to websites that allow advertisers like backpage.com to advertise for child sex trafficking. Now we’re investigating Facebook, another everyday platform people use that is all the while collecting their personal information. Federal government is no longer big brother — these internet companies are big brother, and there have to be rules they must follow.”
Hood joined a bipartisan coalition with 36 state attorneys general in sending a separate letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, raising questions about the social networking site’s policies and practices, including:
Hood reminds Mississippians to check the security settings on their social media accounts, paying close attention to any area that offers options for sharing data with applications connected to that social media platform. Users should also be careful of clicking on any links that they have not verified as a trusted source.
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-03-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/03/26/jackson-police-chief-interview/458752002/
The chief has been largely out of the public eye until March, when he sat down with reporter Therese Apel. Therese Apel
Interim Jackson Police Chief Anthony Moore's name wasn't well-known to the public when he was announced as the successor to former Chief Lee Vance, but among law enforcement circles it was much different.
The soft-spoken Moore is known among his contemporaries for being a good leader and a hard worker. For more than 30 years, Moore says he has taken great pride in serving the city he loves. Subsequently, he wants to see a good relationship between police and residents.
"Jackson's been my heart. I was raised here and been here all my life. I've had other opportunities, but this is my heart," he said. "I've decided this is where I want to be.
"I believe in Jackson, I want it to be one of the safest places around. I also believe in the concept of community policing. ... If we're all on the same team, we can tackle the crime."
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba named Moore, who held the rank of lieutenant prior to his appointment, to the position on Jan. 2.
"What’s most impressive about Mr. Moore is not only the ideas and energy he has but the respect he garners from his peers," the mayor said at the time. "That’s what stood out above all. After talking to several officers and putting his name forward as a candidate in meetings with rank-and-file officers, they all spoke highly of him."
Moore joined Jackson Police Department in the mid-1980s as a patrol officer in Precinct 3 and served in that capacity for about nine years.
"Then I moved to another unit and trained some officers for a few years," he said.
Following his training days he spent almost 20 years in the detective bureau, he said. He worked in auto theft, robbery/homicide, and the gun unit.
After being promoted to sergeant, Moore started supervising the gun unit and began working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Task Force.
Moore's strong relationship with the ATF continues to this day, he said, adding that good working relationships with state and federal agencies are important to Jackson's future.
"The partnership with the federal government in terms of the ATF, the FBI, the U.S. attorney and others, those are very important," he said. "I think it's vital to foster those relationships and be able to tackle crime here in the city of Jackson. Having those partners available is very important to us."
When asked about what kind of changes he'd like to see if he is kept on as police chief, he is quick with an answer.
"We could sit here and talk about this all day," he said. "First of all, obviously, Jackson Police Department is short on manpower, so we're trying to shore up our ranks. Not only that, I'm trying to bring a career development plan here in order to retain officers and attract officers to Jackson PD. I also want to bring us more up to speed on our technology — video cameras, new patrol cars, just things that help the officers out in the field do their jobs. Being successful in that help curbs crime."
Moore's wish from a young age was to be a police officer, so becoming the chief of police in his home city has been a dream come true, he said. As such, he promises to continue to serve the city with the same dedication he has in years past.
"As long as I'm able to come to work every day and put the uniform on, I'll be here, and I'll put 110 percent into doing the best I can as chief," Moore said.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, left, stands with interim Police Department Chief Anthony Moore at a press conference.
by: Sarah Fowler
date: 2018-03-25
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/03/26/bond-reinstated-teen-charged-kingston-frazier-death/459940002/
Dwan Wakefield, DeAllen Washington, and Byron McBride have been arrested in the shooting death of the 6-year-old. Therese Apel/The Clarion-Ledger
Bond has been reinstated for one of the three teens indicted in the death of 6-year-old Kingston Frazier.
Dwan Wakefield,18, received a bond of $275,000 Monday afternoon for accessory after the fact to murder, accessory after the fact to kidnapping and accessory after the fact to motor vehicle theft.
