Jackson Free Press

The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Mayor Frank Melton has continued to use the Mobile Command Center, in apparent defiance of his bond conditions.

"I told you I would continue to use it, and I have," Melton told the Ledge.

The mayor said he rode to the apartment complex Wednesday in the Mobile Command Unit with the police officers who accompanied him. He also said he has continued to take the unit, which has become a symbol of his crime-fighting, into neighborhoods for patrol.

"We've kept it low-key," Melton said. ...

Melton said the terms of his bond do not forbid him from using police equipment.

"(Using the Mobile Command Unit) is not an infraction. It never was an infraction," he said.

However, Melton's bond specifically and explicitly bans him from using, occupying or storing any law enforcement vehicle for "his personal use."

In September, Melton was similarly defiant, calling the terms of his bond "vindictive."

"She's wrong. She can't restrict me from my job responsibilities, (Melton) said. "I will continue to use it," Melton told The Clarion-Ledger.

When asked if he would move the vehicle back to his home, Melton said, "I'm going to do whatever I want to do with it. I am the mayor."

Melton publicly backed away from those comments then, but according to his new statements, he did in fact continue to use the Mobile Command Center while concealing this from the public.

Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green, who supervises Melton's bond, has not yet decided how to respond.

Previous Comments

ID

125019

Comment

Okay, this leads to the obvious question: If he has violated his bond terms, is that a felony? Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T11:54:10-06:00

ID

125020

Comment

Melton's defense, such as it is, is that he is not using the MCC for his "personal" use. Rather, he is using it for police or "mayoral" purposes. Is this a distinction without a difference? It seems clear that the intent of this condition of his bond was to prevent him from using the MCC as he had in the past, i.e. as if it was his "personal" property to do with as he pleased. If he is using it in precisely the same way, but not parking at his house, does that not constitute a violation?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-01-05T11:54:54-06:00

ID

125021

Comment

I don't think violating your bond is a new crime, i.e. a felony, as Tom asks. It does mean that the judge could revoke Melton's bond, in which case the sheriff would arrest Melton and hold him in the county jail. Can any of us imagine such a scene? Furthermore, Melton would still not be required to step down as mayor, as far as I can tell. So Melton could be mayor even as he sits in a jail cell, awaiting trial.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-01-05T11:56:57-06:00

ID

125022

Comment

The fix is in Tom, it doesn't matter.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-01-05T11:57:02-06:00

ID

125023

Comment

If there's any ambiguity, he probably gets a freebie. But this confuses me, because he was always clear that he was riding around in the MCC in a "mayoral" capacity. I had understood the bond conditions to say that he could not use the MCC at all... Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T11:57:44-06:00

ID

125024

Comment

I think Melton would be perfectly happy if the sheriff arrested him, especially since his handpicked opponent for said sheriff has just declared candidacy. The visual of a white sheriff arresting a black mayor could actually give Jones the election. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T11:59:17-06:00

ID

125025

Comment

(I now no longer believe that the timing of this is coincidental... "We've kept it low-key" sounds like a dare to me.)

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:00:15-06:00

ID

125026

Comment

(Lewis, not Jones. Cheers, TH)

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:05:18-06:00

ID

125027

Comment

Here is an earlier "bond" article from the JFP. Another! And the original story of his bond conditions. Update #2: Addition info regarding the stipulations for Melton's bond: - Cannot supervise any minor under 17 who is not related to him by blood or marriage. - Cannot use a law enforcement vehicle or other equipment. - Cannot leave the country. - Cannot take drugs or use alcohol.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-01-05T12:09:01-06:00

ID

125028

Comment

Aha. That's where I got the idea that this violated his bond! So now we have the interesting possibility--and it's just a possibility--that Melton has done this deliberately so that Malcolm McMillin has to arrest, but cannot depose, Melton, capturing the electorate in what would otherwise be an unremarkable and therefore incumbent-friendly McMillin-Lewis race. Suddenly, Lewis becomes the candidate who wouldn't have arrested our diligent black mayor for riding in the Mobile Command Center. Gets support from "tough on crime" (i.e., anti-Jackson) white suburbanites, gets support from west Jacksonites who are understandably distressed by the image of a white sheriff arresting a black mayor. Melton stays in office, Lewis becomes a viable threat to McMillin's reelection overnight. All of this hangs over the county charges this Spring which, if Melton beats them, will look frivolous, especially in light of the Melton arrests. After the next election cycle, we end up with Melton as mayor and Meltonites holding the offices of sheriff and Hinds County D.A. And if we think we've got trouble now, wait until we have a sheriff who will arrest whoever Melton wants him to arrest, a D.A. who will prosecute whoever Melton wants her to prosecute, and a mayor who no longer has to worry about obeying the law. Please, tell me I'm wrong. The only good news I can see coming out of this is that McMillin is not taking the bait, and is letting Tomie Green--who doesn't have to face an electorate--make the decision. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:28:06-06:00

