Jackson Free Press

“Justice has no timetable,” said State Sen. Chris McDaniel throughout the course of his challenge to U.S. Senate run-off election results against Sen. Thad Cochran. In the past two months, McDaniel has complained relentlessly about Mississippi’s election process, the one he has a hand in regulating as chairman of the Mississippi Senate Elections Committee.

From the beginning, the McDaniel camp tried to make the claim that so many “bad” votes were cast in the June 24 runoff between their guy and Cochran, that not only did they want Cochran’s win reversed, but they wanted McDaniel named the winner.

They made the claim that the use of election poll books was intentionally screwed up to skew the vote. When Pete Perry, Hinds County GOP Chairman, said that poll workers only found about one-fifth of the votes claimed to be invalid in Hinds County, the McDaniel camp said otherwise.

They compiled a binder of “evidence.”

The McDaniel camp blamed racial messaging. They blamed Democrats.

At more bizarre times, they involved a California blogger in the madness and even named their own lawyer as one of those “bad” votes. When the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into the shady election happenings, the camp’s spokesman was named in said blogger’s subpoena (which ended up on Twitter).

The validity of the challenge was further challenged when the Republican Party refused to hear the case.

Then, when the challenge finally reached the courts, it was shut down before things could get even sillier. Justice may have no timetable in the eyes of McDaniel, but today the presiding judge dismissed the case because he took too long to file.

Of course, McDaniel could always appeal. After reporting on the developments of this story in the last few months, believe us, we’ll be expecting it.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/aug/29/18623/

The following is a verbatim press release from the American Civil Liberties Union.

ATLANTA – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit challenging debt collection practices that have resulted in the jailing of people simply because they are poor. The case was brought on behalf of Kevin Thompson, a black teenager in DeKalb County, Georgia, who was jailed because he could not afford to pay court fines and probation company fees stemming from a traffic ticket.

"Being poor is not a crime. Yet across the county, the freedom of too many people unfairly rests on their ability to pay traffic fines and fees they cannot afford," said Nusrat Choudhury, an attorney with the ACLU's Racial Justice Program. "We seek to dismantle this two-tiered system of justice that punishes the poorest among us, disproportionately people of color, more harshly than those with means."

The ACLU charges that DeKalb County and for-profit Judicial Correction Services Inc. (JCS) teamed up to engage in a coercive debt collection scheme that focuses on revenue generation at the expense of protecting poor people's rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled more than 30 years ago that locking people up merely because they cannot afford to pay court fines is contrary to American values of fairness and equality embedded in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court made clear that judges cannot jail someone for failure to pay without first considering their ability to pay, efforts to acquire money, and alternatives to incarceration.

No such consideration was given to Thompson, who was locked up for five days because he could not afford to pay $838 in fines and fees to the county and JCS – despite the fact that he tried his best to make payments. The lawsuit charges that Thompson's constitutional rights to an indigency hearing and to counsel were violated by DeKalb County, JCS, and the chief judge of the local court that sentenced him to jail.

"What happened to me, and others like me who try their best to pay fines and fees but fall short, is unfair and wrong," said Thompson. "I hope this lawsuit will help prevent other people from being jailed just because they are poor."

These debt collection practices have had a devastating impact on people of color in the Atlanta metropolitan area. While blacks make up 54 percent of the DeKalb County population, nearly all probationers jailed by the DeKalb County Recorders Court for failure to pay are black – a pattern replicated by other Georgia courts.

"In a country where the racial wealth gap remains stark, the link between driving while black and jailed for being poor has a devastating impact on communities of color," said Choudhury.

The case, Thompson v. DeKalb County, was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. It names DeKalb County, Chief Judge Nelly Withers of the DeKalb County Recorders Court, and Judicial Correction Services Inc. as defendants. Rogers & Hardin LLP, the ACLU of Georgia, and Southern Center for …

Right now, the most dominant team in sports is the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team. The Huskies are on a 74-game winning streak, and with a win tonight in the national championship game, they will claim their fourth straight title.

A fourth consecutive championship would be a record in women’s basketball and would only trail the University of California, Los Angeles men’s seven titles from 1967 to 1973. Those great John Wooden-led Bruins teams won 10 titles in 12 seasons overall.

The Huskies’ dominance doesn’t sit well with some people. Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe thinks Connecticut’s program is bad for women’s basketball.