Wakefield, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, was indicted on the three felony charges earlier this month after Youth Court sent his case to a Madison County grand jury. Wakefield will be tried as an adult.
His settlement conference, where he will plead guilty or not guilty, is set for Sept. 22. The trial date could be between Oct. 22 and 29, according to court personnel. Circuit Court Judge William Chapman, who set Wakefield's bond Monday, will be the presiding judge.
If convicted, Wakefield faces up to 45 years in prison, according to District Attorney Michael Guest.
If Wakefield makes bond before the trial date, he will not be allowed to leave the state and will be electronically monitored, Guest said.
Kingston was found dead in the back of his mother's abandoned vehicle in Madison County after the car was stolen from a Kroger parking lot off I-55 in Jackson. He had been sleeping in the backseat while his mother briefly ran into the store.
Authorities say Byron McBride stole the vehicle and drove until it ran out of gas, at which point he called and asked Wakefield and De'Allen Washington to come pick him up. Wakefield said he advised McBride to drop the child off somewhere but that McBride said he was "going to off the kid."
McBride has been charged with capital murder. He is in the Madison County Jail. Washington and Wakefield were indicted for the same three crimes. Washington has pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to kidnapping. He faces 20 years in prison with five years suspended.
Washington has agreed to testify against McBride and Wakefield. His sentencing has been postponed until after he testifies, Guest said.
Wakefield was originally denied bond after his May 2017 arrest but was later granted a $250,000 bond in November. He was arrested a second time after he was indicted two weeks ago.
by: Jerry Mitchell
date: 2018-03-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/27/mississippi-still-disenfranchising-thousands/458068002/
The Florida Supreme Court has approved the language of a proposed amendment that would restore the voting rights of an estimated 1.7 million Floridians with past criminal convictions. Kevin Robinson/krobinson4@pnj.com
Mississippi’s Constitution, born in 1890 from the cauldron of white supremacy, continues to bar thousands of Mississippians from voting, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.
“The scheme, created in the wake of Reconstruction, was harsh, punitive and unforgiving,” the lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center alleges. “Born out of racial animus and still disproportionately impacting black Mississippians, the scheme impermissibly denies the right to vote to tens of thousands of citizens across the state.”
Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, put the number of disenfranchised Mississippians at more than 180,000 — 8 percent of the adult population.
Gov. Phil Bryant opposes any change to the law.
“There is a price to pay for violating the laws of the state of Mississippi, particularly a felony,” he said recently. “And one of them is that you lose your right to vote unless it is restored by the Mississippi Legislature. ... I wouldn’t want to change it.”
In 1890, Mississippi adopted a constitution that sought to disenfranchise black voters by establishing literacy tests and poll taxes — a strategy soon copied by other Southern states.
James K. Vardaman, who served as both governor and U.S. senator, declared, “There is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi's constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the n----- from politics.”
That same constitution established a clause aimed at disenfranchising those convicted of “bribery, burglary, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretenses, perjury, forgery, embezzlement or bigamy.”
The clause required two years of residency, except for a “minister of the gospel in charge of an organized church,” who could vote after six months.
In 1950, voters removed burglary from the list. Eighteen years later, they amended the constitution again to add rape and murder.
Last September, Jackson lawyer Rob McDuff filed a similar lawsuit, challenging the disenfranchisement clause as a “vestige of white supremacy.”
His lawsuit doesn’t challenge the 1968 additions — just the original list from the 1890 constitution.
One possible roadblock? The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a 1998 challenge from a Mississippi inmate challenging the constitutionality of the disenfranchisement clause. While the judges acknowledged the original provision had racist intent, they concluded the two amendments had removed any “discriminatory taint.”
Matt Steffey, professor at the Mississippi College School of Law, believes such litigation has a “significant chance of success.”
In 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Alabama’s disenfranchisement clause of the state’s 1901 constitution for any crime involving “moral turpitude.”
Like Mississippi’s constitution, Alabama’s featured poll taxes and other measures aimed at barring black voting.
In the Mississippi litigation, the plaintiffs would need to prove the provision “had an unconstitutional purpose when it was enacted,” Steffey said.
