Jackson Free Press

Lots to do right here in Jackson this weekend.

Jackson auditions are Oct. 5.

When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. — Thomas Jefferson

This afternoon, Gov. Phil Bryant followed through on his promise to issue an executive order for BlueCross & BlueShield of Mississippi to accept 10 Hospital Management Associates facilities into their provider networks.

The health companies have been beefing over money for a few months now.

Bryant had said that if the parties didn't work something out, he would step in order to ensure continuity in patient access to care.

Obviously aware of that given his chest beating about the government staying out of the affairs of private businesses, meddling with BCBS/HMA might come off as hypocritical (see his opposition to Medicaid expansion and Obamacare in general), Bryant's statement to the press reads:

"The Order issued by Gov. Bryant does not attempt to resolve the parties’ dispute over prior payments under their contracts, and it expresses no opinion and has no effect on that issue or their ongoing lawsuit. Rather, the Order is intended to preserve access to care until a full investigation is complete."

Bryant hoped the sides could come up with a resolution, but when they did not, said "as governor, I cannot sit back and allow Mississippian’s access to care to be threatened in violation of state law."

His order, good for at least 60 days, comes one day after Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney announced a deal whereby four HMA would be considered part of BCBS' network.

If the governor's actions are puzzling in that context, remember that Bryant also fought Chaney, a fellow Republican statewide officeholder, on setting up a state-based health-care exchange for the Affordable Care Act. The tiff caused the federal government to step in and set an exchange on Mississippi's behalf.

So, yeah, our governor has some control issues.

Rashad Crisler made his official announcement that he is running for Mayor Tony Yarber’s previous position, Ward 6 city councilman, this morning at a press conference outside City Hall.

Crisler said that he is enthusiastic about the prospect of being a part of a young, progressive leadership movement, which he believes was set into motion with Mayor Yarber’s initial election to council in 2009.

“He was only two years older than I am today when he earned the Ward 6 citizens’ trust to lead our community out of the brink of despair,” Crisler said. “I have known Mayor Yarber for many years and admired his leadership as our city councilman. I appreciate the example he has set and I am now prepared to take Ward 6 to the next level.”

It is well known that Crisler’s father, Marshand Crisler, was a big supporter of Yarber’s bids for both city councilman in 2009, and recently, as mayor; hence Rashaad Crisler sees a direct correlation between his bid for the Ward 6 seat and the efforts of Mayor Yarber and the elder Crisler during their respective tenures as city councilmen. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/politics-blog/2014/may/13/after-speculation-crisler-no-not-that-one-announce/

Addressing the ward’s current needs, Crisler said that infrastructure would be his top priority since it is the weakest aspect of the ward. However, he feels that space is the ward’s greatest advantage and will allow for more businesses to move into the area. He also expressed interest in working to decrease crime in the area to make the area more appealing to business.

He admitted that he would like to address problems with council that he saw when his father held the seat previously, expressing a desire to work with the rest of city council to ensure success for the city as a whole.

“I’ve seen in the past, watching my father when he was in this seat, all the problems with communication between city council members, fighting and bickering over issues,” Crisler said.

“I want to bring the council members together, all on one accord, to get a plan done to present to the mayor so he can execute it.”

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On May 14, 1970, two Jackson State University students were killed by Jackson police officers—10 days after the much more publicized Kent State shootings of four students in Ohio.

The victims of the JSU shootings were Phillip L. Gibbs, a junior at the school and father and James Earl Green, a high school senior.

Why didn't the JSU shooting get as much national attention? Well, the most obvious answer is the race of the victims. All four Kent State victims were white; the young men killed at Jackson State were African American.

NPR retells the circumstances of what it calls a "widely forgotten" tragedy at JSU:

On the evening of May 14, African-American youths were reportedly pelting rocks at white motorists driving down the main road through campus — frequently the site of confrontations between white and black Jackson residents.

