Justice

Judge Rules 1 Mississippi Prison OK, Among Deaths at Others

A federal judge has rejected claims that conditions in a Mississippi prison are unconstitutionally harsh. His ruling comes amid violence at three other corrections facilities that resulted in the deaths of three inmates this week.

JPD Arrests 82 People Under 'Operation Targeting Gun Violence'

Days after U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst chided Jackson public officials for being too soft on crime, Jackson Police Department Chief James Davis held a press conference to highlight 82 arrests in the city.

OPINION: Jackson Policing Betrays Poor and Working-class Black People

Before rushing to volunteer to be Jackson's political classes' attack dog against racist insult, we should be mindful of Zora Neale Hurston's oft reminder: "all my skin folks ain't my kinfolk."

U.S. Attorney Criticizes Jackson Officials Over Crime

U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, one of the top federal prosecutors in Mississippi, had tough words for officials in Jackson over violent crime in the city.

Long Sentences, Broken Lives

Paul Houser is one of 2,635 Mississippians currently serving lengthy prison terms under Mississippi's so-called "habitual laws," the state's version of "three strikes laws." Mississippi's habitual laws drive the state's high incarceration rate, the third highest in the country.

Hinds County Jail ‘In Crisis,’ Still Violates Federal Consent Decree

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors dodged a bullet Monday, narrowly avoiding a federal contempt trial for ongoing conditions at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond.

Curtis Flowers Released on Bail from Parchman for First Time Since 1997

Curits Flowers will leave Mississippi's Parchman prison and return home for the first time in more than two decades after Montgomery County Circuit Judge Joseph Loper granted him a $250,000 bail on Monday morning.

New Site for Bail Hearing of Mississippi Man Tried Six Times

A judge has set a new site for next week's bail hearing for a Mississippi man who has been tried six times for murder in the 1996 shooting deaths of four people in a furniture store.

'Extreme' Prison Terms Must Be Focus for New Mississippi Leaders, Reformers Say

Mississippi's incoming class of statewide and legislative leaders should prioritize reducing "extremely" long prison sentences, a national bipartisan criminal-justice reform organizations says.

Mass Incarceration Rally at Smith Park

On Saturday, Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Mississippi Prisoner Advocacy invites the community to join together for a rally focused on bringing awareness to and protesting against mass incarceration in Mississippi.

Suit Seeks to Block Prosecutor from Excluding Black Jurors

Four black voters and a branch of the NAACP sued a Mississippi prosecutor on Monday, asking a federal judge to order him to stop excluding African Americans from juries.

White Supremacists Help Emmett Till Center Raise More Than $30,000

A small clan of white supremacists unintentionally helped a Mississippi anti-racism organization raise more than $30,000 in just six days after filming a propaganda video around the memorial of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old victim of a 1955 civil-rights murder.

Ellington