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A federal lawsuit is challenging restrictions on protests held on public ways next to state government buildings in Jackson. 

The restrictions are under Senate Bill 2343, which is set to go into effect July 1. Under that law, any event on the sidewalk or streets next to state-owned or -occupied buildings would require prior written authorization from Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell or Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey. 

“We have spoken, and the state has responded with a sweeping prohibition of speech next to properties in Jackson occupied by state officials absent prior authorization,” the JXN Undivided Coalition said in a Monday statement. “We should not have to risk arrest and imprisonment for exercising our constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and equal protection under the law.”

The lawsuit was filed Saturday by local community organizers and groups such as the JXN Undivided Coalition, Mississippi Votes, People’s Advocacy Institute, Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and  Black Voters Matter. They are represented by the Mississippi Center for Justice and the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law. 

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue that the law’s requirement for written permission from the state officials is unlawful prior restraint under the First Amendment and it also violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

The plaintiffs are also asking for declaratory relief and a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent SB 2343 from going into effect.

Tindell and Luckey are defendants in the lawsuit. Under the law, they are designated as the ones to approve events because they are in charge of the Capitol Complex Improvement District, which is where the governmental buildings are located. 

A spokesperson from the Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond for comment Monday and did not say whether the department has reviewed the lawsuit. 

MacArthur Justice Center Director Cliff Johnson, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the city of Jackson already requires permits for events held on city sidewalks and streets that might affect access to public space, and those ordinances already carry penalties for failure to comply. 

Additional permission is another example of lawmakers disregarding Jackson’s autonomy, he said. 

If SB 2343 goes into effect, Tindell and Luckey will have the ability to veto protests, including those against the actions of state government and officials, according to the JXN Undivided Coalition.

“This chills protected speech,” said Paloma Wu, who is representing the plaintiffs from the Mississippi Center for Justice, in a statement. 

State-run institutions – Capitol Police and the Capitol Complex Improvement District court – rather than local institutions would be responsible for arrests, prosecution and conviction of people who protest by any state-owned or occupied property without prior permission, according to the lawsuit complaint. 

A misdemeanor conviction within the district would carry prison time at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility rather than jail time, which is possible through House Bill 1020 – a piece of legislation also being challenged in court. 

During recent protests, community members have spoken out about that law’s creation of a separate court system within Jackson and the expansion of authority of the Department of Public Safety and Capitol Police. 

Organizers said they plan to hold protests at the Capitol, Mississippi Supreme Court, the Governor’s Mansion and near other government buildings next month, according to the complaint. 

The post New law cracks down on freedom of speech, but just in Jackson, lawsuit says appeared first on Mississippi Today.

St. Dominic Memorial Hospital in Jackson is laying off 157 employees, or 5.5% of its total workforce, and closing all of its behavioral health services.

The employees range from full-time, part-time and PRN (as needed) roles. A spokesperson did not immediately answer how many of the positions are involved in direct patient care.

This is the third health system to announce significant layoffs in Mississippi recently. Both Ochsner Health System and Gulfport Memorial reduced their workforces last month.

The hospital’s geriatric psychiatric and inpatient mental health facilities will stop accepting new admissions on Tuesday at 7 a.m., according to a press release.

The release cited “substantial financial challenges” and losses of several million dollars in the last three to five years.

“Throughout its 77-year history, the St. Dominic’s ministry has evolved to meet the everchanging needs of the community it serves with a steadfast focus on quality, safety, patient experience and stewardship,” said Scott Kashman, market president and CEO of St. Dominic Health Services and St. Dominic Hospital.

“After thorough discernment and prayerful consideration, we must again adapt and evolve to preserve the ministry in the face of these economic realities and better ensure the long-term health of the organization. Ultimately, these decisions were made in faithfulness to good stewardship of our mission and the ministries we support.” 

Hospitals in Mississippi and across the country are in dire straits: First-quarter cuts among health care companies in the U.S. were up 65% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to Fierce Healthcare.

Hospital officials in Mississippi told lawmakers they would need a total of $230 million in extra funds to stay afloat, but a grant program the Legislature passed only awarded about $100 million. In addition, some hospitals are having trouble accessing the funds they were allocated because of regulations with federal COVID-19 relief money.

St. Dominic was allocated $2.12 million under that program.

Baton Rouge-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System bought St. Dominic in 2019.