It is obvious that Mississippi’s 1890 Constitution was created to discriminate against African Americans, he said.
The other question is whether “it continues to have a disproportionate effect on African Americans,” he said.
He noted that the issue of voting rights often splits along party lines, with Republicans looking for ways to restrict those rights and Democrats looking for ways to expand those rights.
On the floor of the Senate, Blount urged lawmakers to change the way voting rights are restored. “It shouldn’t be based on your connections with the Legislature,” he said. “There ought to be a process for those people to be reintegrated back into society after they’ve paid their debt to the state of Mississippi.”
Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, told lawmakers that he believes the disenfranchisement clause probably violates the U.S. Constitution.
Although justices overturned the disenfranchisement clause in Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in 1974 that California’s measure to disenfranchise felons did not violate the 14th Amendment.
Mississippi is one of 10 states that permanently revokes voting rights for people convicted of some or all felonies, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
Asked why this lawsuit was brought when a similar lawsuit was filed in September, Jody Owens II, who manages the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mississippi office, said the litigation that McDuff filed is aimed strictly at the disenfranchisement clause, while theirs also challenges the process to regain voting rights.
“We brought the case to complement Rob's,” Owens said. “We want to end felony disenfranchisement — and fighting alongside Rob is an excellent way, we both think, to bring the fight.”
In Mississippi, a citizen who loses his or her right to vote can only regain that right through a gubernatorial pardon or a bill passed by the Legislature.
“In the last five years, only 14 Mississippians have obtained the restoration of their voting rights by successful suffrage bill,” the lawsuit says.
Former convict Dennis Hopkins, 43, says at a news conference Tuesday, March 27, 2018, in Jackson that he is devastated by his inability to vote.
Dennis Hopkins, 43, who owns a towing business in Marshall County, is not eligible to vote in Mississippi because of a 1988 conviction for grand larceny when he was a teenager.
“The government is telling us — you don’t vote, so you don’t matter,” he said. “I haven’t gotten in trouble for 20 years, but I still can’t cast my vote for my children’s future. I feel like a branded man.”
Former convict Wayne Kuhn, 47, explains how personally important is the right to vote, at a news conference in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 27, 2018, where the Southern Poverty Law Center announced a new federal lawsuit, that seeks in Mississippi, what 40 states already have, which is automatic or uncomplicated restoration of voting rights once a person completes a sentence for a disenfranchising crime.
Walter Wayne Kuhn Jr. is a 47-year-old Army veteran.
He lost his right to vote not long after he turned 18, convicted in 1989 of grand larceny.
He works for Strength Roofing and Siding and leads a weekly class at church to aid dozens of men attempting to overcome drug addiction. His criminal record was expunged in December, but he still can’t vote.
He tells those recovering from addiction, “You can turn your life around by just doing the next right thing because God forgives, even if Mississippi doesn’t.”
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-03-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/27/mississippi-high-school-same-sex-couple-prom-king-queen/461523002/
For ten years the Glass Slipper Project in Lebanon has been providing "gently used" prom and homecoming dresses for $10. The Project started with more than 800 dresses this year. On Friday, Feb. 24 they held a fashion show at Lebanon Valley Mall, then re-opened on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each year the dresses are stored and brought out for sale the following year. Wochit
Hernando High School students Kenzie Ellenberger and Mallory Boone have been a couple for about two years now. Ellenberger wants the opportunity to run for prom king and Boone for prom queen.
According to a Facebook post, the principal initially said Ellenberger could run for prom king but later changed his mind about placing her on the ballot .
Boone and Ellenberger told WREG that the idea started as a joke at last year's prom, but this year they decided to do it to help change Hernando.
Ellenberger says they offered different ideas, like taking gender out of prom royalty altogether, but he said no.
A petition was started for Ellenberger to be put on the prom king ballot.
“I originally only wanted 200 people to sign and we have a thousand," Boone said. "It's crazy."
