Jackson Free Press

It takes a big man to admit he was wrong.

Last night, that big man was five-foot funnyman and Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who had a little fun at Mississippi's expense last week when the news broke the state never officially ratified the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

In the bit, Stewart does what people who've never stepped a toe in Mississippi tend to do when talking about Mississippi, and lampooned the entire lot of state officials who were in charge when the Legislature ratified the amendment in 1995 -- I know, I know; we probably deserve that one -- as slavery-loving racists.

Among those officials was then-Secretary of State Dick Molpus, whose office was to oversee the handling of the official ratification paperwork. For reasons that remain unknown, the paperwork never made it to the federal archivist in Washington, D.C.

Stewart (or, more precisely, his comedy writers) implied that Molpus likely destroyed the documents -- you know, being the scheming white xenophobe that too many folks ignorantly presume every Mississippi politician to be.

But after getting a flurry of pushback from people who know Molpus, Stewart admitted last night that the show erred in using "Dick Molpus...as an avatar for racial bigotry, forgetting, perhaps that Dick Molpus is a real person with a real record on civil rights."

That record, as Stewart notes, includes apologizing in 1989 to the families of the murdered civil-rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Despite the threats he received against his life, Molpus counts the apology as among his proudest moments.

In doing so, Stewart proved himself to be a class act (it was, after all, a bad week for satirists. See: The Onion debacle). And if any good came out of the whole thing, it's that the rest of America learned a little bit about the classy Dick Molpus and about Mississippi.

U.S. District Court sentenced three former Jackson Police officers to prison Thursday for accepting bribes from an undercover FBI agent.

Here is the verbatim press release from U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis' office:

FORMER JACKSON POLICE OFFICERS SENTENCED FOR ACCEPTING BRIBES

Jackson, Miss. - Former Jackson Police Officers Monyette Quintel Jefferson, 27, Terence Dale Jenkins, 25, and Anthony Ricardo Payne, Jr., 26, were sentenced in U.S. District Court today for accepting bribes from an undercover FBI agent, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen announced.

Monyette Quintel Jefferson was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the FBI in the amount of $20,500.00.

Terence Dale Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the FBI in the amount of $10,000.00.

Anthony Ricardo Payne, Jr. was sentenced to 9 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to the FBI in the amount of $10,000.00

On June 10, 2010, Monyette Quintel Jefferson made an agreement with an undercover FBI agent, who he believed was a drug trafficker, to protect a shipment of 100 kilograms of cocaine that would be coming into Hawkins Field Airport in Jackson, Mississippi.

On June 25, 2010, the undercover FBI agent, posing as a drug trafficker, met with Jefferson and Anthony Ricardo Payne, Jr. at the Metro Center Mall in Jackson. Jefferson and Payne agreed to protect a shipment of cocaine that was coming into Jackson that day. They also agreed that Jefferson, Payne and another police officer would receive payment for protecting the shipment of cocaine coming into Jackson.

Jefferson arrived at Hawkins Field in his JPD patrol vehicle and met with the undercover FBI agent. At approximately 3:50 pm that same day, JPD Officer Terrence Dale Jenkins, driving a JPD patrol vehicle, met with the undercover FBI agent in the parking lot of Hawkins Field for the purpose of providing police protection for a drug transaction. The undercover FBI agent informed Jenkins that the total drug shipment involved approximately 100 kilograms of cocaine.

At approximately 3:55 p.m., another FBI agent, working in an undercover capacity, arrived and simulated the purchase of approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine from the first undercover FBI agent in the presence of Jenkins. After the exchange took place, the first undercover FBI agent paid Jenkins $5,000 for his assistance in protecting this drug transaction. Jenkins then provided further protection by following the second undercover FBI agent from Hawkins Field to Interstate 20 in Jackson.

