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The parents of Nolan Xavier Wells say they will continue to push for answers about his death, after a Jackson County grand jury concluded that he likely drowned and no one would face criminal charges.

Their attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton said that the grand jury report doesn’t close the book on Wells’ death or answer lingering questions about what led to it or how the 18-year-old died. 

His mother, Christine Wonsley, said she received a text message from Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath Monday evening, not long before McIlrath posted the grand jury’s redacted report and a video explaining its findings on Facebook. 

Monday was Wonsley’s birthday. 

“Last night was a reminder that our son’s life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect the public,” Christine Wonsley said Tuesday during an online news conference at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia. 

Wells, who was Black, traveled from Ocean Springs to Horn Island on the Fourth of July with friends. His body was found in the water off the Mississippi Gulf Coast barrier island two days later. 

While the grand jury heard evidence that he likely drowned, both the state medical examiner and a pathologist who completed an independent autopsy ruled Wells’ death as undetermined. In a preliminary report, Dr. Roger Mitchell, the pathologist hired by the family, said all other causes must be ruled out to conclude a death was by drowning. 

Mitchell also wrote that the record and examination doesn’t establish whether Wells entered the water on his own or was forced into it, and whether he was conscious when it happened. 

Because of lingering questions and Mitchell’s findings, the family’s legal team called for the district attorney to keep the death investigation open and to look further into blunt force injuries documented on the back of Wells’ head and neck, including whether they contributed to his death.

Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Wells’ parents, released Mitchell’s final autopsy report Tuesday, which the pathologist was able to complete after traveling to Mississippi and gaining access to reports from the state medical examiner. 

Mitchell concluded that two red discoloration marks were blood. The state examiner identified them as contusions early in the investigation, but did not explain where they came from, he wrote. 

“That is not nothing,” attorney Liza Park, a member of the family’s legal team, said about Mitchell’s updated findings. “That is where we begin to begin to understand what happened to Nolan Wells.” 

If new evidence is uncovered relating to his death, a grand jury can meet again to consider it and decide whether to charge anyone. Mississippi does not have a statute of limitations for murder charges. 

The family’s legal team and the NAACP are calling for McIlrath’s office to release the state’s autopsy report and the investigative file. They also continue to ask the U.S. Department of

Justice to complete a federal review as requested by the Congressional Black Caucus in August.

Forensic experts are examining Wells’ cellphone, and Crump said they will talk about what they found in an upcoming news conference. 

Crump asked the public not to attack Wells’ parents for continuing to seek answers. 

The case gathered national attention and sparked discussion about Mississippi’s history of  investigators not examining the deaths of Black people with the same rigor as the deaths of white people. 

This summer, at least three out-of-state people have been charged with threatening to kill or hurt witnesses in the investigation, including Wells’ friends and their family members. 

Friends of Wells have said they faced death threats from their names, pictures and personal information being shared online.

Attorney Russ Latino, who is representing a former teammate of Wells, sent a cease-and-desist letter to at least one content creator, the Sun Herald reported. Attorneys representing the three friends who traveled to Horn Island with Wells threatened to sue Sharpton, Mississippi Today has reported. This week, the same attorneys also said they would sue “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin for comments she made, the Clarion Ledger reported.

On Monday, attorneys representing the friends acknowledged the grand jury’s decision not to indict, including one who demanded that Crump apologize to three of Wells’ friends. 

“We still have a First Amendment right here, and we still have the right to ask questions when our children are unalived in inexplicable ways,” Crump said at the Tuesday news conference. “We won’t stay silent, we won’t let it be swept under the rug and we won’t go quietly into the night because Nolan deserves better than that.” 

Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful ideas to be shared about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here. 

Although the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit from Mississippi residents related to lead-contaminated water earlier this month, the right to safe drinking water has been recognized by the United Nations as a universal human right since 2010.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a historic resolution in 2010 recognizing “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of  life and all human rights” (A/RES/64/292). To advocate for these rights, the UN appointed a special rapporteur on the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Such access to safe drinking water is considered a vital asset for the survival and coexistence of human societies. The criteria for such access are simple: water must be available, accessible, affordable, safe and acceptable. Most importantly, water is not a product to be traded and should never be considered an “economic commodity.”

Why did the United Nations adopt a human-rights based approach to safe drinking water? Access to safe water is considered by many to be the foundation of a healthy, educated and economically strong community. The right to a dignified life includes the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. For Americans, the basic rights defined in the Declaration of Independence as “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” are impossible without safe drinking water.

