Opinion

[Stiggers] Momma's Mad

Mr. Announcer: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented mostly by two members of the McBride family: Dudley 'Do-Right' McBride, and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story."

JPS Students Need Strings

Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of making decisions about education realize we are the future. We kids are affected by the school board's decision to cut out important extracurricular activities such as strings.

[Mott] The Cost of Executions

Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of four family members. A death-penalty case "is almost like lightning striking," county administrator Butch Scipper told The Wall Street Journal in 2002. "It is catastrophic to a small rural county."

[Balko] We're All Felons, Now

Perpetual public fear of crime has turned us all into criminals.

Why ‘Local' is a ‘Good' Thing

"Chamber of Commerce Announces Free Enterprise Climate Policy" read the headline of the e-mail in my in-box on Monday morning.

Walk the Local Talk

Here at the Jackson Free Press, we know well how hard it can be for a small, locally owned business to stand up to a corporation that wants to stamp out as much competition as possible in order to please shareholders far from Jackson.

[Stiggers] Facing the Facts

Judy McBride: "Welcome to my 'Coping with the Trials and Struggles of Life' class. My objective is to show you how to deal with negativity."

[Kamikaze] The ‘Balloon Boy' Story

Sometimes I think we live in a bizarro worlda place where logic and reason don't always win out. Up is down. Left is right. Its like we're in an alternate dimension sometimes.

[Israel] No Check Required

This weekend, law-abiding citizens will attend the Mississippi Gun Show and undergo a background check to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearm dealer.

[Balko] Failing His Way to Higher Office

Bumbling Prince George's County, Maryland Sheriff Michael Jackson wants a promotion.

Into the Groove

Back in the 1980s, I wasn't too worried about much of anything. I was living in Washington, D.C., working by day as a legal assistant for a huge broadcast corporation and, by night, in a club as a deejay.

Jackson's Comeback

You can feel it in the air. Jacksonians are starting to believe in the power of Mississippi's capital city to be great, to rise from the ashes that fiery politics and racism of old turned us into.

[Stiggers] Health Care a la Mode

Boneqweesha Jones: "It's 'Qweesha 2009 TV, the show with news and views you should use in your critical thinking process. My guest is Chef Low Fat Meat, the Galloping Gourmet of the Ghetto Science Team. He's on a mission for the common people and health-care reform in America."

[Mott] Bearing Witness

I inherited my love of history from my dad, who had a passion for it. A genuine scholar, the true stories he told around the dinner table were more engaging than anything in school textbooks.

[Balko] Scenes From a Crackdown

Police overkill, such as that displayed at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, is becoming more common every day.

Time For Strength

I was talking to a police officer recently about a domestic-abuse situation I'm worried about. It was the case of a local woman whose partner has beaten her for years. She finally got up the courage to leave, and he hunted her down where she was hiding and nearly killed her.

PSC: Keep Rates Low

The Mississippi Public Service Commission has a hard decision before it.

[Stiggers] Aunt Tee Tee, Certified Geek

TaaQweema Jenkins: "Welcome to the final segment of the Ghetto Science Team Public Television special program reviewing of the inspirational documentary titled 'L.O.M.O.: The Life Time Achievement of Aunt Tee Tee Hustle, IT Guru,' produced by Hustle Family Productions."

[You Turn] Oxford's Mean Girls

At the Lyric Theater in Oxford I recently encountered a very strange example of Southern femininitythe vicious sorority girl inflamed by pledge week. The Lyric has quickly become a world-class music venue, perhaps the best in Mississippi, due in large part to the booking of excellent bands such as Wilco, Umphrey's McGee and Modest Mouse.

[Moore] Stop the Insanity!

I hate the fact that for so many years I believed the propaganda. It is printed, reported, over-reported and regurgitated across all media about the city of Jackson: "Don't go downtown." "Don't walk the streets at night." "Be gone before the sun sets. Crime is up."

[Balko] Should Suing Bad Prosecutors Be Legal?

Should prosecutors who manufacture evidence be susceptible to lawsuits?

Kicking It Up

I have a confession; lately I haven't been living in the moment. Here at the JFP we have a million ideas and staff members who work insanely hard because of their commitment to doing good work. I think all of us struggle with the fact that there are only so many hours in the day that keep us from implementing all those great ideas.

Ellington