Civil Rights
Mike Espy to Trump: 'This Isn't a Lynching, Mr. President'
President Donald Trump's claim that he is the victim of "a lynching" in the ongoing impeachment inquiry is "disgraceful" and akin to the U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's "public hanging" remark …
Health Care
Medical Costs May Drop in Metro Counties, Mississippi Overall This Year
Mississippians could see cost drops in health insurance this year with the federal government's Tuesday announcement that it expects a 4% cost decrease nationwide this year for subsidized health-care plans.
Health Care
Abortion at Center as Women's Groups Offer Collins, Fitch Endorsements
EMILY's List, a Washington, D.C.-based group dedicated to helping elect more women to offices nationwide, on Tuesday endorsed Democrat Jennifer Riley Collins in the Mississippi attorney general's race.
Education
Hood Claims Reeves Cut Public Ed Money to Give Favors to Campaign Donors
"It's time to get the money changers out of the temple," Democratic nominee for governor Jim Hood said on Wednesday, standing inside the Italian-white marble walls of the Mississippi Capitol …
Cover
‘It All Starts With Education’: The JFP Interview With Jay Hughes
Education is the No. 1 issue for Mississippi House Rep. Jay Hughes, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor this year, who has taught in public schools himself.
Civil Rights
The Street That Jim Crow Paved
Mobile Street in Hattiesburg served as one of Mississippi's most important hubs of black entrepreneurship, professional life, commerce and, later, a crucible of civil-rights activism that would have ramifications across …
City & County
Anti-Abortion Activists Claim Right to 'Shout' at, 'Approach' Patients in Lawsuit
Anti-abortion activists in Jackson claim in a new lawsuit that they have a "right" to "congregate," "shout" and approach patients outside the abortion clinic in Fondren "without first obtaining their …
Politics
End Grocery Tax on Mississippi-Grown Food, Dem Agriculture Candidate Says
Mississippians will no longer have to pay a sales tax when they buy Mississippi-grown foods at the grocery store if the Democrat running for the state's top agriculture position gets …
LGBT
LGBT Workers Ruling in High Court Could Renew Fight Against HB 1523
LGBT Mississippians could have more to lose or gain than most as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on whether or not employers have the right to fire people based …
National
Scandals Dog Tate Reeves, Donald Trump as They Endorse Each Other
Tate Reeves gladly accepted Donald Trump's endorsement in the race for Mississippi governor. Both men are at the center of separate allegations of scandal and misuse of taxpayer funds.
Health Care
Mississippi's Six-Week Abortion Ban at 5th Circuit Appeals Court Today
Mississippi's ban on abortions after a heartbeat becomes detectable could be revived if a three-judge panel in New Orleans decides to reverse a Jackson federal judge's earlier ruling that the …
Immigration
Rep. Palazzo: Caged Kids Getting ‘Best Treatment of Their Lives,’ Despite Deaths
When 7-year-old Guatemalan child Jakelin Caal died of shock and dehydration while in Customs and Border Patrol custody on Dec. 8, 2018, she was the first child to die in …
Civil Rights
The Thin Line Between LGBT and Racist Hate
Echoes of Mississippi's discriminatory history continue to make themselves heard, sometimes in the form of so-called "religious liberty" laws that give businesses and organization wide berth to invoke their religion …
City & County
Jackson Restricts Anti-Abortion Activists With New Buffer Zone, Noise Law
Anti-abortion protesters in Jackson will now have to voice their concerns standing at least 15 feet away from the Jackson Women's Health Organization in Fondren, and will no longer be …
Business
UPDATE: Jackson's $7 Million Water Bill Fix Passes; Zoo Closure Ends Worker Benefits
At a special meeting late last week, the Jackson City Council blocked a $7-million emergency loan to fix its water-sewer system, which has been plagued with problems since the City …
City & County
'Almost Social Terrorism': Abortion Clinic Protests Hurt Their Business, Owners Say
Clinic workers, as well as Fondren residents and business owners urged the Jackson City Council to pass an ordinance that would limit some of the protesters' activities outside Mississippi's only …
City & County
UPDATED: Abortion Clinic 'Buffer Zone' Draws Ag Commish, Protesters to City Hall
The City is set to vote on a proposal to limit protest activities outside the state's only abortion clinic.