Employees who have been laid off will continue in their current employment status with regular salary and benefits for at least 60 days following notice. Severance opportunities will also be offered to full-time and part-time team members who are unable to secure other similar roles in the organization, the release said.

The post St. Dominic lays off 5.5% of its workforce, halts mental health services appeared first on Mississippi Today.

AUBURN, Ala. — Southern Miss’ Justin Storm thrives in this NCAA Regional thing. After pitching himself into the spotlight last season with a memorable performance against LSU in the Hattiesburg Regional, Storm was even better late Sunday night against Penn in an 11-2 Southern Miss victory.

The 6-foot, 7-inch former Madison Central Jaguar simply overpowered the Ivy League Quakers, pitching the last 5.2 innings, allowing only one hit, while striking out 10 and walking none. He filled the strike zone up with fastballs and hard sliders that Penn simply could not handle. Don’t let the final score fool you. Southern Miss trailed 2-1 when Storm entered the game and did not break it open until an eight-run ninth inning.

“That’s some of the best stuff I’ve seen in a long, long time,” USM coach Scott Berry said of Storm. “That was total dominance. That’s the kind of stuff you see on TV in the Big Leagues.”

Berry saw the same thing precisely one year ago against LSU in the same do-or-die situation when Storm pitched the last 5.1 innings of an 8-4 victory over the high-powered Tigers.

“A star was born tonight,” Berry said at the time.

The star turned one with a bang Sunday night, entering the game in the fourth inning with one out and the bases loaded and the Eagles down 2-1. He struck out Penn batters for the second and third outs. Those were the first two of 16 Penn batters he would retire consecutively.

Asked what Storm was doing to bamboozle his batters, Penn coach John Yurkow said, “I’m trying to figure that out. I think he was throwing invisi-balls.”

Actually, Storm was mixing 91-mph fastballs and hard-breaking sliders, moving the ball in and out and up and down. “My best pitch tonight was my slider,” Storm said. “I could use it at any time in the count and I just kept mixing that with my fastball.”

Storm, a polite young man, is nonetheless intimidating on the mound. “He’s so tall it’s like he’s right on top of you when he lets go,” Yurkow said. “He’s throwing downhill … He really chewed us up.”

If there’s a rainbow after the Storm for Penn, it’s that the big lefty threw 61 pitches. It is highly unlikely he will pitch in the 2 p.m. championship game on Monday. Indeed, both coaches will have to piece their pitching together, dipping deep into their staffs.

That might not seem like such a daunting task for the Golden Eagles, considering what they’ve achieved the past two days. After losing in the opening round to Samford, they have come back to knock off top seed and Regional host Auburn 7-2 on Saturday, then defeated Samford 9-4 Saturday afternoon, exacting some revenge. It was a 12-hour day at the ballpark for the Eagles, who also endured a two-hour-plus rain delay in the Samford game.

Freshman second baseman Nick Monistere, the former Northwest Rankin standout, led the Eagles at the plate with three hits and three RBI against Penn after slamming two doubles and knocking in two runs against Samford.

Asked about his performance, Monistere beamed. “It was the bat,” he said. “I borrowed Dustin’s (Dickerson) bat. Now I want to keep it.”

This time last year, Monistere was helping Northwest Rankin win a State 6A Championship, as the Gatorade Player of the Year. “This is so much bigger,” he said postgame. “This is so much fun.”

Since he entered the starting lineup in April, no moment has seemed too big for Monistere. The more pressure, it seems, the better he is. 

The bat worked OK for Dickerson, too. His three-run blast over the center field wall highlighted the eight-run ninth.

With 10 strikeouts, Storm didn’t need all that much help in the field, but third baseman Danny Lynch provided plenty, snaring balls and making perfect throws for all three outs in the eighth inning. Lynch has put on a spectacular defensive exhibition this entire regional.

Against Samford, Southern Miss trailed 4-3 through five innings but then plated four runs in the sixth to change the game. Lynch homered among his three hits and Monistere provided the two doubles, two RBI and scored twice.

USM pitchers Matthew Adams (three innings), Kros Sivley (four innings) and Chandler Dawson (two innings) got it done on the mound, thanks to some sparkling outfield play. Left fielder Reece Ewing made two spectacular catches, including a leaping catch against the left field wall, and right fielder Carson Paetow made a diving, runs-saving catch, as well.

Southern Miss must still beat Penn again again today to advance to a Super Regional against the Tennessee Vols.

“Our biggest ally is our minds,” Berry said. “These guys believe in themselves.”

