Jackson Free Press

Prison Breakouts a Result of 'Mass Incarceration,' Mississippi Orgs Say

Three prison inmates may not have escaped last week if not for Mississippi's "mass incarceration problem," a group of civil-rights organizations said in a press statement on Friday.

David Sansing

David Sansing, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Mississippi and author of several books, has died at age 86.

Private School Vouchers Split Mississippi Candidates for Governor

Several candidates for Mississippi governor have answered a questionnaire from a public education advocacy group called The Parents' Campaign, but Republican Tate Reeves has not.

Jackson Attorney to Represent Flowers in Possible Seventh Trial

A Jackson-area civil rights attorney is vowing to represent an African American man after a prosecutor accused of racial bias said he plans to try him a seventh time for …

Entire Mississippi Mainland Closed Amid Bacteria Threat

People and pets are being warned to stay out of the water along the entire mainland of the Mississippi Gulf Coast as toxic bacteria continue spreading eastward.

OPINION: Deepest Midnight Returns—Cedric Willis Taken Far Too Soon

We all failed Cedric (Willis) in life. Let us not fail him in death. I need you to insist on a better way, on a better life for all of …

New Tougaloo President and USM School Ground-Breaking in Africa

Carmen J. Walters became the 14th president of Tougaloo College on July 1. She is the second female president of Tougaloo after her predecessor, Beverly Wade Hogan, who held the …

Pamela Junior Named Director of Two Mississippi Museums

After merging staff at the Two Mississippi Museums, Pamela Junior became director over both the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on July 1.

West Jackson Residents Resist Homeless Center, Citing Community ‘Integrity’

Jackson City Council Roundup for June 27, 2019

Some west Jackson residents say they fear that a planned resource center for the homeless could make things worse by "segregating" services for homeless populations, the mentally ill and those …

Derrick Ponder

One thing that would help the Jackson State University Tigers rise back to the top of the SWAC East division this season would be junior quarterback Derrick Ponder's play.

Big Business to Supreme Court: Defend LGBTQ People from Bias

More than 200 corporations, including many of America's best-known companies, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal civil rights law bans job discrimination on the basis of …

Lawyers for the state told U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves that the Justice Department had …

• July 2, 2019

Judge Gets Challenge to Mississippi Mental Health System

A federal judge should intervene in Mississippi's mental health care system, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer argued Monday, saying the state has moved far too slowly to provide community alternatives …

Jacksonians Sue City Over Water Billing Amid Siemens Conflict

Pieter Teeuwissen and Anthony R. Simon are representing six city residents in a lawsuit against the City of Jackson. The plaintiffs in the case have water bills ranging from $1,000 …

Jasmine B. King

The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which former President Jimmy Carter established in 1980, recently selected Jackson State University senior Jasmine B. King as a 2019 …

Long Jail Stays Flourish, Despite Bail Changes

Two years after rule changes in Mississippi courts, judges are still demanding bail—and people are still getting stuck in jail.

New Body Cameras Could Make JPD 'Less Aggressive' If Used Well

The Jackson Police Department will join various other police agencies across the United States that require officers to wear body cameras.

Joe Biden's Praise for Segregationists Spans Decades

As a liberal Democratic senator before segregationists switched to the GOP, Joe Biden's friendships extended to not only conservatives, but notorious racist Dixiecrats like former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South …

Mississippi Mental Health Leader Says She Supports Community Treatment

The leader of Mississippi's Department of Mental Health testified Thursday that she supports spending more money on serving people outside state hospitals, as the state concluded its defense of a …

JSU Student Patents Cleanstraww, Horse Poor Barrel Race and Belhaven Division III Membership

LaMonté Pierce, a graduate student at Jackson State University who is majoring in technology education, recently secured a patent for a special straw that he dubbed the “Cleanstraww,” which filters …