ID

125029

Comment

Tom, that's a conspiracy theory that almost makes sense, God help us. My understanding is that McMillin has no choice in the matter. Even if Green determines that Melton has violated his bond, she has a range of potential sanctions short of putting him in jail. For instance, she could put him under house arrest. That aside, the sheriff has to wait for her to tell him what he should do. She earlier instructed the sheriff to "stand ready" to take Melton in should he violate his bond, however. Before the judge can do anything, however, PCS has to step up and report to her on what the mayor is doing. I wonder whether they have, and if they have not, why not?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-01-05T12:41:05-06:00

ID

125030

Comment

Brian, what's PCS? I don't think this is such a huge anti McMillan conspiracy, because I don't think Melton and Co are smart enough, with a long enough attention span to figure something like that out. McMillan still has plenty of credibility to work from. Pike, why do you say the fix is in? Do you know something specific, or are you just being cynical?

Author

kate

Date

2007-01-05T12:47:13-06:00

ID

125031

Comment

Hrm. I see a Rube Goldberg dynamic to this process: McMillin is waiting on Green who is waiting on PCS. That tells me that everybody is at least watching their own butts, which ordinarily frustrates me but is a very good thing in this case, considering the potential ramifications. Cheers, tH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:47:19-06:00

ID

125032

Comment

Kate, Harvey Johnson had plenty of credibility to work from, too. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:47:46-06:00

ID

125033

Comment

And Melton didn't get to be where he is today by being stupid. Evil, maybe. Stupid, no. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T12:48:43-06:00

ID

125034

Comment

Tom, Johnson was never as popular as McMillan has been, at least from what I can tell. [Plus, the CL is now on the warpath, and will shape the narrative however they want to see it play out.] But, seriously, Johnson was never viewed as credible or at all popular, and never got credit for being an effective mayor. McMillan seems to get an appropriate amount of credit from most people. Even during the "Crime is up - we know, because the statistics are showing crime dropping!" frenzy, McMillan stayed clear of all the frenzy and got re-elected. I don't see slowness here as "covering butts" so much as making sure that this is done in a well thought out, entirely legal and defensible fashion. Melton has demonstrated over and over again how stupid it is to act without thinking. A little deliberation forethought is good.

Author

kate

Date

2007-01-05T12:51:54-06:00

ID

125035

Comment

Tom, you're never going to convince me that Melton is smart. Manipulative, yes. Smart? Nope.

Author

kate

Date

2007-01-05T12:53:36-06:00

ID

125036

Comment

Kate, I hope you're right. I really do. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-05T13:07:23-06:00

ID

125037

Comment

Frank is hooked on the mobile command. Haven't y'all had a love interest that you knew was bad for you, but you couldn't leave it along? And you would kill for it or go to jail?

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-01-05T16:15:46-06:00

ID

125038

Comment

Ray, that's never happened to me. Because, unlike the Mayor, I'm not batshit crazy.

Author

kate

Date

2007-01-05T17:28:08-06:00

ID

125039

Comment

Ray, there is no amount of rationalization which can save his majesty. It doesn't matter, as no one will hold him accountable.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-01-05T19:11:55-06:00

ID

125040

Comment

Because, unlike the Mayor, I'm not batshit crazy. *Quote o' the Week* Drink.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-01-05T19:42:15-06:00

ID

125041

Comment

Tom Head, I think that you are right on target with Melton. He would love to have McMillian arrest him - put him in jail and wait for the fallout of every meltonite follower - black, white and other, stage the world's biggest protest. This would ensure an automatic "IN' for Lewis as Sheriff and a possible re-election for melton. Frank is great at these kind of mind games. He definitely knows how to "play" people and how to put one group against another. He has spent a lifetime in maneuvers like these. How did a person with no experience in law enforcement and without even a gun permit end up as the Director of the MBN???? He (fm) worked "free," remember. Why was he so benevolent to the State but, has absolutely no problem with taking a salary from the City and charging all of this silly stuff to taxpayers ? Come on. If you are wealthy and don't need a salary, why do you need it now? Could it be that the Emperor's clothes were borrowed and had to be returned to the real owner(s)???? Jusr asking. Katie, I disagree with your assessment of Johnson not being "credible." Johnson's problem was that he was a qualified, credible, honest, experienced black male who also loved Jackson and wanted to see the very best for this City and its citizens. These attributes don't go over well with MS's controlling White power extablishment unless you do exactly what you are toldwhen you are told. Johnson was a man who refused to play those games. He gave to others a lot of respect and he also expected the same in return. Since he could not be controlled, he was put "in his place" - a position that is so familiar to Black folks. It was very easy for the CL and also Tisdale to turn non-critical thinking and game playing Blacks against Johnson. The stories (lies) about his building a home in Madison and the lies that Tisdale told made it easy for a defeat.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-01-08T12:09:26-06:00