Tensions rose higher when a rumor spread around campus that Charles Evers — a local politician, civil rights leader and the brother of slain activist Medgar Evers — and his wife had been killed, according to Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College. The situation escalated when a non-Jackson State student set a dump truck on fire.

Police responded to the call. A group of students and non-students threw rocks and bricks at the officers. Police advanced to Alexander Hall, a large dorm for women.

Even if the rest of the nation has forgotten (or never knew), the shootings remain integrated into the curriculum and culture at JSU, where all students learn about the shootings during a mandatory orientation.

In C. Liegh McInnis' freshman composition class, students have to observe in the women's dorm and write a paper on it.

He told NPR: "The tragedy showed the resolve of the students.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit that tried to dismantle House Bill 1523 before it becomes law next week. In his order, Reeves wrote that the ACLU's complaint did not satisfy the criteria for him to issue a preliminary injunction to block HB1523 from becoming law. Reeves wrote that the plaintiffs needed to prove that injury was "imminent" in order for a preliminary injunction to be considered. The plaintiffs, Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas are engaged to be married but do not plan to do so for a few years. Reeves said for a threat to be imminent, it "threatens to occur immediately."

"Alford and Thomas’s injury, if one exists, would arise when they apply for a marriage license. But they declare that they will apply for their license sometime within the next three years," Reeves wrote. "That is not imminent. The ACLU has the same problem. If a member of the ACLU intends to enter into a same-sex marriage in 2017, any injury is at least six months away."

Human Rights Campaign state director Rob Hill reiterated that HB1523 is dangerous and hateful legislation, in response to the order.

“H.B. 1523 represents the worst of Mississippi. If allowed to go into effect next week, it will lead to widespread discrimination against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, school and in family life. The business community -- including local and national companies and organizations such as Nissan, General Electric, the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturing Association and more -- has roundly condemned this dangerous bill," Hill said in a statement. "It will do harm to our community, our families and our economy and we must not allow it to stand. In the coming weeks, HRC will continue our ongoing efforts to ensure this bill is ultimately struck down or repealed.”

Judge Reeves will hold hearings for the two other lawsuits filed against House Bill 1523 together on Thursday this week. HB1523 will go into effect on July 1 if Reeves does not issue a preliminary injunction blocking it from becoming law.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections plans to use the former Walnut Grove Correctional Facility site for other purposes, like alternative or re-entry programs, a press release from the department says.

Commissioner Marshall Fisher has mentioned the mental health of inmates as a pressing concern in his department at government working group meetings this month and MDOC has formed a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.

“We do not intend for the Walnut Grove site to go unused,” Fisher said in the press release. “Just as we have formed a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health to assist us in supervising mentally ill inmates both inside and outside prison, we are strongly pursuing other ways to help inmates re-enter their communities in a meaningful way and remain out of prison.”

MDOC is refocusing its resources on rehabilitation, a press release from the department says. There are 3,194 inmates reported to have mental health diagnoses and about 15,000 reporting substance abuse, including drug and alcohol use.

The former prison could be used as a technical violation center, which was created under the comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation in 2014 as an alternative to incarceration. MDOC currently operates three such centers in Rankin, Leflore, and Simpson counties.

Walnut Grove closed late last week when MDOC moved the last prisoners to the state-run facilities. MDOC announced the closure on June 10, before the U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced that it would be phasing out its use of private prisons.

“MDOC’s decision to close Walnut Grove is in no way connected to the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision nor is the closure the result of any advocacy group’s ‘victory’,” Fisher said in the press release. “When the prison closed, significant improvements had been made under Management & Training Corporation, and juvenile offenders were no longer being housed there. We believe enough significant improvements had been made that the consent decree providing oversight was no longer needed.”

Nate Silver at Five Thirty Eight gives Obama a 91% chance of winning tonight; PPP, a left-leaning pollster, predicts over 300 electoral votes for Obama.