Unsafe water spreads diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and typhoid, compromising the physical health of any community. Safe water allows for gender equality and dignity by allowing us to maintain our personal hygiene and prevents women and girls in many countries from walking long distances to fetch water, compromising their safety and depriving them of the time they might be in school or at work. 

Safe water also makes it possible for young people, who might otherwise be incapacitated by waterborne illnesses, to attend school.

We are now in the eighth year of the United Nations Water Action Decade (2018-2028) and the World Economic Forum continues to rank the water crisis in the top three global risks. Given the enormity of that threat, the Forum named 2026 the “Year of Water.” 

Many Americans take clean water for granted. However, there are 2.1 billion people worldwide still living without access to safe drinking water, and far more drastic actions need to be taken to protect watersheds, design more resilient cities, and improve efficiency to conserve the clean water that exists for consumption and agriculture.

Protecting our natural resources for the sake of the common good, known simply as the “commons,” is central to the sustainability of our shared resources. The stewardship of those resources should not be driven by personal interest, economic gain or political ambition, but by a spirit of shared responsibility and accountability.

The water crisis for those who live in Jackson, Mississippi was avoidable. The actions that led to the contamination of public drinking water was not only a failure of governance but a staggering display of indifference to the health of its inhabitants, the region’s collective natural resources and utilities.

Unlike Montana, Pennsylvania or New York, there is no “Green Amendment” in Mississippi – an amendment to a state constitution’s Bill of Rights that recognizes and protects “the inalienable rights of all people to clean water and air, a stable climate and healthy environments.”

Nevertheless, managing the commons that houses our water supply requires transparent and publicly accountable management – a failure that looms large in the Sterling v. City of Jackson case.

Unlike the case in Flint, Michigan, Mississippi’s 5th Circuit Court rejected the claim that government officials had violated the residents’ right to bodily integrity, as protected under the 14th amendment. Equally egregious was the 5th Circuit’s conclusion that “we find no deeply rooted history or tradition establishing a constitutional right to truthful information from officials during a public health crisis” 

The question then remains; who exactly is responsible for the commons and the truth about its condition in the state of Mississippi? 

Emma Gilligan is the author of “The Future and You” and a leading expert in international human rights. With over 30 years of experience in the field, she currently serves as a professor of human rights at Indiana University and is co-founder of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine. 

As Mississippi’s state government agencies embrace artificial intelligence, or AI, in their work, officials say human oversight remains essential.

Mississippi defines AI in part as “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.“

In January 2025, Gov. Tate Reeves issued an executive order directing the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services to survey and evaluate state agencies’ use of AI and develop AI use policy recommendations. For the survey, called the Mississippi State Agency AI Inventory, each state agency had to submit either a standardized report listing current and potential AI use or a letter stating no plans to use any. 

Out of 98 entities that responded, a little over half were using or planning to use AI. 

The Mississippi Department of Transportation, for instance, is working on AI projects for querying crash data, automating quality control across documentation and more.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality uses Grammarly, ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot and other programs for things such as research, drafting emails and calculations. The agency also uses several cybersecurity services, including Rubrik, Proofpoint and Silversky.

A cumulative total of 243 active or planned AI projects were reported across 44 agencies. The majority of AI projects, or 82%, were rated low-risk, and 69.5% relied solely on human decision making.

MDOT and MDEQ are among the five agencies that, when combined, account for a significant amount of AI usage across all state agencies, or 35%. The other three are the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Information Technology Services and the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Mississippi Today made a public records request for the completed inventory surveys from the these five agencies, and asked further questions about their AI use. 

ITS did not fulfill the public records request, citing an exception in the executive order. The Department of Employment Security and the Arts Commission provided their completed surveys, but did not respond to detailed questions. 

“Our annual AI inventory is designed to capture a point-in-time snapshot during the second quarter of each calendar year,” explained ITS chief strategy officer Stephanie Hedgepeth. “We then analyze the data during the third quarter, with the report targeted for publication on the ITS website early in the fourth quarter.”

Hedgepeth said that while AI isn’t new, what is new is how accessible it’s become because of generative AI tools. Generative AI is an advanced form of AI that can create new content.

She, as well as leaders and spokespeople for the departments of Environmental Quality and Transportation, emphasized that AI is a tool to assist humans, not replace them. 

Paul Katool, MDOT’s deputy director of public affairs, explained that AI use is rapidly growing across the agency. 

“It enhances efficiency, enabling our existing staff to complete more work – often faster – without increasing headcount or overall labor costs,” he said.