Despite the petition, the principal still refused to allow their names on the ballot. The final ballots were released with Boone being one of the prom queen nominees. Four boys are on the prom king ballot.
The prom is set for Friday at the Columns in downtown Memphis. Boone and Ellenberger say they will attend and have fun regardless, but they hope this shines a light on issues faced by the LGBT community and encourage others to speak out.
The DeSoto County School District released the following statement:
"At Hernando High School, seniors are nominated for prom royalty by their peers. School administrators were asked about a couple that wanted to be Prom King and Prom Queen. Students were informed that individuals, not couples, are elected to the court. Using an online nomination process, students select one male and one female student to represent the senior class. This process ensures that both males and females can participate and serve on the court."
by: Therese Apel
date: 2018-03-26
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/03/27/jackson-mayors-task-force-explore-releasing-officer-ids/462206002/
Jackson Police Dept. spokesman Sgt. Roderick Holmes talks about an officer-involved shooting that happened near Jackson State University. Harold Gater, Clarion Ledger
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is putting together a task force to weigh the pros and cons of releasing IDs of officers in police-involved shooting deaths.
"Due to recent concerns raised about the lack of transparency inherent to this practice, Mayor Lumumba is establishing a task force to address the formation of JPD policy that will govern the release of names, and the timeframe during which this should take place," city spokeswoman Kai Williams said in a news release.
The task force will consider whether releasing officer identification would endanger officer safety and also the need for public transparency of the city's Police Department.
The city has a long-standing policy that prohibits the official release of the names of officers involved in line-of-duty shootings, which officials said is built to respect their safety and the safety of their families. It also enabled the investigations into the incidents to run more efficiently.
A majority of the council recently made clear they support releasing officer identification but with some caveats.
"I personally believe there needs to be more transparency unless there’s a credible and specific threat or it's proven it'll hurt an ongoing investigation," City Council Vice President Melvin Priester Jr. said
The task force will be made up of citizens, officers and members of the Lumumba administration. They will be tasked with "establishing a policy that keeps in mind both sensitivity to community concerns as well as an understanding of the unique responsibilities and safety of law enforcement," the news release said.
"The loss of life is always tragic, and it is imperative that our policy reflect our genuine concern for the safety of everyone. We truly believe that through the work and deliberation of this task force, we will be able to strengthen the bonds between our officers and the communities they serve, while simultaneously building the transparency and trust necessary to move our great City forward," the release said.
by: Harold Gater
date: 2018-03-27
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/28/tupelo-mayor-jason-shelton-us-senate-race/465253002/
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed the first female U.S. senator from Mississippi, state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Thad Cochran. Geoff Pender/Clarion Ledger
Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton is considering entering a special election for retiring Sen. Thad Cochran's U.S. Senate seat.
Late last week, Shelton, a democrat, asked for feedback in Facebook post on a run for the Senate. Multiple sources with connections to Tupelo City Hall, including elected officials and administration members, confirmed that Shelton had voiced interest in seeking the seat, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
“He has openly discussed the possibility,” said Tupelo Chief Operations Officer Don Lewis. “It hasn’t been a secret.”
More: White House has unease over Cindy Hyde-Smith Senate appointment; Phil Bryant hopes to sway Donald Trump
Shelton has made inquiries among state political circles about his potential viability as a candidate, according to sources who declined to be named.
When contacted by the Daily Journal, Shelton said he was in Kansas City, Missouri, on city business but sent the following statement:
“Now is the time to congratulate Senator Cochran on his distinguished career in public service,” Shelton said in a brief statement. “Following his retirement there will be a more appropriate time to discuss where we as Mississippians go from here.”
His entry into the race could also potentially threaten the Democratic Party's efforts to capitalize on Republican division. Another democrat, former U.S. Rep. Mike Espy has announced his intention to run for Cochran's Senate seat.
More: Does Mike Espy have what it takes to win Thad Cochran's Senate seat?
