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The Merry Month Of June

Unlike many fellow Jacksonians, I actually look forward to the month of June, despite the impending heat and humidity. That's partly because it's Jubilee!JAM Month—and this year the Jackson Free Press was extremely pleased to partner with JAM to help get the word out about its return to Capitol Street and its emergence, once again, as a high-caliber downtown music festival. Word is it was extremely successful and has put the JAM organization on the footing it needs to continue bringing national acts to downtown Jackson. We look forward to being a partner with JAM for many years to come.

[Balko] How Many More Are Innocent?

Calculating the percentage of innocents now in prison is a tricky and controversial process. In hundreds of cases, courts have overturned convictions due to lack of evidence, recantation of eyewitness testimony, or police or prosecutorial misconduct, cases for which no DNA evidence was present to establish definitive guilt or innocence.

[Stauffer] A 21st Century Boom Town?

When we launched the Jackson Free Press seven years ago this week, it was with a cover story on Jackson's "creative class." Seven years later as the JFP rolls into Volume 8, I still hear from people surprised, amazed and (at least, more often than not) pleased to see the JFP is still kicking andin factgrowing.

Spoon-feeding the FBI?

This week's City Council agenda contained an order confirming Mayor Frank Melton's appointment of Millsaps professor Bill Brister to the Jackson Public School Board of Trustees. If confirmed, Brister will replace board member Jonathan Larkin.

[Kamikaze] Show. Me. Some. Passion.

I call myself a moderate for a reason. I find myself shying away from the lunacy that lurks on the outer fringes of both parties.

[Purvis] Accidental Inspiration

I drove down to the Coast last week. I needed to see for myself what my home of four years looked like. I hadn't seen anything that made me feel good about what was probably happening there. I had no plan. I just wanted BP's head on a platter.

[Balko] America's Most Successful Stop Snitchin' Campaign

Last month when U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson awarded Baron Bowling $830,000 for the beating he suffered at the hands of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 2003, she went out of her way to acknowledge another victim in the sordid affair: Kansas City Police Det. Max Seifert.

‘Jackson is the New Jackson'

When we started the JFP, we had the vague notion that we could help turn Jackson into "the new Austin." For us, that is no longer the goal. Austin is cool, and its turnabout from a boring capital city not long ago to a musical Mecca (with the help of its alt-weekly) is legend. But that was their path; this city is on our own. We don't need to be Austin.

[Stiggers] Booty-Gate and the Mystery Pol

Mr. Announcement: "On this episode of 'All God's Churn Got Shoes,' the deputy secretary of state's mishap has inspired the 'hypocrisy division' of the Ladies in Church Hats, Union 203 and 7/8, to conduct an audio/video surveillance mission, across the street from Madame T.J. Hooka's Booty Reportin' for Duty Erotic Fantasy Escort Service. The Ladies in Church Hats have set up their surveillance equipment inside an abandoned church bus. They call this assignment 'Mission Hypocritical—Code Name Booty-Gate.'

[Balko] The Subversive Vending Machine

In 1819 the English publisher, bookseller, and radical Richard Carlisle was sentenced to three years in prison for blasphemy and seditious libel. Carlisle's imprisonment was partly due to his publication of pamphlets exposing what's now known as the Peterloo Massacre, in which a cavalry brigade attacked tens of thousands of protesters who had gathered to call for reforms to Parliament, and partly because he published the banned works of enlightenment figures such as Thomas Paine.

[Balko] Guilty Before Proven Innocent

Last week, USA Today published the results of a six-month investigation into misconduct by America's federal prosecutors. The investigation turned up what Pace University law professor Bennett Gershman called a pattern of "serious, glaring misconduct."

How To Be Pro-Life

It was peaceful in Fondren this week, the "no public restrooms" signs gone from store windows, locals lunching outside Basil's without worrying about their children's growth being stunted by horrifying political photos.

[Kamikaze] The New Independents

We've come to yet another music issue, and that means as in years past, it's time for my annual state of the music address. It seems I've become the "mad rapper" for all my political ramblings and such, but the music is my passion. It is the music that I think makes most folks in the private sector even give me the time of day. It is the music that's given me a platform to voice my opinions in this very publication.

From Outrage to Sadness

The Nov. 8 front page of the online edition of The Clarion-Ledger featured, unsurprisingly, a picture of President-Elect Barack Obama. Plastered above the picture was a headline that, maybe surprisingly, maybe unsurprisingly, read: "Incidents Reflect Racial Tension."

Rethinking "Tough on Crime"

Gov. Haley Barbour left a lot of people reeling with his recent round of pardons and clemencies. Among the list are vicious, premeditated murderers. It wasn't the first time he's done this--remember that we broke the news of his string of woman-killer pardons in 2008--but this time the state and national media actually paid attention.

[Gregrory] Pregnant With Possibilities

I'm currently 11 million months pregnant. I feel like a member of the pachyderm family. One would think that I would be excited about having a baby sometime in the next month and finally becoming a mother.

[Gregory] Sweet Bird Of Nokia

My office downtown is close to Smith Park. Often, during my 15 minutes of government-mandated break time in the afternoon, I walk to the park and sit on a bench to enjoy my state-sanctioned five-minute cigarette. I like Smith Park for the bossy squirrels and the large fountain. The sound of water running—besides making me want to pee—relaxes me and allows me a few minutes where the worries of the day aren't nipping at my heels.

Ellington

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