National
Mississippi Leaders React to Trump Impeachment Inquiry; MAE Endorses Hood
Democratic Mississippi Congressman and U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson supports an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and U.S. House Rep. Steven Palazzo …
Politics
Hood Says Reeves Blocked Vaping Bills After E-Cig Donations; Lt. Gov. Denies
Democratic Mississippi governor candidate Jim Hood claims his opponent, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, has blocked bills to regulate vaping after receiving campaign donations from vaping companies; Reeves denies it.
Politics
Hood Denies Dem AG Nominee Claim He's 'Working' to Elect GOP Opponent
Jennifer Riley Collins, the woman who hopes to succeed fellow Democrat Jim Hood in the Mississippi Attorney General's office, is accusing him of working to help her Republican opponent. Hood, …
Education
Jeb Bush Headlining Big-Money Lunch for Reeves After Voucher, Charter Victories
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush plans to travel to Belden, Miss., next month to help raise money for the state's Republican nominee for governor, Tate Reeves, at a high-dollar luncheon.
Politics
Expanded Vouchers Not OK with Either Lt. Gov. Candidate, Short Debate Reveals
The Republican and Democratic candidates for Mississippi lieutenant governor found more to agree than disagree on in Thursday night's 30-minute debate, with similar positions on teacher pay, private-school vouchers and …
Education
State News: Charter Schools Legal; OK to Sell 'Veggie Burgers'; Hughes-Hosemann Debate Ahead
Stacey Abrams, who nearly made history in Georgia's race for governor last year, is helping Democrats who are running for statewide office in Mississippi this year.
National
Ex-Mississippi Governor Mabus Endorses Kamala Harris for President
Former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus endorsed U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary in a Friday statement that her campaign sent out to members of the press.
Health Care
Focus on Money in Mental Health Crisis a 'Red Herring,' Advocate Says
Disability Rights Mississippi praised a federal judge's ruling earlier this week that found the State violates the civil rights of those with mental illness, but a leading mental health advocate …
Health Care
Letters Show Hood Warned State About Mental Health Crisis for Years
Hours after a federal judge ruled that the State of Mississippi's mental-health system violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told reporters that he "knew this …
Health Care
Judge: Mississippi Violates Civil Rights of Those With Mental Illness
Mississippi must make sweeping changes to its mental-health system so that people with severe mental illness have access to treatment in their own communities rather than being unnecessarily institutionalized in …
Cover
Jim Hood, Tate Reeves: Real Issues on Center Stage in Governor’s Race
Tate Reeves pushed typical conservative buttons on his way to primary victory. Tammy Pearson said he spent too much time "relying on his name-dropping of Trump," adding, "This is a …
Business
‘Hispanic Project’ Seeded Dangerous Poultry Jobs
In the mid-1980s, Shannon Evans took a job at a rural poultry plant in Mississippi. There, she witnessed a parade of slime-soaked horrors, including amputations.