The post Deja vu? Justin Storm pitches Southern Miss into regional final appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Marshall Ramsey sits down with Fit Chef founder and entrepreneur Kevin Roberts. Fit Chef was founded in 2016 by Kevin, who has lived across the country from California to Alaska to Florida and many states in between. His 15-year-career in the food business and a passion for fitness led to a small business that began with cooking for a handful of clients and delivering barely 40 meals a week.

Kevin shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship and what it takes to start and run a small business. He also shares details about his upcoming RockBox location in Jackson.

The post Mississippi Stories: Kevin Roberts appeared first on Mississippi Today.

JUNE 4, 1899

The Rev. D.A. Graham stepped to his A.M.E. pulpit in Indianapolis. He often read from the Gospels or spoke about the love of Jesus, but on this day, he decried the mistreatment of Black Americans. 

Over the past seven years, there had been more than 1,200 lynchings of Black Americans, but nothing had been done to halt them, he said. The newly formed Afro-American Council had just held a National Day of Fasting and Prayer to protest the lynchings of Black Americans: 

“We are arrested and lodged in jails on the most frivolous suspicion of being the perpetrators of most hideous and revolting crimes, and, regardless of established guilt, mobs are formed of ignorant, vicious, whiskey-besotted men, at whose approach the keys of these jails and prisons are surrendered and the suspicioned party is ruthlessly forced from the custody of the law and tortured, hanged, shot, butchered, dismembered, and burned in the most fiendish manner.” 

In some lynchings, mob members collected charred body parts as souvenirs, Graham said. 

“How many of them are guilty? What is the proof against them?” 

In Georgia, a white girl met a young Black man “coming down a path and as he did not get out of the path she was afraid and ran. She swore that he did not speak to her and did not follow her,” Graham said.

Despite the utter lack of evidence, 19-year-old Ed Aikin served 10 years on a prison chain gang for attempted assault, Graham said. 

“How can the colored youth ever learn to look upon himself as a man when he is constantly treated as a brute?” Graham asked.

In March 2022, after more than a century of lobbying, lynching finally became a federal crime.

The post On this day in 1899 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Two high-profile cases are pending where the nine justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court will decide whether to uphold the plain language of the law or find a reason to ignore that plain language.

In one case the justices are being asked to decide whether it is unconstitutional for the Legislature to pass a bill that gives public funds to private schools.

In the other, the justices are being asked to decide if it is OK for a candidate — Bob Hickingbottom — to wait 62 days after the deadline established in state law to appeal a decision of the state Democratic Executive Commission stating that he is ineligible to run for governor.

The two cases do not have much in common except for the fact that the language in the Mississippi code and state Constitution governing each issue is straight and direct. Also, both cases are highly partisan.

In general terms, Democrats oppose providing public funds to private schools. And many Republicans also badly want Hickingbottom to be on the August Democratic primary ballot to create additional work for Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Brandon Presley.

In reality, the little-known Hickingbottom probably does not pose much of a threat, but any scenario that might make Presley’s road to the November general election more difficult or bumpy is viewed as a victory by Republicans.

In that particular case, the state Democratic Executive Committee ruled back in February that Hickingbottom was not eligible to run for governor. Hickingbottom can make a strong argument that the executive committee acted outside the law in denying him a spot on the Democratic primary ballot. The committee ruled that because he did not file his statements of economic interest with the Ethics Commission or file campaign finance reports in previous elections, he was ineligible.

Apparently, under Mississippi law, not filing a campaign finance report or not filing a statement of economic interest so voters can know a candidate’s financial ties and conflicts does not disqualify a person from running for office. That in itself might say something about the lack of seriousness the Mississippi Legislature places on transparency and ethics.

Nonetheless, Hickingbottom appeared to have a legitimate reason for the appeal of the Democratic executive committee’s decision.

But the question before the Supreme Court could hinge a lot more on the law that states how long Hickingbottom had to file the appeal.

The law reads: “Any party aggrieved by the action or inaction of the appropriate executive committee may file a petition for judicial review to the circuit court of the county in which the executive committee whose decision is being reviewed sits. The petition must be filed no later than fifteen (15) days after the date the petition was originally filed with the appropriate executive committee.”

Hickingbottom waited 77 days — not 15 — to file his appeal.

In ruling in favor of Hickingbottom, Hinds County Circuit Judge Forrest Johnson Jr. said the law establishing a deadline to appeal is not that important.