“The reality is that we have fewer staff than we have ever had historically,” said Chris Wells, the Department of Environmental Quality’s executive director. At the same time, their workload has arguably increased. 

A 2025 national report found that MDEQ’s staff decreased by 17% between 2010 and 2024, and funding decreased by 71% in the same time frame. Records show that the agency’s total appropriations, including state funding and fees collected for services, dropped by over a quarter between fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2025.

Though most AI projects took a careful approach, the report found that governance hasn’t kept pace with adoption. The findings include recommendations for improvement, such as stronger protections for confidential data and communication, stronger accessibility and mitigating bias and misinformation for public-facing AI tools.

“Each agency is responsible for governing its use of AI in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, policies and requirements,” wrote Hedgepeth in an email.

ITS adopted the Acceptable Use Policy for Artificial Intelligence, which is meant to be a resource for state agencies to create their own AI policies.

The Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Regulation Task Force was established in 2025 to analyze all things related to regulating AI in Mississippi until 2027, and to report its findings and recommendations to the state Legislature annually. One of the recommendations the task force adopted was that state agencies disclose to citizens when they are engaging with an AI system.

The Department of Transportation issued its AI use policy in February. The Department of Environmental Quality and the Arts Commission are still developing theirs. 

Even without an AI policy, agencies still have rules. For the tools identified in their AI inventory report, employees at the Department of Environmental Quality are responsible for reviewing AI-generated information before using it. AI is not used to make decisions, either. The Arts Commission recently started requiring grant applications to disclose AI use.

Mississippi currently has a handful of AI laws, but the attorney general’s office determined that Mississippi has no overarching AI framework, according to the state’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation task force’s report.

Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to limit states’ ability to regulate AI. 

Republican Sen. Bart Williams of Starkville, co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence Regulation task force and chair of the Mississippi Senate Technology Committee, doesn’t believe the president’s executive order will impact AI regulation in Mississippi.

“I think we’re gonna look at what’s best for our citizens and what we need to do for them,” he said.

Williams said AI will definitely be a topic of conversation in the 2027 legislative session. Many legislators are concerned about AI as it relates to children’s safety online and the workforce. However, he doesn’t know if it will be regulated.

The task force’s panelists recommended taking a “wait and see” approach. The report states the AG’s office recommended monitoring how the order impacts existing computer-related state laws that do not mention AI specifically.

Kollin Napier is chief AI officer of the Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network, the nation’s first statewide AI initiative. MAIN is in partnership with ITS to spearhead usage and adoption. It does not have a regulatory role.

Napier spoke about the importance of governance.     

“That comes as acceptable use. It comes as a statewide framework, structured pilots and so much more. So that way, you don’t have agencies just sort of experimenting in the dark, so to speak,” he said.

The AI Innovation Hub, established by ITS, Amazon Web Services and MAIN, has student teams work on solving AI use cases for state agencies. The teams presented their work at a showcase in May. 

Napier said the return-on-investment for the innovation hub and MAIN’s workforce development efforts are “tremendous.”

Mississippi governmental agencies are part of a growing trend. AI use is prevalent in governmental agencies across the country.

A 2024 survey found that 51% of state, local and federal government employees who responded used AI daily or several times a week. In a Google Public Sector survey of 250 federal IT professionals, 90% said their agencies were already using or planning to use AI.  

Federal agencies are using AI for a variety of projects, from facial recognition systems to helping the public search through historical records.

This story is developing and will be updated.

A grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, a Black teenager whose body was found near a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast two days after he went missing on the Fourth of July.

The condition of his body was consistent with drowning, according to a redacted copy of the Jackson County grand jury report that District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath released Monday night on Facebook.

“In addition to bringing prosecutions against the guilty, the grand jury must also exonerate those who have been falsely accused,” McIlrath said in a video that accompanied the report. 

The grand jury issued 132 subpoenas during its investigation and heard from 43 witnesses as it reviewed whether criminal wrongdoing had occurred when Wells did not return from an excursion to Horn Island with friends on the Fourth of July, according to the report. 

As part of that review, the grand jury considered physical and digital evidence and heard testimony from witnesses and investigators. The grand jury reviewed cell phone data and forensic reports, with photographs, videos and GPS data. 

The decision by the grand jury not to indict someone is not the same as an acquittal of a potential crime. There is no statute of limitations for murder charges in Mississippi. If new evidence ever surfaces in connection with Wells’ death, a grand jury can meet in the future to consider whether that evidence shows someone may have committed a crime. 

McIlrath said she took her oath as district attorney a little over a year after burying her own child.