Shaughnessy tweeted: “UConn Women beat Miss St 98-38 in NCAA Tourney. Hate to punish them for being great, but they are killing women’s game. Watch? No Thanks.”

The Boston Globe scribe doesn’t want to punish the Huskies for being great but then goes on to say he doesn’t want to watch said greatness? How is that not punishing UConn for being great?

Did UCLA men’s basketball dominance kill the men’s game? Did Pennsylvania State University women’s volleyball team, who won four straight titles from 2007 to 2010, kill women’s volleyball?

Did Penn State men’s wrestling winning five of the last six national titles ruin men’s wrestling? Did the Green Bay Packers ruin professional football by winning three straight titles, including the first two Super Bowls?

Has the New York Yankees’ dominance of baseball killed the sport following their five of six title wins from 1936 to 1943, their five titles from 1949 to 1953, or their four of five titles from 1996 to 2000?

The Boston Celtics didn’t ruin the NBA when they won eight championships in a row from 1959 to 1966. Even the WNBA is still standing after the Houston Comets captured four straight titles from 1997 to 2000.

Every sport at some time or another has seen a single team dominate the sport. Other teams had winning streaks and championship streaks like UConn .

They Huskies aren’t different from any of those. UConn might be winning by a larger margin, but in the end, winning is winning.

If it is boring or “killing” a sport to see the same team win over and over again, then at some point, everyone should have stopped watching sports. But we still watch.

Fans hold UCLA’s streak of titles in high esteem now, and when history looks back at the Huskies, their streak will be equally revered. There are only so many times in your life when you get to see greatness, and it should be enjoyed, not put down.

If Syracuse University defeats UConn tonight, the Orange should be celebrated as champions, and the Huskies should be celebrated for what they accomplished, as well. But it won’t end the sport if the Huskies win.

Connecticut’s level is what every team should strive to reach in men’s and women’s sports. The very idea that greatness …

Today, several southern Democratic Party heads, including Rickey Cole of Mississippi, signed a letter asking Bernie Sanders to stop characterizing southern voters as people who "distort reality":

The letter, posted on Politico, started in part:

We commend you on running a spirited campaign that has energized and mobilized a new generation of voters, but we are concerned about the way you and your campaign have characterized the South.

As you may recall in 2006, the Democratic National Committee chaired by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean took two historic steps towards diversity and inclusion. First, the DNC modified its Presidential Primary process and added South Carolina and Nevada (states with sizable minority populations) to join the historic early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Governor Dean stated at the time that he “strongly believed in the importance of broadening participation in the nomination process to better reflect the rich racial, regional and economic diversity of the Democratic Party.” Second, Governor Dean initiated a 50-state strategy to strengthen the Democratic Party and amplify Democratic voices in all states and not just states traditionally dominated by Democrats.

The greatest asset we have as a party is our diversity—a diversity of cultures, religions, ethnicities, experiences, and backgrounds.

Yet over the course of this Democratic primary, you and your surrogates have sought to minimize Secretary Hillary Clinton’s victories throughout the South as a symptom of a region that, as you put it, “distorts reality.” You argue that the South is “the most conservative part” of America; implying states that traditionally vote Republican in a general election are not worth contesting in a Democratic Primary.

...

Southern Democrats already have to deal with Republicans refusing to expand Medicaid, deteriorating infrastructure, and the lack of adequate funding for our public schools. We need our national Democratic leaders to invest in our races and causes—to amplify our voices, not diminish them. In contrast, Hillary Clinton has spent her entire career trying to help people all across the South. She saw a region full of families and children of every color, and instead of diminishing them, she worked to build them up. She is committed to a long-term strategy of rebuilding our state Democratic parties, to assist candidates up and down the ballot, and to serve as a voice for the voiceless. She has not dismissed the importance of states that you have won, because she realizes s that to be President of the United States you have to be a champion for all of the states. To be leader of the Party, you have to be with Democrats in all states as well. That includes the ones you won and yes, even the ones you lose.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/20/southern-democrats-revolt-demand-bernie-sanders-minimizing.html

Jackson State University gets to play in the opening game of the 2016 SWAC Baseball Tournament. It is going to be an early start for the Tigers, who face off against Texas Southern University at 9 a.m., Wednesday, May 18.