At approximately 4:10 p.m., JPD Officer Anthony Ricardo Payne, Jr., driving a JPD patrol vehicle, met the first undercover FBI agent in the main parking lot of Hawkins Field for the purpose of providing police protection for another purported drug transaction. The undercover FBI agent informed Payne that the total drug shipment involved approximately 100 kilograms of …

Parks and Recreation is conducting registration for the 2013 program until Friday, March 8.

Did you know that students who do not pass their state tests cannot graduate?

The public is invited to attend and support this initiative to increase the graduation rate and decrease the dropout rate in Mississippi.

Mississippi consumers will get a chance to protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft courtesy of the sixth annual Shred Days.

For many cancer patients, getting to and from treatment is the greatest barrier in beating the disease.

Gov. Phil Bryant is still against Medicaid expansion, but says he's now willing to sit down with hospitals about other ways to cushion the blow from massive funding cuts when certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect.

In a statement issued jointly with the Mississippi Hospital Association, Bryant said he and hospitals "have come together in good faith to work out a possible solution to our funding issues."

Under the ACA, certain hospital funding mechanisms would sunset and be replaced by other revenue streams, primarily state Medicaid expansion. However, Bryant hates Obamacare so much he's refused to talk about covering an extra 300,000 low-income Mississippians with an expanded Medicaid plan.

Chris Anderson, CEO of Singing River Health Systems in Gulfport, said the Medicaid expansion question is "dead end" with Bryant so hospitals will have to work with the governor's administration to find alternate funding sources.

Anderson and other hospital execs are encouraged that Bryant now appears willing to come to the negotiating table.

Many people don't have the photo IDs required under the new laws.

On March 15, the Maryland House of Delegates decisively passed (82-56) a bill that would replace the death penalty with life without parole.

The City of Jackson’s Municipal Court Services will offer its annual Amnesty Program on Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22.

Ask questions, voice concerns, and share your opinions directly with the Mayor.

Here at the JFP, we are going into the final push of the city election season before the primaries on May 7. We are still finishing mayoral candidates' JFP interviews (with the goal of doing one for each of them!) and we will be doing additional endorsement interviews with the candidates we deem to be the most competitive in upcoming weeks (starting this week).

We want your help, though. Tell us the questions below that you would ask either all of the candidates or a particular one--include the name(s) if so.

Meantime, read our candidate interviews to date here: Mayor's Race 2013 Jackson City Council Races 2013

We need your input so please take time to weigh in!

As we noted in Tuesday's story on campaign finance reform, mayoral candidate Regina Quinn did not file a campaign finance report by the Jan. 31, 2013 deadline. This means one of two things -- either she is either in violation of Mississippi sunshine laws regarding campaign finance transparency, or she didn't raise or spend over $200 in 2012 on her campaign.

This morning, another campaign told the JFP that a non-profit organization was founded under the name "Jackson United" to Elect Regina Quinn, Mayor. It was incorporated on June 18, 2012.

This afternoon, we discovered the incorporation document that shows that the non-profit was formed by Jackson attorney John Richard May, Jr. for the purposes of "Political Advocacy and Public Education."

Mississippi code prohibits incorporated committees and associations and incorporated companies and corporations from contributing more than $1,000 per year, directly or indirectly, to a candidate or the candidate's committee. They are also prohibited from contributing more than $1,000 annually to any political party.

The penalty for such action is a fine no less than $1,000 or more than $5,000 against the corporation.

It is unclear what, if any, contributions the non-profit organization has made at this time. May could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

A link to a copy of the filing for incorporation for "Jackson United" follows below.

Jackson United's incorporation documentation

Update: After a Tuesday afternoon request from the JFP for clarification on the law pertaining to incorporated entities and political campaigns, the office of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has attorneys looking into the legality of a campaign being set up as a non-profit organization. As of 3:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, there was still no consensus. Stay tuned for more updates.

Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. and Department of Public Works Dan Gaillet gave an update on the status of construction on the JATRAN facility at Highway 80 and Valley Street at Tuesday night's city council meeting.

The status: there has been no change in status.