“When I was sworn in, I promised to fight for and protect you and your children as I would my own. I meant it then, and I mean it now,” she said. “The death of Nolan Wells has devastated our community. Outsiders and influencers have attempted to exploit Nolan’s death and create chaos here. But we are better together.”

Emails released to social media by the district attorney’s office also show she shared the report with attorneys representing Wells’ family and his estate. 

Correction, 9/21/2026: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of McIlrath.

Columbus-area District Attorney Scott Colom urged a judge Monday to dismiss the murder indictment against Tameshia Shelton, months after the state Supreme Court let stand a Court of Appeals ruling that threw out her conviction for the death of her sister’s boyfriend. 

Shelton served 11 years behind bars in the 2009 shooting death of 21-year-old Danelle Young. She was freed from prison in June after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruling. The Mississippi Court of Appeals had stated that prosecutors failed to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Shelton murdered Young. The mother of four, now 48, is supposed to face a new murder trial in Clay County on Oct. 5.

If Circuit Judge James T. Kitchens Jr. grants the district attorney’s request, it could put an end to a case that has followed Shelton the last 17 years.

The office of District Attorney Forrest Allgood, Colom’s predecessor, oversaw the 2015 prosecution. Now Colom is arguing the state doesn’t have evidence to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Young didn’t kill himself. 

Upon hearing the news about Colom’s request to the judge Monday, Shelton screamed and said, “Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh! I’m so overwhelmed.” She said she feels like doing cartwheels.

The Clay County Circuit Clerk’s Office told Mississippi Today on Monday that the judge had not determined whether to dismiss Shelton’s indictment, but would reach a decision by the time of the retrial. 

A crumbling case

On June 1, Mississippi Today published its four-year investigation that found much of the evidence in Young’s death suggested he killed himself. A key piece was Young’s apparent suicide note, but the jury in Shelton’s 2015 trial never saw it before convicting her of murder.

Days after the story ran, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in Shelton’s favor, and she was freed on bond, awaiting trial.

Not long after arriving at Young’s fatal shooting on Oct. 16, 2009, Clay County sheriff’s deputies concluded his death was a homicide. Shelton, who has maintained her innocence, became the prime suspect because she was the last known person to see Young alive. 

A pathologist with the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Young’s death a homicide, based on the trajectory of the bullet, but reversed that decision in a 2021 hearing, concluding that the death should have been “undetermined,” most likely suicide.

In his motion, Colom wrote that he asked the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office to review the pathologist’s autopsy and that the office told him it could not provide any additional services. 

“In light of this development,” Colom wrote, “the State does not have evidence upon which a reasonable jury could rely to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Young’s death was a homicide rather than a suicide.”

Shelton also called 911 to report Young’s death to officers and get him medical aid, which could make her innocent in the eyes of a “reasonable jury,” Colom wrote.

Colom: ‘The evidence sounded thin’

For years as district attorney, Colom had supported a second look at Shelton’s murder conviction. 

Her case first came to his attention in 2018, after Shelton’s family came to him in an effort to get her out of prison. He had inherited a prosecutor’s office that oversaw six tossed-out murder convictions, all under Allgood. If the judge grants Colom’s new request, Shelton would become the seventh.

Allgood previously told Mississippi Today that he and his staff never tried anyone they thought was innocent, but that he did not recall the Shelton case, which other prosecutors in his office tried.

After Colom looked into her case, he started to have questions. “The evidence sounded thin,” he told Mississippi Today. “There was not much motive.”

Colom reached out to the Mississippi Innocence Project, whose attorneys ultimately secured the reversal of Shelton’s murder conviction and her freedom from prison. He also wrote a sworn statement supporting a hearing to determine whether she deserved a new trial.

When the state Supreme Court unanimously ordered such a hearing in 2020, Judge Kitchens removed Colom from the case because of that statement and had the attorney general’s office replace him.

“Eight years ago, Scott Colom met with Tameshia’s family to hear their concerns that she had been convicted of a crime that never happened,” Shelton’s current attorney, Sandra Levick, said in a statement Monday. “He had nothing to gain in taking that meeting. He had nothing to gain in signing an affidavit urging the Court of Appeals to allow a hearing so that the facts could be known.”

An apparent suicide note goes unseen

When Young was found shot outside Shelton’s trailer, he had been in town to visit his girlfriend and her younger sister, Ketina Tutton. The couple had been planning on living together, and Young wanted to get married. But Tutton changed her mind after getting a new job, her family said.