JSU earned the No. 2 seed in the East with a 14-10 SWAC record and 32-24 overall record. TSU is the No. 3 seed out of the West and finished with a 13-10 SWAC record and 21-25 overall.

Both teams didn’t meet in the regular season, so this matchup brings a little mystery to the tournament. This game is the first of four that will be played during the day at the MLB Urban Youth Academy's Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans.

The Tigers enter the tournament as the best hitting team in the conference with a .322 average and second-best ERA at 5.31. Texas Southern is the fifth-best hitting team with a .275 average and fourth-best pitching staff with a 6.65 ERA.

JSU had six players earn All-SWAC honors at the end of the season. Shortstop Cornelius Copeland and outfielder CJ Newsome earned First-Team All-SWAC, and catcher Carlos Diaz, first baseman Jesus Santana, outfielder Bryce Brown and pitcher Miguel Yrigoyen earned Second-Team All-SWAC honors.

Texas Southern had one player on the postseason All-SWAC teams: pitcher Robert Pearson, who earned First-Team All-SWAC honors.

The winner of the opening game will play whichever team comes out on top between Arkansas-Pine Bluff University and Alabama A&M University at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The losers of both games will face each other at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

After JSU and TSU open up the tournament, the next game on May 18 will be between Alcorn State University and Grambling State University at noon.

The Braves are the No. 3 seed out of the East, having finished with a 10-14 SWAC record and 15-34 overall record. GSU is the No. 2 seed from the West after a 15-8 SWAC season and a 22-25 overall record.

Both teams played a pair of games this season. The Tigers won the first meeting 12-3 at Alcorn State, and the Braves won the second meeting 11-8 at Grambling State.

Grambling State is the third-best hitting team in the SWAC with a .290 average and the fifth-best pitching staff with a 7.12 ERA. Alcorn State is hitting .274 as a team for sixth in the SWAC and eighth in pitching with an 8.26 ERA.

ASU had one player on the postseason teams, with designated hitter Cedric Bell earning Second-Team All-SWAC honors. Meanwhile, the Tigers had six players on the Second-Team All-SWAC after the regular season.

The winner of the Alcorn State and Grambling State game plays the winner of the Alabama State University and Southern University game Thursday, May 19, at 6 p.m. The losers of the two games play at noon on Thursday.

The tournament features the top four teams from the East and the …

Now that the four-day marathon that is SEC Football Media Days is underway, there are plenty of questions for every team. The media will get its chance at players and head coaches from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi this week.

MSU players and head coach Dan Mullen will face sports reporters Tuesday, July 12. Mullen will have plenty to talk about while he is at the podium.

One of the biggest questions that he will face is how the university handled the Jeffery Simmons’ case. In case you missed it, Simmons was seen on video striking a woman who was involved in an altercation with his sister.

MSU allowed Simmons to enroll in school, but there were conditions placed on the player. The athletic program gave him a slap on the wrist with a one-game suspension.

Simmons, a five-star recruit from Noxubee County High School, will miss the game against the University of South Alabama. Mullen will have to answer questions on why the school let Simmons enroll and what steps they are taking to ensure that he doesn’t have a repeat of his behavior.

Finding the new replacement for Dak Prescott will also be a major focus.

After Mullen gets grilled about Simmons, attention at some point will turn to finding out who will be the next quarterback for the Bulldogs. Currently, it looks like Nick Fitzgerald is the leader for the top spot, but will that change between now and game one?

Mullen might get asked about new defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon and whether he will stay in the position for more than a year. MSU has hired six defensive coordinators in eight years, which is a lot of turnover for a coordinator job.

Other topics could include satellite camps and whether the Bulldogs will find their running game this season. Plenty of questions will be on MSU facing a rebuilding or down year, but expect Mullen to quash those questions.

UM Rebels coach Hugh Freeze doesn’t face the media until Thursday and probably hopes after four days, there will be some fatigue from those firing questions. Freeze is one of the few coaches that will get grilled.

The first topic he will face is the Laremy Tunsil situation. Unless you have been living under a rock, there is no way that you missed the former offensive tackle’s draft night drop.

UM is facing sanctions from the NCAA already over violations of the football program. Now, new allegations of Tunsil taking money from a coach might add to the program’s troubles. Freeze will do his best to answer questions carefully or deflect those questions. The Rebels are considered a program on the rise, but allegations of bending, if not breaking, the rules have dogged Freeze almost since his arrival in Oxford.