But others show the race closer, and the Electoral College race could be nail-biter, based on all sorts of factor such as weather, long lines, voter ID, GOTV efforts and some election officials in swing states who seem to be hell-bent on confusing folks on their way to the polls.

So here's a quick guide to watching the results tonight and getting a sense of how things are going for either side.

First, a summary: You've got to get 270 electoral votes to win the Electoral College; 269-269 is a tie (which would be decided in the U.S. House of Representatives, probably in Romney's favor).

The New York Times' Electoral Map suggests that Obama has 243 electoral votes that are totally safe or lean toward him; Romney has 206. That means Obama needs to hold those states and get just 27 more electoral votes to win; Romney needs to hold his and win 64 more electoral votes.

The Swing States in this math are New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado. (Others that lean Obama that Romney might pick off are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota and New Mexico. States that Obama could pick up from leaning Romney are North Carolina and Arizona.)

Now, the timeline... all times are Central.

5:00 p.m. Some polls close in Indiana and Kentucky. Obama won Indiana in 2008, but it's polling strongly for Romney this cycle. Interesting to watch, though, is the race between Tea Party GOP favorite Richard Mourdock (rape pregnancy is a gift from God) and Congressman Joe Donnelly, the Democrat. Mourdock knocked off Richard Lugar in the primary, but may now lose the seat for the GOP thanks to his national renown -- and Tea Party-vs.-normal-people schisms in the Indiana state GOP.

6:00 p.m. Final polls in Indiana/Kentucky. Polls close in Virginia. (They also close in Georgia, South Carolina and Vermont.) It may not be called all that quickly but Virginia is the first toss-up state to watch closely. If Obama wins it, he's probably having a good night -- he would only need one other swing state (other than New Hampshire) to get to 270 if he holds his "leaners." If Romney wins Virginia, his path to victory could tack "Southern" and he could still win without Ohio.

6:30 p.m. Polls close in Ohio and North Carolina (and West Virginia). Ohio may still have long lines and provisional ballots to count, but it'll be one of the most important states to watch.

One particular House race to watch while the results are coming in, according to PolicyMic, is Ohio District 16, which pits "business" against "labor" in an expensive House showdown between GOP Rep. Jim Renacci and Dem. Rep. Betty Sutton. If Sutton wins, that's one sign that Obama will, too; if Renacci wins, then Ohio may be trending …

Many people like to be a critic, and many people like to make a snap judgment on any number of topics. Many may see a preview for a new movie and instantly know if it will be great or not just from the short clip.

You could apply that same principle to the NFL Draft. We see what a team does and instantly love it or hate it. In reality it could take anywhere from two to five years to see if a team made the right move.

But that isn’t going to stop me from making a snap judgment on the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. These are my three winners and three losers from April 27’s first round.

Let's get critical.

Loser: Teams that traded up for a quarterback

One thing nearly all the analysts agreed on is that this draft featured a weak quarterback class. That didn’t stop the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans from jumping up in the draft to take one.

Chicago signed Mike Glennon in free agency and traded with the San Francisco 49ers to move up a spot so they could grab Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears gave up two third-round picks (one in 2018) and a fourth-round pick in this draft to move up.

Quick note: First- and second-round picks should end up being starters in year one; third-round ones should contribute significantly early their first year; fourth-round ones should help out at some point in their rookie season, and fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round ones need to develop while playing special teams.

That means the Bears gave up two players who should help a team that has holes all in the roster. Chicago gave up a lot of picks for a guy who made just 13 starts in his college career.

Kansas City traded its third-round pick this year and the first-round pick in the 2018 draft to move up from the 21st pick to the Buffalo Bills’ 10th pick. The Chiefs gave up a starter and a player that should help right away in Patrick Mahomes, who will sit behind Alex Smith.

Fans will wonder why Kansas City moved up if Mahomes isn’t a star. For a playoff team like the Chiefs, the team could have used the picks to make a run at the Super Bowl.