At about 8 p.m. on the evening of Young’s death, the couple’s dreams of a new life together had deteriorated into a verbal spat that lasted 15 to 20 minutes. “I had just told him that we were not – that I was not going to move in January like we had planned,” Tutton later told deputies. “This was something we had planned … until I got the job.”

The argument ended with the couple parting ways. She said she walked inside her mother’s house, and Young headed to Shelton’s trailer. 

It was dark when Shelton said Young knocked on her bedroom window. She was already in bed with her two daughters.

When she came to the front door, she said Young told her there was a raccoon in the tree and that he needed Shelton’s revolver and only one bullet to kill it.

She said she replied that he might need more than one bullet, so she loaded the .22 pistol and handed it to Young.

She said she heard a shot, and when Young didn’t return, she went outside to check on him and found him under a tree.

Weeks after Young’s death, Shelton said she found an apparent suicide note in which he wrote, “I have no life without (Ketina). These are my last words.”

She shared the note with her defense lawyer, Rod Ray, who failed to introduce the note as evidence at trial.

Mississippi Today shared the note with five jurors in Shelton’s original murder trial. Three said they believed the note created reasonable doubt about her guilt. 

In Mississippi, a person can’t be convicted of murder unless every juror agrees on a guilty verdict. 

In his Monday request, Colom wrote the note is another piece of evidence that “undermines” any prosecution against Shelton for murder.

“Today, he moved to dismiss the indictment because the facts are known and they show that a grave injustice has taken place,” Levick said in a statement Monday. “We join in urging the Court to grant the motion to put an end to this nightmare for Tameshia Shelton and her family.”

GULFPORT — Juanita Wallace has lived at Gulfport Care Center for six years. With several family members out of state, her phone helps her stay connected — but using it has not always been easy. 

“I really appreciate (Gulf Coast Connection Services) because I really needed (help), because I sure did not know how to operate my phone,” Wallace said. 

Wallace is one of the residents receiving help from Gulf Coast Connection Services. Founder Vanessa Welch helps residents make video calls, adjust accessibility settings and troubleshoot phones, tablets and computers. 

Her company aims to help nursing home and assisted living residents overcome technology barriers that can leave devices unused and make it harder to communicate with relatives who cannot regularly visit. 

Mississippi’s Digital Skills and Accessibility Plan identifies people 60 and older as one of several populations facing barriers to digital access. Among the challenges for older Mississippians, the plan identifies limited digital skills and cybersecurity knowledge and calls for expanded digital literacy training and technical support.

One-on-one assistance 

Welch meets with residents at Gulfport Care Center on Tuesdays and Fridays, working with groups and going room to room to reach those who cannot leave their beds. 

Lisa Perdue, the center’s activity director, said the program provides one-on-one technology assistance that staff may not have time to offer. 

“One-on-one, for that amount of time, it is pretty impossible for a CNA to take two hours, an hour with a resident to help them with things like that,” Perdue said. “That’s where Vanessa comes in.” 

Welch developed the idea after volunteering at another local nursing home, where she saw residents struggling with isolation from their families. 

She started Gulf Coast Connection Services in June and began reaching out to assisted living facilities. Gulfport Care Center joined the pilot in July. 

Perdue, who has worked in nursing home activities for 26 years, said her experience during COVID-19 visitor restrictions drew her to Welch’s plan. 

“We gave iPads any way we could during COVID, to keep them connected with their families,” Perdue said. “That’s why I was so on board with (Welch), because I saw what the video calls did during COVID, what they did for families.” 

A 2023 systematic review published in JMIR Aging found video calls and other communication technologies were used in long-term care facilities during the pandemic to help residents maintain social connections and address isolation and loneliness. 

Although pandemic-era visitor restrictions have ended, Perdue said residents with limited mobility can still experience isolation. 

“Imagine that you cannot move. You can’t do anything for yourself,” Perdue said. “The only touch you get that day is from a CNA who is positioning you in a different way. You know, no hugs, no physical interaction with anyone besides care.” 

Staying in communication 

Welch arranges video calls through Google Meet. When a resident requests a call, she contacts the family member, explains the service and schedules a time. 

She also helps residents enlarge text, turn on closed captions and access games, digital books and audiobooks. She creates reference sheets for residents to use after lessons and teaches them to identify possible scams.

Linda LaHood, who lives at the center with her husband, Gerald, said she had learned previous phones on her own but struggled with her newest one. 

“She’s helped us learn this phone like we had never been able to learn before,” LaHood said. “It’s complicated for older people because we don’t know how it all works.” 

Welch said closed captions transformed one resident’s video calls with his sister. Because he has hearing loss, his sister normally used a whiteboard during FaceTime calls. 