The Rebels will also face some law-and-order questions after defensive end Breeland Speaks and offensive guard Rod Taylor ran afoul with the law. …

In the history of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only once before now has a wife presented a husband entering the shrine. Kim Singletary presented her husband, Chicago Bear great linebacker Mike Singletary, in 1998.

That will change on Saturday, Aug. 6, when Deanna Favre becomes the second woman to present her husband, former Green Bay Packer and living legend Brett Favre, at the Hall of Fame. The pair met and began dating in high school before being married in 1996.

Brett said his first choice would have been his father Irvin Favre, who passed away from a heart attack on Dec. 21, 2003, at the age of 58. The Packers star went on to have one of the greatest games in his career the next night on Monday Night Football.

In that Monday night contest, Brett threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns, as the Packers blew out the Oakland Raiders 41-7. The quarterback returned to Kiln, Miss. after the game to lay his father to rest.

It only makes sense for Brett to pass the honor to his wife, Deanna. She was the one who called him and told him his father had passed.

She stood by Brett through his retirements and un-retirements, his admitting that he had an addiction to painkillers, his scandal of allegedly sending racy text messages to a New York Jets game day host and two massage therapists and other bumps in his stellar career.

“Deanna is the best teammate I’ve ever had,” Brett said in a statement. “She has been by my side throughout this journey and I’m so excited that she gets to play such an important role for me.”

“Serving as Brett’s presenter is a great honor. I am thrilled to be able share this special moment in time with him,” Deanna said in the statement.

The other members of the 2016 Hall of Fame Class are Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., who will be inducted by daughter Lisa DeBartolo; Tony Dungy, who will be inducted by former teammate Donnie Shell; Kevin Green, who will be inducted by former Carolina Panthers head coach and current Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers; Marvin Harrison, who will be inducted by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay; Orlando Pace, who will be inducted by son Justin Pace; Ken Stabler, who will be inducted by Hall of Fame coach John Madden; and Dick Stanfel, who will be inducted by Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy.

The newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 6. On Sunday, Aug. 7, the Colts and Packers will face each other in the Hall of Fame Game, and the newest members of the hall will be honored on the field.

The game will be seen on ESPN and will kickoff at 6 p.m.

It might be a challenge to find anyone who happened to be alive the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, meaning it has been 108 years since the team last won it all.

The last time the Cubs were even in the World Series was 1945. Chicago has waited 71 years to see a Cubs team in the championship series.

To put those 108 years in perspective, there were only 46 states and 65 sovereign nations, and the president was Theodore Roosevelt. MLB only had 16 teams, compared to the 30 teams today.

The highest-paid MLB player was Nap Lajoie, who made just $8,500 (that would be $210, 678 in today’s dollars) that season. MLB players salaries now average $4.4 million.

The average ticket price to see a game was just 25 cents (that would be 6.20 in today’s dollars) in 1908. Today, a ticket will cost you an average of $44.81.

There wasn’t even a NFL, NBA or NHL when the Cubs last won the World Series. Baseball was America's game, but football has since been dethroned it.

Every Chicago team in the four major sports but the Cubs have won a championship: the Chicago White Sox (two titles), Blackhawks (six titles), Bulls (six titles) and Bears (nine titles).

The Braves have won the World Series in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta since the Cubs won it all. Of the teams founded after the Cubs’ last World Series win, the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks have won one or more titles.

Even long-suffering teams have broken out of their funk while the Cubs have waited for another title. The New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shed their loser labels by winning a Super Bowl, and the Golden State Warriors became good again en route to a title.

A few “curses” have been lifted since the Cubs’ 1908 win. Most notably, the Boston Red Sox have won three World Series, starting with the epic 2004 title, followed by the 2007 and 2014 titles.

In 1994 the New York Rangers broke their own curse and won the Stanley Cup. The biggest curse to be lifted recently happened for the whole city of Cleveland when the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Cubs have their own curse, “The Curse of the Billy Goat” that occurred during the 1945 World Series. A lot written has been written about the curse, but the jest of the matter is that the team insulted Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis’ goat, so Sianis cursed the ball club.

That was the final World Series appearance for the Cubs, and the club has become known as “loveable losers” ever since the curse.

