Jackson Free Press

The American Family Association has no love for the release of the film "Fifty Shades of Grey” for the upcoming Valentine's Day Weekend.

In a news release today, the Tupelo-based nonprofit threw some shade of its own at the movie, which is based on an E.L. James novel of the same title, calling it sexually graphic and degrading to women.

“Nothing in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ builds up society, respects or empowers women or demonstrates healthy relationships,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon in the release. “Rather, the film glorifies abusive relationships and glamorizes abusive tendencies such as stalking, bondage sex, intimidation and isolation."

This sudden gush of concern from the same organization that often disrespects LGBT women (and men) by calling them immoral. AFA also recently said the landmark Roe V. Wade decision, which protects the right of women to have abortion, is tantamount to a "war on women." Reproductive-justice advocates and people possessing a uterus, however, say abortion access empowers women to make decisions about their bodies that can have positive impacts on their lives.

A quick search of the AFA's website turned up no support of, say, equal-pay legislation at either the state or federal level. Also, while the AFA writes frequently on the harms of domestic violence, it's usually in the context of its tirades against the pornography industry and not simply protecting the safety of women.

"A more apt title for the movie would be 'Fifty Shades of Evil,'" Wildmon said in the release. "Without question, this film will have a corrosive effect on cultural views of what normative sexuality ought to be. Healthy relationships seek to safeguard the emotional and physical well-being of another; this film promotes inflicting emotional, physical and psychological harm on another for the sole purpose of self-serving sexual gratification. It is the epitome of elevating abuse, and we call on all theaters to reject promoting such abuse on their screens.”

In the meantime, AFA is supporting a social-media movement, #50DollarsNot50Shades, that encourages potential moviegoers to donate $50 to a local domestic-abuse shelter instead of going to see “Fifty Shades."

So there's that.

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Sadly, it was only a matter of time before it happened here in Mississippi--a black man was killed by a white cop amid mysterious circumstances and officials are trying to keep tensions from simmering.

It happened on late Wednesday night in tiny Stonewall when, according to various media outlets, a 39-year-old black man named Jonathan Sanders had some sort of altercation with a white officer named Kevin Herrington.

Stewart Parrish, an attorney Sanders had once hired to represent him on a case, told Meridian television WTOK that Sanders was riding in a buggy exercising his horses when Herrington stopped Sanders, initiating an altercation that ended in Sanders' death, reportedly by choking.

The exact details are, of course, muddy. Early reports suggested that Herrington used a flashlight to subdue Sanders. Stonewall Police Chief Michael Street denied those reports, but hasn't gone into much detail about the incident that happened between 10:30 and 11 o'clock at night, citing his department's ongoing investigation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.

"We just ask that the citizens allow that to take place, not to try to take anything out in the streets. Our door is open," Street told WTOK.

Street's comments are an obvious reference to protests sparked by the deaths of African American men by--often white--police officers in the past year. Sanders' death is hauntingly similar to that of Eric Garner in New York City last summer. Like Garner, Sanders reportedly told Herrington that he couldn't breathe in the moments before he died, Parrish told the media.

The Guardian reported that Chief Street said "Sanders had no active warrants against him and that Harrington did not know who he was when the confrontation took place."

However, that didn't stop Jackson's local daily newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, from using Sanders' mugshot (most other media outlets chose a picture of the victim warmly smiling with family members or with his horses; see below) and devoted the end of its story to talking about his rap sheet, writing:

"Sanders had crossed paths with authorities before. Circuit Clerk Beth Jordan said Sanders was out on bond from an April arrest for possession of cocaine, and that he had been convicted on charges of sale of cocaine in 2003."

The paper went on to point out: "MDOC Communications Director Grace Fisher said Sanders was given five years to serve with five years probation. He was released on May 23, 2007. Sanders' arrest record also shows arrests dating back to 2001 for disturbance of the family peace, sale of a counterfeit substance, domestic violence, and some traffic violations.

Several dozen commenters took the paper to task. Said one woman in the comments section: "Never fails; the weaponless dead victim is always prosecuted in the media to deflect how they ended up dead at the hands of police. Shame on the Clarion-Ledger."

As for the officer, the C-L made a point of noting that Herrington, according to Chief Street, "has never received any complaints of …

Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, made the following statement about Gov. Phil Bryant's signature of HB 49, which would require drug testing for some people receiving federal-state assistance:

Today is a sad day as Governor Bryant signed into law HB 49, thereby subjecting Mississippi's most vulnerable to unnecessary and costly drug testing.

Most recipients of TANF are children. The Mississippi Department of Human Services website states “monthly TANF benefits are made for eligible children and their needy caretaker relatives who do not have enough income or resources to meet their everyday needs.” We should not subject the most vulnerable among us to the false assumption that they (or their caregivers) are drug users. It’s unfair and untrue. The small amount of public assistance goes to provide limited funds to cover basic necessities such as food and shelter for families.

Such a law would cost the state of Mississippi considerably more to implement than it would save. A comprehensive report put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2011 reviewed the estimated costs of implementing various proposed welfare drug testing programs in twelve different states. Not a single one of the legislative cost estimates showed net savings to the state as a result of a proposed drug testing program.

Governor Bryant has stated that he is concerned that “single mothers are not abusing drugs or other substances and try[ing] to maintain a family”. He goes on to justify why “single mothers” are singled out by saying “when someone is taking tax dollars I think we have the right to determine whether or not that individual is abusing a substance”. Almost all of us receive government assistance in one form or another, yet we don’t treat preschoolers, veterans, seniors, or the disabled, to name but a few, as suspected drug users and force them to prove their innocence. We don’t ask anyone else to sacrifice their Fourth Amendment Rights to receive government benefits, public benefit recipients should be treated no differently.