NY Times' Bob Herbert on 2008 JFP Report on Barbour's Domestic Murderer Pardons | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

NY Times' Bob Herbert on 2008 JFP Report on Barbour's Domestic Murderer Pardons

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The Jackson Free Press reported in 2008 that Gov. Haley Barbour had given relief to a string of men who brutally killed wives and girlfriends. The national media is starting to notice.

In his column today, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes again about the need for Gov. Haley Barbour to free the Scott Sisters, who are serving life sentences for a 1993 armed robbery that allegedly netted them $11 each. He astutely draws a contrast between their case and the murders Barbour pardoned or helped in 2008, most of whom brutally murdered wives or girlfriends. In his column, Herbert gave credit to the Jackson Free Press and Slate magazine for cataloguing the details of those murders. The piece in Slate was by a column by Radley Balko published Dec. 17, 2009: Haley Barbour's Bizarre Pardon Record. In his column, Balko referred to the JFP's 2008 reporting (and linked to it) when listing the gruesome details of the domestic murders.

We're thrilled to see this very vital story finally getting serious national play. JFP managing editor Ronni Mott and then-editorial intern Sophie McNeil did extensive legwork to dig out the details of all these murders, which were not readily available, and they discovered that they were mostly cases of the most extreme domestic violence. At the JFP, we have criticized Barbour repeatedly for this string of pardons, which show such a disrespect and perhaps ignorance of how serious domestic violence is in our state. Sadly, the other state's media have not picked up on the story that most of the men Barbour let go had killed wives and girlfriends--and that he was not even consulting with victims' families or the parole board before making these unilateral and very disturbing decisions.

In fact, The Clarion-Ledger ran a column by a local women's organization earlier this year that blamed "the state" for these pardons, and credited Balko of Slate for reporting the story, rather than making admirable commentary about work done right here in the state. We said in an editorial earlier this year that that was even more insult to women in the state of Mississippi in multiple ways. Here is that editorial.

At the Jackson Free Press, we believe it is vital for media, and especially women, inside the state to get these stories out there about violence against women and why it's not taken seriously enough. Barbour's unilateral pardoning of these murderers is one major reason. It is also disturbing when the women doing this difficult, and often thankless, enterprise reporting to reveal these truth about violence against women are not given the credit for their reporting, and it goes to men outside the state.

People around the country need to know that there are strong women right here on the ground in Mississippi working to get these truths out. We can't ensure people will pay attention in a timely fashion, but we can do everything in our power to get the information out there.

And on a related note: Free the Scott Sisters. In our offices, we've been drawing the comparison for weeks between the Scott Sisters and all these men Barbour let go. We thank Bob Herbert of the Times for seeing the same disconnect and putting it out there.

Links to related pieces in the Jackson Free Press:

Also see: Barbour Helps Domestic Killers, Jackson Free Press, July 28, 2008
Barbour Gives Relief to 4 ‘Domestic' Killers, of 5 Total, Aug. 4, 2008
Editorial: Barbour, Clean Up the Mess, Aug. 6, 2008
Editorial: Women's Fund Gets It Wrong, April 28, 2010
Domestic Terrorism, Oct. 6, 2010 (Includes new details about Klasky's murderer)

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