“I was able to turn on the closed captioning so he could read it as she was saying it, and they were able to just have a conversation,” Welch said. 

For Lashona Lewis, the calls help close the distance between Texas and Gulfport, where her mother lives at the center. 

“You get a free visit. You didn’t have to travel to do it. You don’t have to take off from work,” Lewis said. “It’s not to replace your in-person connection, but in the event that the person has a family dynamic where there’s not a lot of in-person visitors, this video visit is really important.” 

Beyond the pilot 

Welch volunteers her time, and the facility, residents and families do not pay for the service. Donations help provide chargers, phone cases and educational materials. 

Outside of her work at Gulfport Care Center, Gulf Coast Connection Services offers paid assistance to people living at home or in privately-owned assisted living facilities. 

Welch initially planned to serve several nursing homes for two hours at a time. But her experience at Gulfport Care Center showed her that there was not enough time to answer questions and provide individual assistance. 

For now, she is focusing on Gulfport Care Center while determining how to make the program sustainable. She hopes to expand to other nursing homes along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and eventually make the service her full-time work. 

For Wallace, learning to use her phone is about maintaining relationships with people who cannot always be in the same room. 

“Communication is the most important thing with family,” Wallace said. 

A federal appeals court panel last week ruled that Lafayette County’s policy prohibiting an Oxford filmmaker and professor from using the exterior of its picturesque county courthouse at night was unconstitutional. 

The opinion, written by Judge Andrew Oldham and joined by Judges Jaques Wiener and Kurt Engelhardt, said the county’s stated reason of protecting public safety was not enough to justify instituting a blanket nighttime curfew and violates the First Amendment.  

“The County has not shown the curfew provision is narrowly tailored,” Oldham wrote. “Even though trial evidence showed that nighttime activity on the town square varies, the nighttime ban applies from sundown to sunup.” 

The litigation began in 2020 when John Rash, a University of Mississippi film professor, applied for a permit to project art onto the exterior of the county’s courthouse. The county denied the application because it had a nighttime curfew and only allowed access during the day. 

U.S. District Judge Debra Brown ruled in Rash’s favor and prevented the county from enforcing the curfew. But she said Rash did not have legal standing to challenge the other portions of the county’s permit policy.

Both Rash and the county appealed to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately sided with the plaintiff in the ruling released Thursday. The three-judge appellate panel went further and ruled that Rash did have standing to challenge all portions of the permit policy and sent it back to the district court for further proceedings. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and private law firm Simpson Thacher represented Rash in the litigation. 

Joshua Tom, the ACLU of Mississippi’s legal director, said in a statement that Americans have the right to assemble, protest and debate the issues of the day in a public forum like that county courthouse. 

“Lafayette County tried to stifle that right,” Tom said. “With this ruling, the Fifth Circuit has reaffirmed it.” 

Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The county could ask the full slate of judges on the 5th Circuit to reconsider the case. It’s unknown when the trial court will schedule future legal proceedings.

Correction 9/21/26: The federal appeals panel ruling in this case was Sept. 17. An earlier version of this article had the incorrect day of the ruling.

Sponsored by JPMorganChase

When it comes to personal finance, most of us think about goals—saving for a home, paying off debt, or launching a business. But financial wellness isn’t just about reaching milestones. It’s about the habits and choices we make every day. It’s a practice, and like any practice, it gets stronger with personalized guidance, practical support and trusted resources.

Chase Community Manager Theresa Horne helps neighbors in Jackson turn financial wellness into a routine that fits their lives, providing practical money skills education and support on important money skills like budgeting, saving, building credit, and scam prevention.

Making Financial Wellness Part of Everyday Life

You can start small when practicing financial wellness. It can look like a 10-minute weekly money check-in, setting up automatic savings, asking a question about credit, or joining a workshop to learn how to spot a scam before you get hit.

Through local collaborations and free workshops, Community Managers help neighbors build healthy money habits like budgeting, improving credit, planning for homeownership, and protecting against scams. Workshops are open to everyone in the community—customers and noncustomers alike.

Horne shared her perspective on how Jackson families can build financial confidence that lasts:

1. What led you to the Community Manager role in Jackson and what has been the impact?

I’ve always believed that financial knowledge is one of the most powerful tools a person can have. I’ve witnessed firsthand how small, consistent steps can lead to big changes because it impacts the choices you make, the opportunities you pursue, and how much stress you carry day to day. Many people were never taught the basics in a clear, practical way—so when a surprise expense hits or prices rise, it can feel like you’re behind before you even start.

