Canton police arrested demonstrators protesting racial profiling this morning after protesters allegedly violated a city permit.
ACLU Executive Director Nsombi Lambright said demonstrators had a permit for a stationary public rally, but violated that permit when participants began a march from the Madison County Courthouse to the sheriff’s office.
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[Verbatim release] Mayor Frank E. Melton issued a veto today that will prohibit the use of eminent domain by the Jackson Redevelopment Authority to acquire owner-occupied residential property located west of Jackson State University. The controversial proposed University Park Project-Phase I, consists of single-family homes and apartment complexes that would be constructed on at least 50 acres near the Jackson State University campus and anchored by Dalton Street and J. R. Lynch Street.
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The Jackson Police Officers Association and the Jackson Free Press are presenting a town-hall meeting with police officers and other concerned citizens for real talk on fighting crime in Jackson. JFP Editor Donna Ladd will moderate the discussion in the Department of Education auditorium (the old Central High School) at 359 North West Street in Downtown Jackson (print map here) on Thursday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m. A reception and fellowship will follow.
Post your questions for the panel or specific panelists below.more...
[Verbatim from the Attorney General's Office] Attached please find a copy of the Circuit Court lawsuit (645 KB) filed by the Office of the Attorney General against Facility Construction Management and Facility Holding Corporation in a case arising out of the failure of the Facility Group to perform its contractual and professional duties in the construction of a cattle slaughtering and beef processing plant in Yalobusha County, MS.
The lawsuit, filed more than a year ago and prior to the criminal indictments issued this week by the federal government, seeks to recover more than $9 million for Mississippi taxpayers and subcontractors of the Facility Group.
The lawsuit is currently being amended to include claims of fraud against the Facility Group.
Said Attorney General Jim Hood: "The efforts of our office and the federal government seek to ensure that all those involved in the failed beef plant are not only held criminally accountable, but are also made to repay the misspent dollars owed to the hardworking taxpayers of this state."
The lawsuit, filed in Hinds County Circuit Court on January 17, 2007, outlines the obligations and resulting broken promises of Facility Construction Management to the state of Mississippi. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the Facility Group to provide a full and complete accounting of all service fees paid to it, and seeks punitive damages in as yet an undetermined amount.
The Philadelphia Coalition—the multi-racial group in Philadelphia, Miss., that called for the prosecution of Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 Klan murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner—want further justice in the case. This weekend they are issuing the following statement, verbatim:
Statement of the Philadelphia Coalition
March 29, 2008
In 2005, a Neshoba County jury found Edgar Ray Killen guilty in the brutal deaths of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. That trial, and the community organizing that helped prompt it, were important steps toward justice and reconciliation. But we must still seek justice in the case. Recent reports suggest new avenues for investigation. We call now on local and state officials to seek the support of the United States Department of Justice in reopening an investigation into those who remain at large in the Neshoba case.
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[Verbatim statement from the AG's office] "The criminal case against Robbie Bell was dismissed today for lack of evidence in the case. The decision was made by both the Hinds County District Attorney's Office and the Office of the Attorney General after an exhaustive investigation and finally, discussion with the victim's family."
Attorney General Jim Hood
State of Mississippi
The following e-mail went around the Sunday before the March 11 primary. When one of the JFP writers got it (through an account for an organization he volunteers with), it had the sender's name listed, as well as a list of other e-mail addresses it went to, including many people who work at a bank in Brookhaven and members of the local business press. We are seeking a comment from the sender.
From: xxxxxx@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 22:14:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Send to your Republican friends all across MS
Continue the chaos for the Democratic party by voting for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. I know this will be hard for you, but it is more fun watching the Democrats implode. John McCain has secured the Republican nomination, and everyone is predicting that Obama will win MS easily. Don't let this happen. Keep the madness going for this party by voting for Clinton.
Forward this on to all of your Republican friends across MS!
A group of about 70 Indian workers marched onto the Mississippi State Capitol Thursday protesting treatment by Pascagoula construction company Signal International, LLC. “These people endured a kind of slavery,” said Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice. “That is really the word for it.” more...
Sharon Lobert, Jackson resident and organizer of the candelight vigil today in Jackson protesting the war in Iraq, said Capitol Police moved the vigil to the steps of the capitol at the last hour. Organizers had originally planned the vigil at the War Memorial, on State Street, but were ferried away to a different location at the last minute.
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Barack Obama today met his critics, and racial innuendo of recent weeks, head-on by giving a speech about race. The full transcript is here. Here's one money quote about his controversial pastor:
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Apr 12, 08 | 10:38 am Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed savebrettjones: "And obviously his lack of education did not hamper his use of the weapon which took the victim's life. "
Clark, there was no weapon ever linked to the boy, the crime or the body. It was not even determined what kind of knife was used or who used...
Apr 11, 08 | 10:47 pm Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed savebrettjones: Clark, in Edmonds v Mississippi, the Supreme Court stated:
"there was no showing that Dr. Hayne's testimony was based not on opinion or speculations but rather on scientific methods and procedures."
Based on that information, what...
Apr 11, 08 | 4:27 pm Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed clarkkent: SaveBrett, the fact that the defendant was 15 does not make the victim any less dead. And obviously his lack of education did not hamper his use of the weapon which took the victim's life. Obviously his account of his actions did not convince the...
Apr 11, 08 | 1:24 pm Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed golden eagle '97: Finally, the last paragraph of Tucker's blog is quite revealing. Based upon the words he wrote, he has no problem with a guilty person being set free.
I'm not sure he meant it in that context. I could be wrong, of course, but what I think...
Apr 11, 08 | 1:11 pm Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed savebrettjones: an btw Clark, since "Dr" Hayne testified in the Brett Jones case that he knew what a defensive wound looked like I'm just wondering, do you know if there is any scientific evidence to back that up? Or is that just conjecture and opinion?...
Apr 11, 08 | 1:00 pm Court System, Autopsy Expert Slammed savebrettjones: yes, clark, the 15 year old boy with an 8th grade education and no criminal past who had spent the previous 9 months trying to survive in the Tupelo County Detention Center (the youngest one there) did testify on his own behalf. He was the only...
Apr 11, 08 | 12:38 pm Clarion-Ledger Buys, Renames 'JFP' (April Fools) Ironghost: Dang, too many comments to reply to at once.
Then how come, oh illuminated ones, why is it Fifth according to one person and another calls it in at #29?...
Apr 11, 08 | 12:29 pm Clarion-Ledger Buys, Renames 'JFP' (April Fools) Ironghost: For those of us who got bored with such attention to details way back in 10th grade, what's the difference?
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Apr 11, 08 | 12:29 pm Clarion-Ledger Buys, Renames 'JFP' (April Fools) L.W.: I think the correct way to type it is "Web site" because Web is short for the World Wide Web, which is always capitalized, and "site" is an additional noun to narrow it down to one site instead of the entire Web. I checked...
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