Gaillet laid out the timeline for the stalled project, which you can read about here, and said the city is still waiting on a waiver from the Federal Transit Administration before the project can move forward. If the city does not receive the waiver, the HVAC units in the building will have to be stripped from the existing structure, and replacement parts will have to be purchased and installed.

If that happens, Johnson told the council the city will likely pursue a legal route to insure the city is not solely responsible for the added expenses.

The expected date of completion was originally set for December of this year, and Gaillet said if the city receives the waiver, it can still hit that mark. If not, the project could still be finished by late spring.

The campaign to elect Regina Quinn mayor of Jackson has sent over a copy of the campaign finance report it plans to file for 2012. You can read it here.

Quinn's biggest supporter is her husband John May Jr., who gave $25,966 over a six month period.

The report does not have the seal of Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, meaning the copy we received had not been filed when it was scanned and sent to us, but this is the first glimpse into the finances of the Quinn campaign to date.

The Mississippi Insurance Department has arranged for insurance companies to use the Mississippi State Fairgrounds as damage inspection stations.

Ha. I was just doing research on mayoral candidates and found this piece I wrote about now-mayoral candidate Chokwe Lumumba when the JFP was all of about two weeks old. My (white) photographer Jaro Vacek and I showed up to cover this meeting and were not treated very well. It was clear they asked us to leave because we were white press.

However, I chose to do my homework and write a fair story about Lumumba, and include that they kicked us out but not black media. When we attended the next meeting, we were treated very differently, and he has treated us respectfully since then.

Interesting trip down memory lane.

The current Mississippi Legislature, under the watchful eye of a radical-right governor, Phil Bryant, is attempting a number of disturbing pieces of legislation this session. But few, if any, are more disturbing in a heart-of-being-an-American way than their recent legislation to protect the identifies of the residents who apply for the privilege of carrying a concealed weapon.

Regardless of your views on guns, this legislation is textbook overreach by the government. They passed legislation to protect from public view the list of people who are allowed to concealed a weapon on their person. That is, Mississippi is walking all over the First Amendment in its over-zealous attempt to convince voters that they are for the Second Amendment.

Meantime, this means there is no accountability to the state's concealed-carry laws. Watchdog media (or what there is left) will not be able to get in there and determine whether the law is being enforced equally and in a non-discriminatory way. I personally have no interest in publishing the list of concealed-carry permit holders, but that is beside the point. Because the NRA freaked out because media in other states requested the names of the concealed weapon carriers—a First Amendment right—the Mississippi Legislature decided to pass a law that clearly violates both transparency ideals and the First Amendment.

This means that a parent who believes their child is at higher risk around a person with a concealed weapon, for instance, cannot know who in their family and friends circle carries one. Knowing that information gives everyone in the conversation the right to make their own decisions about whether to associate with people who secretly carry weapons. The state government is making this kind of parental and personal decision-making impossible. It is a vast over-reach, but entirely predictable from state lawmakers who are sold out lock, stock and barrel to the gun industry.

Very sad. We hope that the law will not stand up in court.

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the leadership of the city of Jackson is united behind Jackson State University's proposal for a 50,000-seat domed stadium.

The proposed project, expected to cost approximately $250 million, got votes of confidence from the city council Tuesday night and from Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. Wednesday afternoon.

"I agree with this concept (of a domed stadium)," Johnson said. "I have gone on the record and said that I don't want to lose seats. We're the capital city and we have 62,000 seats in our stadium. We have to compete with Little Rock, Mobile, Baton Rouge and Memphis, as well as other venues in the south. If we ended up with a new outdoor stadium that seated 25,000 people, then I couldn't support that. Then I started meeting with the people at Jackson State, and a domed stadium would be unique to the state and the region. It also offers versatility that an open-air stadium would not offer. "

Jackson State officials have estimated the proposed stadium would infuse $64 million annually into the city's economy and host music and entertainment events and conventions along with sporting events.

The 50,000 seats would make the stadium the third-biggest stadium in the state behind Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford and Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville. Both of those venues were built with private donations, are open-air and used almost exclusively for football.