As Community Manager, I support Mississippi by connecting neighbors, businesses, and local leaders to the right financial resources for their unique priorities. I host workshops at branches and out in the community to help people build money skills that improve their lives, and the lives of their family—whether it’s buying a home, growing a business, or simply feeling more confident about their finances.

It is so rewarding to help Mississippi build towards a stronger financial future. Every day, I get to engage with people who are working towards their dreams, even when things feel overwhelming. Seeing someone leave a workshop with a new sense of confidence—or hearing that it helped them avoid a scam or start saving for the first time—reminds me that we’re building a stronger Jackson together.

• What do you recommend the Jackson community does to strengthen their financial wellness?

As inflation and rising costs stretch households budgets, the most effective response is a plan you can stick with. By focusing on repeatable habits—setting aside money weekly, building an emergency fund, and putting essentials first—you can cover today’s costs while still saving. 

• Make a simple budget: A budget is a spending plan that can help protect both your essentials and your future. A practical budget starts with clarity on what’s coming in, what must go out, and what can be adjusted—then it turns saving into a weekly habit.
• Treat savings like a bill: Set aside a small amount every week, even if it’s just a few dollars. Automate it if you can. Consistency is more important than the amount.
• Build an emergency fund in phases: Aim for a starter buffer first—enough to cover a surprise expense—then work toward a bigger goal, like a few months of essentials. Even a small amount of money put aside every week can reduce stress and create flexibility when prices move.
• Check in weekly: Spend 10 minutes each week comparing your plan to what you actually spent. Adjust as needed, and don’t be hard on yourself if things change—like groceries and transportation, where inflation often shows up quickly. The key is to keep going.

Financial wellness isn’t about being perfect—it’s about building a system that helps you handle what life throws at you. 

I’d love for you to join me at one of my upcoming workshops, where everyone is welcome. Stop by your local Chase branch or share your interest to learn more here.

• What is Chase doing to make it easier for people to strengthen their financial wellness?

We’re bringing more financial wellness support and personalized guidance into more neighborhoods. Through the American Dream Initiative, JPMorganChase is doubling the number of Community Centers, hiring 150+ more Community Managers, and expanding our financial education programs with the goal of reaching 5 million people.

JPMorganChase’s American Dream Initiative is a multi-year effort to expand economic opportunity by scaling evidence-based solutions that help the economy work for more people. JPMorganChase will provide financing, facilitate capital, offer advice, training and tools to help people start and grow small businesses. The firm will also significantly expand investments in proven initiatives that help people find affordable places to live, save and plan for their financial futures, get good jobs, access quality health care, and strengthen local institutions.

Explore tools for every financial journey at chase.com/financialgoals and for more information on the American Dream Initiative, visit www.jpmorganchase.com/America.

Rafael Alambarrio had escaped political persecution in Venezuela in 2024 and began building a life in Texas. He met his wife, Heather, and they married a year later. With her help, he was close to gaining permanent citizenship, only to be detained at a routine immigration appointment and sent to Mississippi. 

He is one of 2,000 people at the Adams County Detention Center in Natchez – one of the nation’s largest immigration facilities. Detainees have complained about crowding, measly food, a lack of medical care and lingering fumes. 

Last month about a hundred detainees protested the conditions and facility staff reportedly used pepper and gas sprays on the crowd. Alambarrio said he joined the demonstration. Detention officers placed most of the people in solitary confinement, and those accused of organizing the protest, including Rafael, spent a month in isolation. 

“We are human beings and we deserve respect and, above all, the right to be treated humanely,” he said in Spanish from the facility. 

His wife Heather Alambarrio, who is a U.S. citizen, had their conversation on speaker phone during a virtual news conference Friday. 

She has found ways to support her husband – paying for immigration attorneys and staying in touch through phone calls and in-person visits. The experience pushed her into advocacy against immigration detention and the use of centers such as the one in Adams County. 

Heather Alambarrio, a public school teacher in Texas, said it is heartbreaking to see what the country is doing to people and how tax dollars are being used for immigration detention. 

“I feel so proud of you for sharing and being brave to tell this to the world,” she told her husband before their call ended during the news conference. 

In a Monday statement, CoreCivic, the private company that operates the facility, said it provides three nutritious meals daily, each detainee has a bed and all can request medical care from a clinic. 

CoreCivic said last month an equipment failure temporarily disrupted natural gas that powers the center’s hot water and cooking equipment. When detainees expressed frustration, they were ordered to return to their cells before staff used the gas sprays. 