Houston ended up giving up a 2018 first-round pick, moving from 25th to the Cleveland Browns’ 12th spot. This is least of the bad moves from teams who moved up since the Texans were able to draft Deshaun Watson.

The Texans’ defense could make the transition easier, but they did give up a starter in next year’s draft. If Watson doesn’t pay off quickly, it will be another in a recent line of quarterbacks who didn’t work in Houston.

Winner: the Cleveland Browns

Say what you want about the Browns not getting a quarterback, but in …

Take a look here: newstagetheatre.com

Playwright Jane Reid Petty founded New Stage Theatre in 1965. In the theater's 49th season, New Stage has put on plays such as "All the Way" and "One Man, Two Guvnors," which shows through March 1.

Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, has a bill that would require the death penalty in statutory rape cases where the victim is 13 years old or younger and when the defendant is 18 or older.

Read the full text of Moore's House Bill 92 here.

The Sun-Herald just broke the news that Rep. Gene Taylor will run as a Republican to try to reclaim a seat in the U.S. Congress:

Taylor said he was on his way to Jackson to file to run as a Republican. The primary is June 3.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2014/02/28/5377861/moore-will-run-again-for-congress.html#emlnl=Breaking_News#storylink=cpy

What's wrong with the American Economy? Income inequality, due, in part, to an over-emphasis on shareholder value as our prevailing metric for corporate success.

Mississippi health-insurance rates could be as low as $8 a month after tax credits.

The response to the question that will be posed to the Jackson City Council next Tuesday (Oct. 22) is something many people are asking: Is the Jackson Redevelopment Authority still worth having?

Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes has put forward item No. 34, an order by the city council unauthorizing the JRA.

Technically, the word should be de-authorizing, but you get the message. This conversation should be interesting in light of recent developments with the Farish Street saga and the unanswered questions surrounding the non-existent convention center hotel.

For a quick history lesson, JRA was created during the 1970 legislative session. It’s a seven-member board that has power, under the Mississippi Code of 1972, to establish and construct municipal parking facilities for motor vehicles belonging to members of the general public, and to rent, lease, purchase, or acquire land and property for public purposes (the historic Farish Street district or the land on which the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau now sits, for example).

This may get a bit technical, but it also has the power and authority to rent, sell, convey, transfer, let or lease such facility and related structures or any portion thereof, or any space therein, and to authorize commercial enterprise activities other than the parking of motor vehicles on leased property comprising any part of such parking facilities and related structures, which is what it is doing with the Farish Street Entertainment District and the land on which the new Iron Horse Grill will sit.

Because the JRA board was set up by Mississippi law, it is unclear whether or not the city council even has the authority to do eliminate the quasi-governmental body.

We reached out to all the city council members this morning and, so far, Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber is the only one to comment. He said he is not likely to support the motion.

“What I am in support of is a proposal I’m going to bring forward,” Yarber said, “a motion that will require JRA to involve the (city) council in future, and way earlier on in the process.”

Yarber said he could bring his motion as early as next week.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps responded with a "no comment."

From the you can't make this ish up file, the Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint this afternoon alleging the Mississippi Highway Patrol engaged in racial profiling and violated the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Raymond Montgomery and Cathryn Stout, who are African American.

The stop happened Aug. 8 just north of Jackson on I-55 South, the ACLU said. A doctoral student at Saint Louis University, Stout "was traveling to Jackson to conduct interviews for a paper on Mississippians’ efforts to combat negative stereotypes of their state," the ACLU said.

According to the ACLU's press release, troopers pulled the couple over for Stout's Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. — a historically African American sorority — license plate holder. The release goes on to say:

"When (the couple) exercised their constitutional right to refuse to consent to a search, the trooper called his supervisor, Staff Sergeant Brad Vincent. The plaintiffs watched helplessly as troopers riffled through their suitcase and invaded their privacy. The troopers even dismantled the panels of their interior doors and looked under the hood of their car. In an effort to document the troopers’ actions, Stout tried to record the events on her phone camera. She was told to stop, and fearing arrest, she did. Their hour-long humiliation finally ended when the troopers could not find any contraband. They were sent on their way without any ticket, or an apology."

