Pandering for Cheap VotesSenate 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 …
The Emerging Mississippi: Are New Voters Changing State Politics?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 …
[Dickerson] Shame on You, HillaryThe 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 …
The Scruggs Saga Comes Home To Hinds CountyOn 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 …
Corn Hath No Fury: The JFP Interview With Billy McCoyHouse 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 InnocenceIt 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 GrishamSince 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 …
2008 Legislative Preview: New Session, Old ProblemsThe 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 …
Important Legislative DatesHere'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 InjusticeAlexandre 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 …
Dem At Your Own RiskThe 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 …
Mr. Washington Comes To MississippiWhen 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 ReformOn 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 …
Election 2007 - Major RacesThis 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.