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Pandering for Cheap Votes

Senate Bill 2988, a bill making felons out of employed undocumented immigrants and their employers, is now law. Mississippi Building and Construction Trade President David Newell says the law will help prevent the displacement of working U.S. citizens, while associations that represent employers say a law like this is going to present one more hoop to jump through on the way to filling a thin work schedule.

The Emerging Mississippi: Are New Voters Changing State Politics?

Photos by Kenya Hudson

When presidential hopeful Barack Obama entered the Rose Embley McCoy building at Jackson State University on March 10, he flowed easily into the hungry arms of the crowd. At least 100 young people—mostly females—pressed against the metal barricades, screaming and crying to shake his hand, crushing hapless reporters who had the misfortune of already standing at the barricade.

[Dickerson] Shame on You, Hillary

The weekend after the Texas debate, I saw Hillary Clinton on television losing her cool over Barack Obama's criticism of her health-care plan. I don't think that I will ever recover from the image of her looking a bit like a crazed televangelist, as she scolded, "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"

The Scruggs Saga Comes Home To Hinds County

Photos by Jaro Vacek

On June 11, 2005, Jackson Police Officer Jeffrey Middleton ran a red light on Highway 18 while coming back from Raymond. Middleton had no siren or police lights on at the time, and a cop car without a blaring siren is just another death machine when it decides to ignore a traffic signal. When Middleton slammed into a car making a turn under a green light, driver Desmonde Harris probably didn't know what hit him—and certainly not that it was a man pledged to uphold the law.

Corn Hath No Fury: The JFP Interview With Billy McCoy

Photos by Mac Gordon

House Speaker Billy McCoy speaks in a halting stutter at times. A stroke shook his frame in 2004. He has recovered to a point, though the scars are still plain. But they don't slow him down.

The Case For Innocence

It was Ron Williamson's obituary in the Dec. 9, 2004, issue of The New York Times that caught attorney and author John Grisham's eye.

‘These Are Not Fair Trials': The JFP Talks With John Grisham

Since publication of "The Innocent Man" in 2006, author John Grisham has become a strong advocate for the Innocence Project, lending his name and voice to help establish the organization's Mississippi office in Oxford. "The Innocent Man" was Grisham's first—and very likely his only—foray into the world of non-fiction. A man who has always had strong opinions about the legal system, he is even more adamant today about why it's broken and how to fix it. I spoke with him via telephone in mid-November 2007, and below is the full text of that interview.

2008 Legislative Preview: New Session, Old Problems

Photos by Adam Lynch, Donna Ladd, and Jaro Vacek

The Mississippi legislative session is coming around again Jan. 8, bringing with it some tough decisions. The Legislature took a stroll through roses last year, oddly, thanks to Hurricane Katrina. To counter statewide storm damage, the federal government approved the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which fully transferred the state's Medicaid budget onto the back of the feds. Normally, federal funds provide three-quarters of the state budget, with Mississippi matching those funds with another 25 percent. The Deficit Reduction Act saved the state from having to allocate this annual expenditure of about $850 million, garnering blessings and gratitude from representatives and senators alike.

Important Legislative Dates

Here's a calendar of prominent legislative actions for the upcoming session. Voters may want to consider attending and showing support for bills they favor on certain deadline dates. Call your local legislator for more information.

A Minor Injustice

Alexandre Dumas' most popular novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo," revolves around the narrative of Edmond Dantès, the captain of a merchant vessel who visits Napoleon on the isle of Elba and where the deposed emperor entrusts him with a letter to a dear friend in Paris. On his return to Marseilles, Dantès sets out to see his betrothed Mercédès. He is unaware that he has a competitor for Mercédès' affections in Fernand Mondego, who has learned of his dealings with Napoleon and has denounced him to the prosecutor, Villefort.

Dem At Your Own Risk

The year 2000 was the dawn of the tort-reform craze in Mississippi, when out-of-state groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce poured money into state elections in an attempt to roll back court regulation. The Chamber interpreted Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz as too friendly to plaintiffs and targeted his campaign, dumping millions of dollars into an ad blitz supporting Diaz' opponent, trial judge Keith Starrett, while refusing to identify its contributors. The Chamber even succeeded in getting an emergency appeal from ultra-conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to vacate injunctions challenging the legality of the Chamber ads.

Mr. Washington Comes To Mississippi

Photos by Jaro Vacek and Roy Adkins

When Democrats speak of Gov. Haley Barbour, it's usually either with some degree of admiration or a great deal of venom.

The Reality Of Tort Reform

Photos by Darren Schwindaman and Roy Adkins

On Aug. 31, 1999, 73-year-old McComb obstetrician Edsel Stewart signed a pack of Prudential Life Insurance papers that he believed gave him a million dollars worth of life insurance for his family for $105,000 a year. Getting insurance at that age was no easy feat, and Stewart counted himself lucky for nabbing a "Select Preferred Class H Rating" with Prudential.

Election 2007 - Major Races

<b><em>Governor</em>

This year, conservative voters in the state have two clear choices—Haley Barbour, the corporate conservative who helped perfect the national GOP's "southern strategy," or John Arthur Eaves Jr., a Democratic trial lawyer who often sounds more conservative—Dixiecrat, even—than Barbour.

A couple of things you should know about

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