Justice

State Lacks Affordable Legal Services

The state needs attorneys to donate their legal services in order to overcome a shortage of free civil legal service aid for residents, Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jesse Dickinson told reporters at the Mississippi Supreme Court today.

[Balko] Killed on a Technicality

In 1994 Eddie Lee Howard was convicted of raping and murdering 84-year-old Georgia Kemp. Firefighters found Kemp dead in her Columbus, Miss., home after a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the house. Investigators determined the fire was intentional.

JFP Persons of the Day: Jamie and Gladys Scott

For their supporters, Jamie and Gladys Scott have become emblematic of a broken criminal-justice system in Mississippi. Jamie, 36, and Gladys, 38, were 19 and 21 respectively when they were arrested and charged with armed robbery. Prosecutors alleged that the two young women had masterminded the robbery of two men in Forest on Christmas Eve, 1993. In court testimony, witnesses gave conflicting accounts of how much the robbery netted, some saying that the men lost $200 and others saying the sisters each received $11. In October 1994, a Scott County jury sentenced them to two life sentences each.

Hinds DA: Castle Doctrine Has Gray Areas

Mississippi's "castle doctrine" law, which allows for the use of deadly force in certain self-defense situations, has some gray areas, Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith acknowledged in a community meeting yesterday.

Shame on JPD and the Media

In August, a 13-year-old Jacksonian was charged with aggravated assault for shooting a 17-year-old friend in the head. Thankfully, the friend lived.

Crime Drops, Officers Reinstated

Read the most recent crime statistics.

JPD Touts Community Policing Program

The Jackson Police Department is hailing a northwest Jackson neighborhood-watch program as an exemplary model of community policing. Introducing the Woodhaven Homeowners Association Citizen Patrol at a command staff meeting this morning, JPD Deputy Chief for Community Relations Tyrone Lewis called the group a "spearhead for the city of Jackson."

Thanks, Jackson, for Setting Example

Soon, the Jackson City Council Planning Committee is bringing a proposed ordinance before full council to restrict city police from inquiring about citizenship status during interdictions.

[Hammond] It's a Dry Hate

At the end of July, I traveled to Arizona to join with other members of the Unitarian Universalist faith to protest the enactment of SB 1070, the infamous anti-immigration law, in solidarity with Puente, a human-rights organization.

[Balko] The Government's License To Steal

In the February issue of "Reason," I wrote a feature story on civil asset forfeiture, the process by which law enforcement groups can seize property, usually in drug cases, sometimes without ever charging anyone with a crime. In particular, the article looked at the case of Anthony Smelley, who had $17,500 in cash taken from him during a traffic stop in Putnam County, Ind. Police never charged Smelley with a crime, but it took well over a year and several court proceedings for him to get his money back.

Wait: I've Heard This Before

Recently, someone sent me a link to a site set up about the old white-supremacist Citizen's Council (citizenscouncil.com)--a supposedly upstanding racist group that famed newspaper editor Hodding Carter Jr. called the "uptown Klan."

[Balko] Cops Don't Check Civil Rights at State House Door

The debate over whether citizens should be permitted to record on-duty police officers intensified this summer. High-profile incidents in Maryland, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, and elsewhere spurred coverage of the issue from national media outlets ranging from the Associated Press to Time to NPR. Outside the law enforcement community, a consensus seems to be emerging that it's bad policy to arrest people who photograph or record police officers on the job.The Washington Post, USA Today, the Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, and Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds, writing in Popular Mechanics, all weighed in on the side that citizen photography and videography can be an important check to keep police officers accountable and transparent.

[Balko] Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse." That's the standard line motorists hear when they say they weren't aware of the speed limit, or gun owners hear when they say didn't know about the gun laws in the jurisdiction they happened to get arrested in. Yet that ignorance is pretty understandable in an America where just about everything is criminalized. At the federal level alone, there are now more than 4,500 separate crimes, and that's not counting the massive regulatory code, violations of which also can sometimes be punished with criminal charges.

Samuel Bryant

Samuel Bryant may have left Mississippi for 52 years, but he is hoping his experiences as a community organizer and artist in Portland, Ore., will help his goal of facilitating interracial dialogues in Jackson.

Allison Goldman

The story of Judy Frieze Wright, a Jewish Freedom Rider who was arrested in Jackson in 1961, inspired Allison Goldman to educate others about the role of Jews during the Civil Rights Movement.

Ellington