But things could change this year. The Cubs won 103 games, the most in MLB …

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is, without a doubt, one of the best in the NFL at his position. It wasn’t super surprising that he led his team down the field for a game-winning field goal in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.

Rodgers has made spectacular throws throughout his career and some amazing throws against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Jan. 15. He showed why he is an All-Pro and Pro Bowl quarterback with his play.

The immediate story will be how Rodgers was able to pull out the 34-31 victory over the Cowboys. The long-term story could be the Dallas that walked off the field in defeat.

While the Cowboys are now home for the playoffs, their future in Dallas looks extremely bright. They remind me of another Dallas team back in 1991, when Jimmy Johnson finally had his triplets in quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin. Those Cowboys reached the playoffs with an 11-5 record and had to play on Wild Card weekend.

Dallas defeated the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round. In the Divisional Round, things didn’t go well, as the Detroit Lions beat the Cowboys.

This year’s Cowboys might have found its triplets in quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Dez Bryant. Dallas finished first in the NFC with a 13-3 record and did it with rookies at quarterback and running back.

Even in 1991, there was a quarterback controversy with Steve Beuerlein replacing an injured Aikman during the season. This season saw the Tony Romo or Prescott debate that even continued during the playoff game.

Just to show how closely these two teams resemble each other, here are the ages of both triplets: Aikman was 25, Smith was 22, and Irvin was 25; Prescott is 23, Elliott is 21, and Bryant is 28.

Both teams lost in the Divisional Round, but it wasn’t about the loss for either team. It was about what comes next. Dallas seems to be in position to repeat what the 1991 Cowboys did after their playoff loss.

The very next season, the Cowboys ended up winning the Super Bowl. Those triplets ended up winning a total of three Super Bowls before they were done playing.

The Cowboys could have had more Super Bowl wins, but the egos of Johnson and owner Jerry Jones got in the way. Injuries eventually ended the careers of Aikman and Irvin, but Smith ended up becoming the NFL’s all-time rushing leader.

But he couldn’t carry the team at his advanced age without Aikman and Irvin or a new quarterback and wide receiver duo.

Prescott and company might not win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2017 season, but a lot of the pieces are in place. With a few smart additions, this team could repeat what Dallas did in …

Making history is becoming the norm for the Mississippi State University Women’s Basketball Team. After climbing to a historic No. 4 ranking in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs made more history on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

MSU climbed to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time in program history, which set a school record. The Bulldogs moved back up to their No. 4 ranking in the Associated Press Poll.

After a 64-61 loss at the University of South Carolina, MSU dropped to No. 5 in both polls. MSU is on a three-game winning streak since they dropped their first game of the season to the Gamecocks and are rising back up the polls.

MSU has been in the top 5 of the rankings for 10 weeks and is currently half a game behind South Carolina for No. 1 in the SEC. MSU is a game and a half ahead of No. 3 Texas A&M University.

The Bulldogs learned Monday, Feb. 6, that the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Sport Committee still has MSU as one of its top four teams. MSU is No. 4 in the latest top-16 seeding order.

The University of Connecticut is No.1, Baylor University is No. 2 and South Carolina is No. 3 in the second of three peaks at the potential bracket. Connecticut and South Carolina are scheduled to play on Feb.13 at UConn. The outcome of that game could help the Bulldogs rise up in the seedings.

MSU seems to be a lock for one of the four national seeds and has the home-court advantage that goes along with being a top seed. The Bulldogs must avoid an Atlanta Falcons-like collapse over the final six regular-season games and in the SEC Tournament.

In a 70-53 win against the University of Missouri, the seniors on this team won their 100th game. MSU senior forward Breanna Richardson scored her 1,000th career point in the win over the Tigers. That moved the Bulldogs to 23-1 overall and 9-1 in SEC play as the regular season starts to wind down.

Bulldogs’ junior guard Morgan William is one of the 19 players in the nation on the Dawn Staley Award watch list. The Dawn Staley award goes to the top guard in the nation who shows ball handling, scoring, ability to distribute the ball, and the will to win like Staley did during her college career.

William leads the team in assists with 4.6 per game and steals with two per game. She is second on the team in scoring with 10 points per game.

MSU is back in action on Thursday night at 8 p.m. as it hosts Vanderbilt University on the SEC Network as the team looks to continue rewriting the record book.