Jackson Free Press

"First of all, they need adequate representation, and secondly they need someone who can give a mental evaluation that's final and conclusive, because we can't prosecute someone if they do not have a final mental evaluation or the results of that evaluation."

— Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith in a 2013 interview with the Clarion-Ledger about treatment of mentally ill people in jail.

Why it stinks: Smith's comment seemed to be a slap at the public defender's office for not getting clients the mental-health services they need. Smith's office is far from blameless in this, and may even be part of the problem. As the county's top prosecutor and an elected official, Smith can do just as much as, if not more than, the public defender to see to it that mentally ill people don't rot in jail.