Editorial

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EDITORIAL: Gov. Reeves Needs to Take ‘Essential’ Seriously for COVID-19 Social Distancing

What (Gov. Tate) Reeves still has not done, is follow the lead of states near and far by truly ordering only essential businesses and services to remain open. What Reeves did instead this past Tuesday has been a bona fide mess.

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EDITORIAL: State Should Not Shield Names of Officers Who Shoot, Kill

Members of the Mississippi Legislature have jumped into the middle of serious and historic problem that the City of Jackson has grappled with over the last year—whether or when law-enforcement officers who shoot and/or kill non-police should be identified.

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EDITORIAL: Mayor Must Repair City's Transparency Related to Policing, Crime

After asking for more than a year, the Jackson Free Press finally received the names and current status of Jackson police officers who shot people in the capital city since Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba became mayor in July 2017.

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EDITORIAL: City Needs to Name Officers Who Shot Citizens Without Delay

We can understand the need to protect officers and their families, but it is not acceptable to allow it based on a reason shrouded in secrecy.

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EDITORIAL: Free Press Is Not Here to Comfort the Powerful; We're Here for Truth

The Jackson Free Press, and its editors and journalists, have come under fire many times since we launched 16 years ago in Mississippi's capital city.

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EDITORIAL: Dear Mississippi Politicians, Criminal Justice Reform Is More Than Rhetoric

This week the Mississippi Department of Corrections will host a re-entry symposium in Jackson, a necessary step to re-engage stakeholders involved with the criminal justice system, from lawmakers and mental-health professionals to judges and experts.

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EDITORIAL: Transparency in Officer Shootings Needs to Improve, Not Worsen

We now get even less information about officer-involved shootings. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations does not have to disclose information concerning any open or closed investigations except to law enforcement.

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EDITORIAL: Low Primary Turnout Should Force Voter Engagement

The sickest part of our elections is that people who run campaigns don't think voters here are very smart or that they have evolved at all as an electorate in recent decades.

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EDITORIAL: City Should Prioritize ‘Rainy Day’ Funds for Emergencies

Despite recent catastrophes, the Jackson City Council has been using its fund balance or "rainy-day" fund for city-clerk salaries and festivals—items that are fundamentally non-essential.

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EDITORIAL: City Must Become Proactive, Not Reactive to Problems

Now that a promising young woman has died because of a massive systems failure in the City, allow us to repeat ourselves: This administration cannot afford to be reactionary to the mounting issues in the City.