Health Care
Hood Criticizes 'Legal Corruption,' Pushes for Medicaid, Mental-Health Reform
On the heels of Tate Reeves' victory in the Republican runoff for Mississippi governor, Democratic nominee Jim Hood emphasized the urgency of health-care reform for Mississippians at the Jackson Medical …
Politics
Hood Vows to 'Prosecute' on Issues as Reeves Wins GOP Gov Nod
Just moments after Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves clenched the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday night's runoff, his Democratic opponent in the November general election vowed to mount a …
Politics
Under Reeves, Mississippi Now the Last State With No Equal-Pay Law
Under Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, Mississippi became the only state without an equal-pay law. Three equal-pay bills died this year in the Mississippi Senate, where Reeves has significant say over …
Politics
Men and Corporate Donors Dominate in GOP Runoff for Governor
More than $3 million has flowed to the two candidates in Mississippi's Republican primary runoff since July 27—and the bulk of that money came from political action committees, corporations and …
Politics
Medicaid Expansion Debate at Center of Waller v. Reeves Runoff
Bill Waller Jr. supports what he calls "Medicaid reform," which would bring affordable health-care options to about 300,000 working Mississippians whose households make too much for traditional Medicaid, but not …
Education
As ICE Raided, Children Cried and Educators Scrambled
At Scott Central High School about 20 minutes from Sebastopol, Superintendent McGee started getting calls from the public schools in Morton that ICE had raided the Koch Foods plant there. …
Immigration
Beto O'Rourke: Trump Used ICE to 'Terrorize' Mississippi Hispanics
"(Donald Trump) is terrifying this community. People who have done nothing to anybody else posed no threat to America. So there's no other reason to raid this community than to …
Immigration
The Night Immigration Agents Took Two Madison Children's Father
Around 2 a.m., Joshua Quinn's phone rang, waking him. "They took him! They took him! They took him!" cried the voice of an 11-year-old boy Quinn was helping mentor at …
Politics
‘Shared Belief’: McDaniel Endorses Reeves to Block Medicaid Expansion
Shared opposition to Medicaid expansion in the state spurred Mississippi Sen. Chris McDaniel on Thursday to endorse Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, whose legislative tactics he has long criticized, for the …
Health Care
False Claims in Tate Reeves' 'Obamacare' Mailers on Waller Plan
A mailer from Tate Reeves' campaign made several misleading claims about Republican runoff opponent Bill Waller's Medicaid expansion plan.
Politics
Waller Says Yes to Equal Pay, No on LGBT Hate Crimes Law
In a series of campaign stops for the Republican runoff for governor on Tuesday, former Mississippi Chief Justice Bill Waller reiterated his views on health care and education, while also …
Politics
Foster Endorses Waller in Gov Runoff, Cites Medicaid, Teacher Pay
Former Republican candidate for governor Robert Foster announced his support for Bill Waller Jr., citing Medicaid and teacher pay, in the party’s primary runoff at a Tuesday morning press conference …
Politics
GOP Insider: Foster to Endorse Ex-Opponent Waller in Runoff for Primary Nod for Gov
Mississippi House Rep. Robert Foster plans to endorse former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller in the Republican runoff for governor, a GOP insider told the Jackson Free Press …
Immigration
Koch Foods, PECO Funded 'Chicken' PAC, Gave Thousands to Hyde-Smith, Pols
Business executives who federal filings say "willfully and unlawfully" employed undocumented immigrants have donated thousands to high-level politicians in and outside of Mississippi, including through a special "Chicken" political action …
Immigration
Immigrant Families Jobless in Mississippi After 'Inhumane' ICE Raids
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance organizer Luis Espinoza told the Jackson Free Press on Thursday that he had spent the past two days working with families after ICE agents raided six …
Immigration
After ICE Raids, Some Kids Reunited with Parents or Relatives in Mississippi
Scott County Youth Court Prosecutor Constance Slaughter-Harvey watched Thursday morning as a few children reunited with and embraced parents whom, just a day before, they had been separated from after …
Immigration
Advocates: In Mississippi, ICE Agents Arrest, Tase Migrants, Documented or Not
Children finished their first day of school with no parents to go home to tonight. Babies and toddlers remained at daycare with no guardian to pick them up. A child …
Politics
In Gov Race, Dem Hood Vows to 'Expose Corruption,' Reeves in Runoff with Waller
With a hug from former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood stepped up to a microphone and proclaimed victory in his quest for the Democratic …
Crime
Refugees Locked Up In Mississippi: ‘Where Are the Family Values?’
Under the Trump administration, CoreCivic has a new mission at the Adams County Correctional Center: to house asylum seekers who are in the custody of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement …
National
Espy Calls for Gun Reforms, Targets 'Rise of Violent White Nationalism'
The Democrat who lost to U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's 2018 U.S. Senate special election, Mike Espy, broke his post-campaign silence to call for action on gun reform and …
Health Care
Wealthy Doctors' PAC, 'I.V. League' Help Tate Reeves Lead in Campaign Donations
The Mississippi Medical Political Action Committee donated $20,000 to Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who is the only candidate in the governor's race who does not support some form of …
