Justice

Stokes: Shut Down Jail, Pull Pants Up

District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes wants to close the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond following a series of blunders at the jail.

MDOC Sticks with Private Prisons

Sometime between the 8:45 p.m. and the 9:15 p.m. staff shift change on July 30, 2010, Tracy Alan Province, John Charles McCluskey and Daniel Kelly Renwick escaped from Arizona State Prison-Kingman. Just after 10 p.m., perimeter-patrol officers discovered a 30-by-22-inch hole in the fence. Two hours after the prison determined the inmates had escaped, Arizona Department of Corrections assumed command and the U.S. Marshals Service launched a manhunt.

Condemned Man Seeks Reprieve

Gary Carl Simmons Jr., scheduled to be the third person Mississippi puts to death this month, wants the State Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. Monday evening, Simmons' attorney filed a motion asking for 14 days to have a forensic psychologist perform a mental-health assessment, which Simmons never received in the course of his defense.

Another Condemned Man Seeks Reprieve

Gary Carl Simmons Jr., scheduled to be the third person Mississippi puts to death this month, wants the State Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. Monday evening, Simmons' attorney filed a motion asking for 14 days to have a forensic psychologist perform a mental-health assessment, which Simmons never received in the course of his defense.

Legal Question Could Delay Execution

On Sunday, Jan Michael Brawner turned 35. Tomorrow, the state could put him to death if he doesn't receive a reprieve. Brawner has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court for a stay of execution on the grounds that a majority of the court doesn't support executing him for the 2002 slayings of his ex-wife, in-laws and 3-year-old daughter.

Utah Firm to Manage Three State Prisons

A Utah private-prison firm will take over running the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons from The GEO Group. Management & Training Corporation, based in Ogden, Utah, will also assume management of East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs.

Private Prison, Public Problems

Gail Tyree exited U.S. Highway 84 onto Hobo Fork Road and drove through the rose-adorned entrance of the sprawling Adams County Correctional Center. A female correctional officer leaving the prison's main administration building scrutinized Tyree's car as she circled the parking lot.

Melton Mentees Get Second Chance

The late Mayor Frank Melton may well be smiling from his grave over the good fortune bestowed by Gov. Haley Barbour and the city of Jackson to two of the troubled men he mentored over the years.

City Leaders Prepare ‘Fresh Start'

A few dozen local leaders from a range of fields are working on a program to help keep people from returning to prison after leaving.

Getting Past the Rhetoric of Hate

Here in Mississippi, our history is filled with people, events and creations that stir pride in us. Sadly, our history also contains wrongs, violations and prejudices that cast a long, shameful shadow over our state.

Stolen Lives: Remembering the Tragedy of Slavery

An Instrument of Change

A half moon disappeared as the sun rose out of the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 1, 1832. The humid coastal winds filled the sails and carried the ship through the waves as J.W. Martin captained the Schooner Wild Cat, a 40-plus ton sailboat, out of the port of Charleston, S.C.

Big Plans, Little Progress

The U.S. Congress established the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission as an independent, public advisory commission with the Rural Development, Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of October 1, 1988.

Cause of Private Prison Melee Disputed

What we know about this past weekend's events at the Adams County Correctional Center, a private federal prison in Natchez, is that a group of prisoners briefly took control of parts of the facility, held approximately two dozen staff members hostage and beat several employees. One correctional officer, Catlin Carithers, died during the uprising.

Three Days in June

One spring afternoon in 2001, Jan Michael Brawner slipped into the home of his ex-in-laws, Jane and Carl Craft, in rural Tate County, and stole a .22-caliber rifle.

[Outlaw] Yes. We. Can.

There was a weight on me—a black cloud that threatened all manner of lightening and rain, and I just couldn't shake it. "This," I thought to myself, "this will never end unless someone who matters stands up for us."

Ellington