Cochran is set to retire on April 1. Gov. Phil Bryant has named State Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith as Cochran's replacement.
by: The Clarion-Ledger
date: 2018-03-27
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/03/28/ku-klux-klan-sends-video-activist-groups-president/467565002/
Jackson artist Laurin Stennis, granddaughter of late U.S. Senator John C. Stennis, has created a her own design for a potential, new Mississippi state flag. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger
Although members of the NAACP and Mississippi Rising Coalition are concerned about a recent video released by the Ku Klux Klan, they want to make it clear they are not intimidated.
According to WLOX and multiple sources, the 10-minute video, which was emailed to coalition president Lea Campbell, was posted Sunday on Youtube by the United White Dixie Knights. It was removed Wednesday morning. The video includes a series of still photos, one of which shows six men in hoods and robes standing in front of a burning cross.
A man speaking in the video identified himself as "Reverend Smith" and stated his message was not a physical threat.
"Y'all aren't going to take down our flag. We gonna fight," Smith said. "This ain't no threat, nothing physical but we gonna fight through the court system. We gonna fight through the legal way, the proper way."
There was also a written message accompanying the video. An image of the message was tweeted out from Pearl River County's Twitter page.
In response to the video and message, Mississippi Rising held a news conference Wednesday in front of Ocean Springs City Hall.
"To the Klan and its allies, we will not be intimidated by your actions," Campbell said during the news conference.
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Although Smith stated the video was not meant to be perceived as a threat, Jackson County NAACP President Curley Clark told WLOX he nonetheless felt it was a form of intimidation.
“I think that we have to be on guard because it may not have been intended to be a threat but there may be some weak-minded individuals out there who may be emboldened by what they’ve put out there and that may lead to violent actions and that’s what we are afraid of," he said.
The state flag has been a topic of controversy in Ocean Springs. In November, Mayor Shea Dobson decided to take the flag down, only for the Board of Alderman to vote to fly it again a week later.
Also present at the conference was Mississippi Rising Coalition board member TNathan Fairley. Fairley said it was "absurd" to think the Klan's message was not threatening and implored those present to note the violent history of the hate group, including the 581 individuals who have been lynched in the state.
"So, yes, we see this as a threat," Fairley said, "but we are not our grandparents — we will not lie idly by while the Klan runs over us."
by: Jimmie E. Gates
date: 2018-03-28
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/29/andy-gipson-ag-commissioner/469168002/
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed the first female U.S. senator from Mississippi, state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Thad Cochran. Geoff Pender/Clarion Ledger
Attorney, farmer, preacher, lawmaker and now state agriculture commissioner all fit Andy Gipson.
On Thursday, Gov. Phil Bryant tapped the 41-year-old Republican lawmaker from Braxton to head the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Gipson will serve out the term of Cindy Hyde-Smith, who Bryant chose to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, that ends in January 2020.
Cochran's retirement is effective April 1.
Gov. Phil Bryant, right, listens as Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, holding his youngest child, Sarah, 6, answers a reporter's question, about being appointed the new Mississippi commissioner of agriculture and commerce, succeeding Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate, Thursday, March 29, 2018 in Jackson. The new commissioner will serve the remainder of the four-year term.
"I was totally shocked to receive this offer," Gipson said Thursday at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum where Bryant made the announcement in front of a crowd of approximately 100, including Gipson's wife, Leslie, and their four children.
"This is a bullet that will fit our gun," Gipson said enthusiastically.
Bryant said Gipson is a man of courage and integrity. He said Gipson reminds him of himself when then-Gov. Kirk Fordice chose him to serve as state auditor in 1996 to fill the vacancy created when the then-auditor resigned amid criminal charges. Bryant said he believes Gipson has the potential to become a statewide conservative leader.
The office, which carries an annual salary of $90,000, will be up for election in the 2019 statewide races.
Gipson said agriculture has always been important to him. He said he will build on what Hyde-Smith started.
His goals include:
Gipson said his plans for this year will include a Mississippi farm tour to meet working farmers.
"I will be planting seeds of opportunity," Gipson said.
And Gipson said he will bring the same passion and conservative philosophy he has brought to his years in the Legislature.