Stout noted the irony that the whole purpose of her trip was to show how far Mississippi has come in combating the image that the state is racially hostile.

"Unfortunately, my experience with the Highway Patrol revealed a much different picture,” Stout said.

Interestingly, at an Aug. 2012 legislative hearing on immigration reform, Vincent testified that Mexico-based cartels frequently transport narcotics through Mississippi and that the telltale signs of foreign drug mules, include old vehicles with new registrations filled with personal belongings. So it's possible that MHP thought Stout and Raymond (pictured below) were drug runners from south of the border.

The lawsuit, in which Department of Public Safety Commissioner Albert Santa Cruz is named as the main defendant, was filed in federal court in Jackson.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/dec/13/14981/

Pearl Jam just announced some 2014 tour dates. Looks like Eddie Vedder and company will hit the FedEx Forum in Memphis in October after playing the Austin City Limits Festival. Go here for the full skinny.

There are some heavy hitters on this week's new releases:

Coldplay - Ghost Stories (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

The Roots - ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (Alternative Rap)

Conor Oberst - Upside-Down Mountain (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

Oasis - Definitely Maybe [Deluxe Edition] (Alternative Pop/Rock)

Miles Davis - Take Off: The Complete Blue Note Albums (Cool Jazz)

Jolie Holland - Wine Dark Sea (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Brantley Gilbert - Just as I Am (Contemporary Country)

Yann Tiersen - ∞ (Infinity) (Film Score)

R.E.M. - Complete Rarities I.R.S. 1982-1987 (Alternative Pop/Rock)

R.E.M. - Unplugged 1991 & 2001: The Complete Sessions (Alternative Pop/Rock)

Archie Bronson - Outfit Wild Crush (Indie Rock)

Billy Joel - A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia (Contemporary Pop/Rock)

Trans Am - Volume X (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Afrojack - Forget the World (EDM)

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Goin' Home (Modern Electric Blues)

Mr. Scruff - Friendly Bacteria (Funky Breaks)

Phillip Phillips - Behind the Light (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

Comet Control - Comet Control (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Plaid - Reachy Prints (Techno)

Pujol - Kludge (Indie Rock)

John Doe - The Best of John Doe This Far (Roots Rock)

Smoke Fairies - Smoke Fairies (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror (Neo-Psychedelia)

Chatham County Line - Tightrope (Bluegrass)

Bo Ningen - III (Alternative/Indie Rock)

FKA Twigs - EP2 (Indie Electronic)

Les Big Byrd - They Worshipped Cats (Indie Rock)

Hank Thompson - Songs for Rounders/At the Golden Nugget (Bakersfield Sound)

Hank Williams - The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 (Honky Tonk)

Bottin - Punica Fides (Left-Field House)

Hollis Brown - Gets Loaded (American Trad Rock)

Hedley - Wild Life (Punk-Pop)

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In the GOP's continued saga of internecine warfare, there's another front opening in the Battle of Mississippi with a shot coming from... Missouri?

The chairman of the Missouri GOP wants the campaign investigated by the Republican National Committee, according to the Washington Post. The Missouri GOP chair wants the RNC to investigate racially-charged robocalls and ads that appear to have been placed in Canton, Miss., and elsewhere in support of Cochran's run-off bid.

The head of the Missouri Republican Party on Tuesday asked Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to appoint a task force to investigate what he called “racially divisive ads and robocalls” critical of state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

Ed Martin, the GOP chair in Missouri, is apparently concerned that Henry Barbour, nephew of former Governor Haley Barbour, may be behind a radio ad that was reported by Britain's Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail story, which offers an in-depth investigation to determine who placed the ads and how, notes that the ads were tagged "paid for by Citizens for Progress," a group that isn't registered with the FEC.