“The right of citizens to run for elected office, while not yet recognized on the same level as voting itself, is at least a quasi-fundamental pillar of our democracy,” the judge wrote. “More democracy is better than less democracy. In summary, the plaintiff’s right to ballot access in this case prevails over his delay in seeking relief from this court.”

In other words, the judge is saying it is OK to ignore some laws. Using that logic, perhaps it would be OK for people to continue to vote past Election Day or to ignore provisions requiring a voter ID. After all, more democracy is better than less democracy.

At any rate, the executive committee of the state Democratic Party is asking the Supreme Court to take the plain language of the law and overturn Johnson’s decision.

In the other case, the state Constitution plainly reads: “No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.”

That no funds should be appropriated to a school that is not a free school seems clear in the law.

Based on the proverbial “plain language” arguments that judges like to cite, both cases appear to be slam dunks.

Judges often say they look first at and follow the “the plain language” of the law in deciding a case. But in recent years, Mississippi Supreme Court justices have been inconsistent in adhering to that “plain language” principle.

With two highly partisan cases before the high court, the question is: Which reading will the justices take?

The post Will Supreme Court rely on ‘plain reading’ of law in two highly partisan cases? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

AUBURN, Ala. —  This time last year, Billy Oldham was pitching tiny Eastern Connecticut State to the NCAA Division III national championship, winning twice, including the championship, in the D-III World Series.

After helping pitch Southern Miss to a 7-2 victory over Auburn in a Division I regional here Saturday, Oldham was asked about the difference in the two competitions. Seemed like a good question: How does beating SEC power Auburn before a packed house on its home field compare with beating the Salisbury (Md.) University Seagulls in a game played at Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Oldham broke into a wide grin before he answered: “Well, there were a lot more people here for this today, a lot different atmosphere.”

It is safe to say that Auburn, which won 12 of its last 15 SEC games, packs a bigger punch than did that Salisbury ball club.

“Yeah, it’s different, but pitching’s pitching,” Oldham said. “It’s about throwing strikes, staying ahead of batters, giving your team a chance to win.”

In Saturday’s win-or-the-season-ends situation, Oldham got the win going 5.2 innings, allowing only four hits and two runs, out-dueling Auburn’s ace left-hander Tommy Vail.

“Billy was just outstanding,” is the way Scott Berry put it, and he might have added that this is nothing new. Oldham bettered his record to 7-3 with the victory. He has been crucial to USM’s success after the Golden Eagles lost six pitchers to the 2022 MLB draft, one to the transfer portal and another to Tommy John surgery. Berry had big holes to fill and Oldham has plugged a huge one as the Eagles’ No. 2 starter.

But that doesn’t answer this question: How does a Brookfield, Conn., native find his way from Eastern Connecticut State to Hattiesburg and Southern Miss? You know there’s a story there.

Two summers ago, Oldham pitched summer league ball in Vermont, where he was part of a pitching staff that also included Golden Eagle Isaiah Rhodes. Those two hit it off and became good friends. So, Oldham started keeping up with Rhodes and Southern Miss last spring when the Golden Eagles won 47 games and advanced to host a Super Regional. After Oldham’s team won the national title, both his head coach and pitching coach left for other jobs. Oldham and Rhodes were talking last June and Rhodes said, “Why don’t you come down here?”

Rhodes raved about Oldham to his coaches, so Berry and USM pitching coach Christopher Ostrander started checking. Turns out Berry had once coached with Matt Fincher, Oldham’s summer league coach, in the Jayhawk Summer League. Berry called Fincher, who vouched for not only Oldham’s pitching ability but his character.

“Finch told us, ‘Billy’s a strike thrower,’” Berry said. “We like strike throwers.”

Oldham, a right-hander, is not just a thrower; he’s a pitcher. He moves the ball in and out, up and down and changes speeds. His fastball might touch 90 miles per hour every once in a while, but it looks much faster because of his changeup. He also throws a slider, which is especially effective against right-handed batters, while his changeup moves down and away from lefty hitters. Saturday, he didn’t miss a lot of bats – just one strikeout – but he did get most outs on routine ground balls, popups and weakly hit fly balls.

And when Oldham began to show some signs of tiring in the sixth inning, on came Will Armistead to pitch the last 3.1 innings, shutting out the Tigers on two hits. Armistead, who last year pitched at Itawamba Community College, also has stepped up huge against superior competition and leads USM with a stingy 1.90 earned run average.