The company said solitary confinement does not exist at the Adams center or CoreCivic’s other facilities, and instead it is called “restrictive housing,” according to the statement. A representative did not mention the isolation of Alambarrio and others following the demonstration. 

The Workers Circle, a New York-based national social justice organization, coordinated last week’s news conference. The nonprofit has focused for the past year on immigration advocacy. The efforts began with vigils that led to the shutdown of the Florida Everglades Detention Facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” 

That work grew into “Freedom Vigils” held outside detention centers, courthouses and in the community. Earlier this month, organizers gathered a vigil outside the Natchez immigration facility. 

“It is up to all of us to talk about what’s happening at Adams, share the stories of people being held inside, demand our government free these people who are unjustly held and close this inhumane facility,” said Arianne Betancourt, an organizer for the Workers Circle whose father was held at Alligator Alcatraz, during the news conference. 

Heather Alambarrio said the U.S. federal government had already determined Rafael had a credible fear of returning to Venezuela, so it granted him parole as he applied for asylum and eventually a green card.

After they married, Heather petitioned for Rafael’s citizenship. In November, he had an interview to apply for his green card. Afterward, they were told he would have it within 60 days, Newsweek reported. 

But then the U.S. State Department paused immigration applications for 19 countries, including Venezuela. Heather said Rafael was detained in January during a routine check-in in Dallas. After he spent a few weeks at a local detention center – Heather spoke out about his detention through local media – Rafael was transferred to Missisisppi in March. 

READ MORE: ICE stain Coast immigrant working to gain green card

Rafael said his safety is at risk if he is deported to Venezuela. He especially feels that way because in June, men he knew from the Adams center arrived back in Venezuela as major earthquakes struck the country. Most of them died in a building collapse. 

Many like him remain in the Natchez facility and other immigration detention centers until ICE decides whether to grant them relief or deport them. 

Family members, advocates and attorneys say legal avenues, such as habeas corpus petitions, are meant to spur action, but they have gone unanswered or are backlogged. Through habeas petitions, the government has to justify why someone is being detained. 

READ MORE: 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses its decision, allowing ICE to hold detainees indefinitely

Korbin Felder, an attorney from the Center for Constitutional Rights based in Jackson, is representing others detained at the Natchez facility. His work has focused on habeas petitions challenging the Trump administration’s no bond policy.

“It’s a question of what happens if (habeas petitions are) de facto unavailable to people. The government can just take you and detain you and put you in custody without any recourse, without any justification,” he said. “That should scare all of us, whether we are immigrants, whether we are U.S. citizens, whether we are people with convictions or not.” 

READ MORE: ICE detainee fights deportation to be with medically fragile infant son

Heather Alambarrio teared up several times during the news conference as she recalled her husband’s experience in the Adams center. 

Her anxiety reached an all-time high since their separation. Rafael has been able to talk with a counselor to manage his anxiety, but he hasn’t seen a psychiatrist to receive medication. 

They have had to hire another attorney who focuses on detention and ask for donations to help pay. Heather said she had to sell her house, and it saddens her that Rafael, if he is released, won’t have a home to return to. 

Claudia Amendoeira contributed reporting 

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s only Democrat in Washington, is pushing national Democratic groups to spend more money to support Scott Colom’s closely watched Senate campaign against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, according to Punchbowl News. 

Thompson told the news outlet he blames Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the fundraising arm of Senate Democrats, for failing to seize an opportunity in Mississippi. 

“I think the DSCC is missing a golden opportunity,” Thompson told the news outlet. “A lot of folks keep asking why Sen. Schumer and the DSCC won’t get engaged on behalf of Scott Colom’s campaign.”

Colom told Mississippi Today in a statement that Democrat Party leaders in Washington, D.C., are starting to understand that Mississippi isn’t a lost cause, something that Mississippians “have known all along.” 

“We can win this November if Democrats double down on rebuilding our power in the South by investing in states like Mississippi,” Colom said. 

Maeve Coyle, a spokesperson for the DSCC, said in a statement that Colom is a strong candidate “who knows how to win tough races, and he’s put Cindy Hyde-Smith on notice in Mississippi.”

The comments from Thompson, Mississippi’s only Black official in Washington, come after the DSCC excluded Mississippi and Colom’s campaign from a $40-million investment in 10 battleground states ahead of the November midterm election. 

However, two sitting U.S. senators have visited Mississippi to campaign with Colom, and Schumer attended a fundraiser for Colom this summer. US. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York who leads the DSCC, also hosted a fundraiser for Colom in New York City earlier this month.