Gipson has served in the Legislature since 2008 and is chairman of the Judiciary B and Ethics committees in the House. He is pastor of Gum Springs Baptist Church.
The conservative lawmaker is known for his staunch gun-rights legislation, including making Mississippi a "constitutional carry" state that allows people to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit.
Gipson also championed the controversial House Bill 1523 two years ago, which originally was called the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act. The name was changed in committee to the Protecting Freedom of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act.
The bill was authored by House Speaker Philip Gunn, but Gipson spearheaded the effort to get it passed in the Legislature. The act, according to competing arguments, either prohibits discrimination against anyone who holds the belief that marriage should be between a man and woman or it allows discrimination against gay and transgender people.
This year, Gipson led the charge to successfully pass the nation's most restricted abortion law. Bryant signed House Bill 1510 into law March 19, but a federal judge has blocked the law from going into effect for now.
The law would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Although Gipson is known for his conservative stances, he is also known for championed reforms of the state criminal justice system. He was the author of the comprehensive criminal justice reform bill known as House Bill 585, passed in 2014.
The reforms include more discretionary leeway for judges to determine sentences and alternatives to prison. The law expands the use of drug courts, which have been shown to reduce recidivism, and focuses on those dealing larger amounts of drugs while lowering sentences for possession or trafficking of small amounts.
This year, Gipson authored the bipartisan House Bill 387 that seeks to reduce repeat inmate offenders, do away with debtor prisons and study sentencing disparities across the state.
Not a single lawmaker in the House or Senate voted against House Bill 387. Bryant signed the bill Monday.
by: Anna Wolfe
date: 2018-03-28
url: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/29/lgbt-inclusivity-jackson-va-makes-changes-become-top-performer/470205002/
After recent policy changes, the Jackson VA medical center is receiving praise for better ensuring the equal treatment of LGBTQ patients.
The G. V. "Sonny" Montgomery VA Medical Center — under federal scrutiny for quality issues — earned "2018 LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Top Performer" designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The medical center received a score of 95, up from 65 last year.
In the last year, the medical center has: coordinated LGBTQ educational sessions for new employees and patients, created an LGBTQ advisory board, and increased LGBTQ training options. Federal health insurance policies are also now mandating coverage for services specific to transgender patients.
The Jackson VA plans to improve community engagement by hosting an LGBTQ Health Awareness Fair Friday in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union, state Department of Health and the Transgender Education Advocacy Program.
"The G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center is committed to providing top quality care to all Veterans including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender veterans in a safe and supportive environment," Jackson VA Director Dr. David Walker said in a release. "We are dedicated to training our staff to provide appropriate gender-affirming care that is tailored to meet the needs of our LGBT veterans and employees."
Last year, the report awarded zero points to the Jackson VA for LGBTQ staff training; the center received the full 10 points this year.
VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System is also a "top performer" with 85 points — it lost points for not having an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination policy — and University of Mississippi Medical Center received 100 points to earn "Healthcare Equality Leader" status.
UMMC and the two VA centers were three of 626 health care facilities that participated in the foundation's annual Healthcare Equality Index, 418 of which scored 100 points.
The report, in its 11th year, scores facilities based on nondiscrimination and staff training, patient services and support, employee benefits and policies, patient and community engagement and responsible citizenship.
"At a time when health care and the rights of LGBTQ people are under attack by the Trump-Pence administration and state legislatures across the country, hundreds of top health care facilities are driving progress toward equality," HRC President Chad Griffin said in a release. "These top-scoring facilities are not only establishing policies that save LGBTQ lives every day, they have become vocal advocates for equality in the public square. This year, we are heartened to see corporate champions, including many health care systems, not just speaking out, but also doubling down on their commitment to equality."
The VA estimates one million veterans identify as LGBTQ, 134,350 of whom are transgender veterans.
The VA website outlines its policies regarding nondiscrimination, a patient's right to have their same-sex partner make medical decisions for them and specifies "the sex in your medical record should reflect your self-identified gender."
The "LGBT" tab on the website's "list of services," where this information is located, is less than a year old.