Oldham and Armistead had plenty of help. Christopher Sargent got the Eagles started with a three-run opposite field home run in the first inning. Honestly, Sargent’s round-tripper looked like a routine fly ball to right field off the bat. But it kept carrying and carrying and fell just over the fence, just above leaping Auburn right-fielder Bobby Peirce’s glove.

“I don’t know how it got out of the park, to tell you the truth,” Berry said. “But it did and it was huge, especially after we left so many runners on base the night before.”

So Oldham took the mound with a 3-0 lead. “That makes it so much easier to pitch, to attack the zone when you’ve got a three-run lead,” Oldham said.

Dustin Dickerson, the Eagles’ slick-fielding shortstop-turned-power hitter, made it that much easier slamming a pair of mammoth home runs over Auburn’s tall, green left field wall in the third and fifth innings. Danny Lynch, the senior captain, added another homer in the eighth inning. Six of the Golden Eagles’ runs were scored on home runs.

The Eagles also benefitted from sparkling defense, especially a run-saving, big-inning-ending, web gem by freshman second baseman Nick Monistere in the sixth inning. Auburn had already scored twice on three straight hits and had runners at first and third when Kason Howell smashed a hard shot up the middle. Monistere, who last year was playing for Northwest Rankin, dove to his belly and somehow snagged the ball, then scrambled to his knees and flipped the ball to Dickerson for the third out. It was huge.

All those heroics kept Berry’s coaching career and Southern Miss’ season alive for another day. The Eagles will play Saturday night’s Samford-Penn loser at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Win that one, and they’ll play the Samford-Penn winner Sunday night at 8 p.m. Win that one, and they’ll have to beat the same team again on Monday.

It’s a tall order, but Berry firmly believes his guys can do it.

“We’ve got some bullets left,” Berry said.

The post Southern Miss stays alive, beats Auburn 7-2 to play another day appeared first on Mississippi Today.

AUBURN, Ala. — Samford’s 4-2 10-inning victory over Southern Miss here Friday in the Auburn Regional leaves Golden Eagles coach Scott Berry’s last season on the brink of a sudden end.

The Eagles know it. What’s more, they know why that is the case.

They had their chances to win — indeed, so many chances. But they left a whopping 14 runners on base, most in scoring position. They were zero-for-four with the bases loaded.

While gutsy Tanner Hall, the only two-time All American in Southern Miss history, pitched his usual gem, Southern Miss hitters didn’t get it done when they needed it most. 

“Credit Samford,” Berry said. “They really pitched it well. We didn’t do enough at the plate to win the game. That’s really all there is to it.”

It was a grim reminder of some problems the Eagles had earlier in the season, not getting clutch hits when it mattered most. That was a prime reason why Southern Miss was a stagnant 22-15 at one point in April and it looked as if the Eagles were going nowhere in the postseason. They began to get the clutch hits in late April and had won 19 of 21 and the Sun Belt Tournament championship coming here.

Two Samford pitchers had much to do with it the Eagles’ hitting woes. Starter Jacob Cravey, the Bulldogs’ ace, pitched the first six innings, allowing only five hits and one run. Ben Petschke, the Samford closer, then came on and gave up only one run over four innings.

Southern Miss managed only the two runs despite nine walks. That’s right. Samford pitching walked nine batters and gave up only two runs. You won’t see that often. It happened because Cravey and Petschke made superb pitches when they needed them most. And it happened because Southern Miss hitters didn’t deliver when they needed it most.

They came close. With the winning run on second base and one out in the bottom of the ninth, USM leadoff hitter Matt Etzel smacked a hard line drive right into the mitt of Samford first baseman. In the sixth inning, Carson Paetow might have left a dent in the right field fence with a line drive shot. Had Paetow lifted it just a tad more it would have been far out of the park. As it was, it went for an easy double, but Paetow ended up just another runner left in scoring position, much to the chagrin of the largely Southern Miss crowd of 3,578.

The offensive inefficiency ruined a sterling performance by Hall, who earlier in the week was named first-team All American for the second consecutive season. In what might have been his final appearance as a Golden Eagle, Hall struck out nine, walked two and scattered eight hits over nine innings. And he would be the first to tell you he was aided by some sensational fielding plays, especially from third baseman Danny Lynch, who made several stops and throws that would have made Brooks Robinson proud. (Younger readers, look him up.)