According to the Daily Mail, this same group name had been used previously by Mitzi Bickers, an Atlanta pastor, who, coincidentally, was being paid by Mississippi Conservatives -- a "super PAC" created by Haley Barbour and run by his nephew, Henry Barbour.

The younger Barbour told the Daily Mail he didn't know about the radio ads, although he acknowledged hiring Bickers to run a robocall campaign in the Cochran-McDaniel runoff.

In the radio ad, McDaniel is linked to an "ally" of the KKK, and listeners are warned that a McDaniel victory could mean a loss of government benefits such as food stamps, lunch programs and disaster assistance.

Southerners (and my mom) rejoice: After halting production for what seemed to many like an eternity, Blue Bell is back.

Here's the announcement from the Texas-based company:

Brenham, TX, August 17, 2015 – Blue Bell Creameries announced today it will begin distributing ice cream to select markets on Monday, August 31.

Blue Bell has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state health officials in Alabama and Texas of its plan to re-enter select markets on a limited basis.

“Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “This is an exciting time for us as we are back to doing what we love…making ice cream!”

The Blue Bell production facility in Sylacauga, Ala., began producing ice cream in late July. Additional production facilities in Brenham, Texas, and Broken Arrow, Okla., are still undergoing facility and production process upgrades similar to those made at the Alabama plant.

Due to the limited production capacity while producing in one facility, Blue Bell will re-enter parts of 15 states in five phases. The first of the five phases will be similar to how Blue Bell began and include the Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, areas, as well as parts of Alabama, (Birmingham and Montgomery) where the product is being made. The next phases include:

Phase Two: North central Texas and southern Oklahoma Phase Three: Southwest Texas and central Oklahoma Phase Four: The majority of Texas and southern Louisiana. Phase Five: Complete the states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas and begin distribution in Arkansas, Florida, northern Louisiana and Mississippi. This phase will also include only parts of the following states: Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Blue Bell will move on to each phase based on product availability and when it can properly service the customers in an area. With the exception of phase one, no other dates have been determined for when each expansion will take place.

For more information and to follow the company’s progress visit bluebell.com.

You can view the announcement from our vice president of sales and marketing here https://vimeo.com/136514867

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/aug/17/22573/

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves seems less concerned with creating a budget this year than he is with making sure Initiative 42 does not pass in November. During the Legislative Budget Office hearings on Monday and Tuesday, while most department heads were able to fend off taking sides, they were forced to answer obviously leading questions, primarily orchestrated by Reeves.

When the Department of Education presented their budget on Monday, they asked for the full funding of MAEP and funding for several additional programs including: the third grade reading gate, the MSIS system, state special schools and early education pilot programs.

Reeves asked state Superintendent of Education, Dr. Carey Wright several questions about the effectiveness of the additional programs in a way that indirectly asked about MAEP.

After questions from representatives and senators, Reeves asked several of his own. A small portion of the back-and-forth is below:

Reeves: How long have you been in Mississippi now? Has it been two years?

Wright: November the 11 will be two years.

Reeves: So you’ve had an opportunity to be in lots of school districts and a lot of schools across our state, my question is do you think Mississippi has an efficient system of public schools?

Wright: (Pause) Can you define efficient?

Reeves: Let me ask you a follow-up, can you define efficient?

Wright: Thinking about it from a superintendent’s hat, if I was a district superintendent, efficient to me would be am I utilizing funds the way they should be utilized, do I have an appropriate number of people at the school and central office level and am I efficient in my time and my management, and how I am executing my plans...

The verbal sparring continued, but few questions were asked about the extra $250 million that the department is asking for (over the FY16 Level of funding). Reeves' questions stem from the assumption that if Initiative 42 passes, the Legislature will be court-ordered to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Formula (MAEP), which has been fully funded only twice since 1997. Republican leaders, mainly Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, have vocalized what they see as the danger of Constitutional power transferring to the judicial branch of government.

For more MAEP coverage visit: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/maep/