City & County
Mayor Lumumba: Violence Prevention Must Take Into Account Poverty and Gun Laws
Addressing reporters last Friday in the wake of high end-of-year homicide rates, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba highlighted his administration's efforts to curb violence in the city through a variety …
Crime
DOSSIER: Shame on WLBT for Dishonoring Past with Empty Crime Rhetoric
WLBT, the NBC affiliate of the Atlanta-based Gray Television, climbed fully on board with U.S. Attorney Hurst's false rhetoric that Jackson leaders and other locals are somehow "denying" gun violence …
Politics
Lawmaker Who Called for Lynching of Confederate Statue Foes Elevated
In 2017, Mississippi House Rep. Karl Oliver wrote that Louisiana leaders ought to be "LYNCHED" for removing Confederate monuments. On Jan. 8, House Speaker Philip Gunn made him vice chair …
City & County
Police Task Forces ‘Waste of Time’ for Violence Prevention?
Law-enforcement efforts to combat violent crime in Jackson in recent years have increasingly focused on the creation of multi-agency task forces, which identify high-crime regions or criminal activity, gather intelligence, …
City & County
MDOC Hits ‘Breaking Point’
Inmate deaths are not a new phenomenon in Mississippi. Some family members and activist organizations, like the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, have pointed to a lack of funding …
City & County
2020 Legislative Preview: GOP In Charge, But Conflict Ahead?
The GOP's newfound dominance in Mississippi does not mean a pacified Legislature, outgoing House Minority Leader Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, says. Baria believes that real political daylight exists …
City & County
Local United Methodist Churches Face Schism Over LGBTQ Inclusion
The future of Mississippi's United Methodist churches and institutions is in question after a group of influential United Methodist Church leaders announced a preliminary agreement to split the church in …
Crime
OPINION: 'Chaos or Community'? Citizens Co-conspirators in Broken Criminal System
"Mississippi leaders have historically created and encouraged incarceration as an intentional pathway for a segment of Mississippi's society, disproportionately the African American community."
City & County
Hyde-Smith, Wicker 'Gunning to End Roe': Ask High Court to Overturn
Mississippi's two U.S. senators, Republicans Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide.
City & County
New DA Jody Owens Promises Reform, Alternatives to Incarceration
Earlier this week, civil rights attorney and avowed criminal-justice reformer Jody Owens officially took over as the new Hinds County district attorney, succeeding the controversy-plagued Robert Shuler Smith, who served …
Crime
Mississippi Prison Deaths Follow Warnings of Meager Funding, Shortages
Three more Mississippi prisoners have died at the hands of other inmates in the six days since the Mississippi Department of Corrections initiated a statewide prison lockdown last Sunday, bringing …
Politics
Statewide Gas Taxes a Bridge Too Far for Lt. Gov.-elect Hosemann
Lt. Gov.-elect Delbert Hosemann will not consider raising gas taxes statewide in 2020, he told the press on Dec. 17. But he is opening the door for county supervisors to …
City & County
JPD Arrests 82 People Under 'Operation Targeting Gun Violence'
Days after U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst chided Jackson public officials for being too soft on crime, Jackson Police Department Chief James Davis held a press conference to highlight 82 arrests …
Crime
OPINION: Jackson Policing Betrays Poor and Working-class Black People
Before rushing to volunteer to be Jackson's political classes' attack dog against racist insult, we should be mindful of Zora Neale Hurston's oft reminder: "all my skin folks ain't my …
Politics
DOSSIER: Chuck Todd’s ‘Naive’ Screw-up Is Warning for Mississippi Reporting, Too
If you were caught up in the spirit of the holiday, as I was on Christmas Eve, you might have missed one of the most disturbing interviews ever with a …
