The Best We Can Be
Last week, I attended one of those uniquely Jackson events that national media never seem to know about when they paint us with a broad brush. It was a performance …
Second Chances
Michael Williams is the man behind the movie projector at the Russell C. Davis Planetarium. He is responsible for making sure the independent art films and sky shows run on …
Building Business
Gov. Haley Barbour has long been bullish on Mississippi's business environment, announcing every new business his administration brings into the state—large and small—and every new development with great fanfare.
Self Defense or Murder?
Edna Mae Sanders first met former Navy Seal Sherman Sanders at a Baton Rouge party in March 2005. She gave him her phone number, and it wasn't long before he …
Why They Kill
Despite popular belief, violent criminals aren't born with a moral screw loose. They're not even turned into criminals because they grow up in single-parent homes (although having two good parents …
Deterrence: Not What You Think
Once a person has committed a crime and is in the prison system, what works and what doesn't to deter ongoing criminality?
Citizen Policewoman
I'm going to be completely honest: I'd never held a gun before. I always thought guns were for thugs and hunters. I simply didn't need one. So it may surprise …
The Poverty-Crime Connection
If you struggle to pay your bills and don't know where your next meal is coming from, studies show you are more likely to be incarcerated. Once you fall into …
‘Eyes on the Street': A Case Study
'The revival of Jackson is not going to be made on single-family housing.'
The Dropout-Crime Connection
What if there was a way to stop people from committing crimes before they started? Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a nonprofit organization that advocates for quality education and …
Guns for Safety?
Also see: JFP Crime Blog
It so happens that in the past few weeks, a number of people with ties to the Jackson Free Press—staff and former staff—have encountered the same piece of advice from …
Relationships, Not Gates
I would like to claim that Broadmeadow United Methodist Church first reached out to the neighborhood, but the truth is that the neighborhood reached out first to Broadmeadow.
[Oppenheim] Time to Listen
On Oct. 22, youth from all over Mississippi, but mostly Jackson, will gather at Metrocenter Mall for a special event: the first Art, Poetry and Justice SLAM. The event is …
How to Be Safe
When I lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I knew a woman who was repeatedly on the receiving end of crime. She was mugged in the subway, had her purse …
The JFP's Crime-Fighting Manifesto
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke.