Early on, Hall did not have his best stuff and and often pitched behind in the count. He gave up a third inning run when Garrett Staton, the Bulldogs’ leadoff hitter, doubled home a run for a 1-0 Samford lead. But Hall kept battling and seemed to get into a rhythm in the middle innings. Here’s grit: Hall’s 120th pitch of the game induced a double play ball, the third the Eagles had turned.

The following will tell you how much respect Hall earned from Samford. Coach Tony David described the thought process in the Bulldogs dugout entering the 10th inning. “Everybody was looking to see who they would send out to the mound. When we saw it wasn’t Hall, someone shouted, ‘Who is it?’”

David said he shouted back, “Does it matter? It’s not Hall.”

It was Justin Storm, USM’s closer who has been so effective down the stretch this season, a critical part of the Eagles’ late season success. First up for the Bulldogs was catcher Josh Rodriguez, a big, strong guy who had put on a long-ball show during Samford’s batting practice. With the count one-one, Storm threw a 92 mile per hour fastball, belt high and over the middle of the plate. Rodriguez launched it high and far, well beyond the tall, green batter’s background in centerfield, at least 50 feet beyond the 392-foot sign.

“Majestic,” David, the Samford coach, called it.

The Bulldogs, who have won 14 of their last 17, didn’t stop there. They added two more runs, one charged to Storm and the other to Niko Mazza, the third Golden Eagle pitcher.

It was the same old, same old for the Eagles in the bottom half of the 10th. With the mostly gold-clad throng cheering desperately, the Eagles loaded the bases with nobody out. Then Paetow grounded to first, scoring a run to cut the margin to 4-2 with runners on second and third and just one out. But Blake Johnson struck out and Etzel’s lazy fly ball to left field ended it.

“We gotta flush it,” Berry said. “We gotta have a sense of urgency … There’s no sense of urgency greater than knowing if you don’t win, you go home.”

The 41-18 Eagles planned to watch host Auburn play 4-seed Penn later Friday night. USM will play the loser of that one in the losers’ bracket game at 2 p.m. Saturday. Samford will play the winner at 8 p.m. 

Bottom line: Southern Miss will have win four straight games over the next three days to advance to a Super Regional and keep alive hopes for an Omaha ending to Berry’s career.

That’s all.

The post Despite Hall’s heroics, Samford sends Southern Miss to the brink appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Friday that Mississippi joined nine other states in a lawsuit against the federal government over it’s flood insurance rating system.

The rating system calculates the risk of flooding for homeowners who’ve signed up for the National Flood Insurance Program and determines their monthly rates. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, recently released an updated version of the system, called “Risk Rating 2.0,” which the agency says more accurately determines flood risk and more equitably distributes premium costs.

FEMA began implementing the new system in October 2021, and fully incorporated it this past April.

But after seeing large rate increases for some, Fitch and other state leaders argue the new system is hurting homeowners.

“Homeowners who suffer natural disasters should expect us to come alongside them and offer a helping hand,” Fitch said in a Friday press release. “Instead, the Administration’s latest action makes flood insurance prohibitively expensive, forcing many homeowners to leave their homes or face bankruptcy or foreclosure.”

The NFIP, the release says, is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for homes throughout the country, and as of last September, accounted for 31,682 policies in Mississippi.

“While Risk Rating 2.0 initially looked promising, it has proven to be less than fair to consumers and is shrouded in secrecy,” Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said. “The financial impact to many customers has been, and continues to be, devastating.”

Louisiana, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

According to an infographic on FEMA’s website, the average policyholder will see an $8 per month increase on their premium, and 4% of policyholders will see an increase of more than $20 a month. But areas that have especially high flood risks, including parts of southeastern Louisiana, will have an average increase of over 500%, NPR reported. Fitch’s release claims some rates will increase “by more than 10 times” in Mississippi and other states.

Fitch also claimed that FEMA “failed to work collaboratively with state and local governments,” and didn’t account for mitigation measures such as levees that kept previous rates lower.

The Mississippi Emergency Management agency echoed Fitch’s criticisms.

“We at MEMA are grateful to (Fitch’s) office for taking legal (action) against Risk Rating 2.0,” Malary White, MEMA’s chief communications officer, said in a statement, adding that the formula for the new system is still “unknown.”

“Mississippians have a right to affordable flood insurance.”

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against FEMA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration.

The post Mississippi AG joins lawsuit over federal flood insurance rating appeared first on Mississippi Today.