The Best We Can BeLast week, I attended one of those uniquely Jackson events that national media never seem to know about when they paint us with a broad brush. It was a performance of "Defamation," a play by a Chicago playwright that allows …
Second ChancesMichael Williams is the man behind the movie projector at the Russell C. Davis Planetarium. He is responsible for making sure the independent art films and sky shows run on schedule without any technical glitches.
Building BusinessGov. Haley Barbour has long been bullish on Mississippi's business environment, announcing every new business his administration brings into the state—large and small—and every new development with great fanfare.
Self Defense or Murder?Edna Mae Sanders first met former Navy Seal Sherman Sanders at a Baton Rouge party in March 2005. She gave him her phone number, and it wasn't long before he began surprising her with gifts and driving from New Orleans …
Why They KillDespite popular belief, violent criminals aren't born with a moral screw loose. They're not even turned into criminals because they grow up in single-parent homes (although having two good parents certainly helps kids) or from living in a crime-ridden neighborhood …
Deterrence: Not What You ThinkOnce a person has committed a crime and is in the prison system, what works and what doesn't to deter ongoing criminality?
Citizen PolicewomanI'm going to be completely honest: I'd never held a gun before. I always thought guns were for thugs and hunters. I simply didn't need one. So it may surprise you that on Saturday, Oct. 8, I spent the better …
The Poverty-Crime ConnectionIf you struggle to pay your bills and don't know where your next meal is coming from, studies show you are more likely to be incarcerated. Once you fall into that cycle, it's difficult to break out. When people get …
The Dropout-Crime ConnectionWhat if there was a way to stop people from committing crimes before they started? Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a nonprofit organization that advocates for quality education and after-school programs as the best way to prevent crime and …
Guns for Safety?It so happens that in the past few weeks, a number of people with ties to the Jackson Free Press—staff and former staff—have encountered the same piece of advice from Jackson Police Department officers. The advice: Buy a gun.
Relationships, Not GatesI would like to claim that Broadmeadow United Methodist Church first reached out to the neighborhood, but the truth is that the neighborhood reached out first to Broadmeadow.
[Oppenheim] Time to ListenOn Oct. 22, youth from all over Mississippi, but mostly Jackson, will gather at Metrocenter Mall for a special event: the first Art, Poetry and Justice SLAM. The event is part of National Youth Justice Awareness Month and brings together …
How to Be SafeWhen I lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I knew a woman who was repeatedly on the receiving end of crime. She was mugged in the subway, had her purse snatched at a bar, was attacked and raped walking home. …
The JFP's Crime-Fighting Manifesto"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke.