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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.

The Yazoo County Health Department will reopen next week after nearly nine months.

As Mississippi’s health care infrastructure continues to crumble, the reopening could mean more access to health care in Yazoo County. 

However, what services will be offered is unclear. The Mississippi State Department of Health’s communications department declined to answer specific questions about the health care services provided at the Yazoo health department, instead directing Mississippi Today to a general list of services offered at county health departments. 

Spokespeople did not respond by press time as to whether all of the listed services, which include breast and cervical cancer, domestic violence and rape, and other services for women and mothers, are offered at Yazoo in particular.

Yazoo County is a maternity care desert – it has not had labor and delivery services since the early 1990s, and there are no practicing OB-GYNs. All county health departments stopped accepting maternity patients in 2016.

Spokespeople also declined to answer questions about Yazoo’s staffing levels and how long it was closed, though its website says the Yazoo health department has been closed for renovations since September of last year. 

According to the department’s press release, the county health department won’t be open full time — it’ll only operate Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. 

The state health department has closed 10 county health departments in the last decade. Nine of those were closed in 2016, when the state health department’s budget was slashed. In remaining county health departments, hours and services have been reduced.

State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney requested money from the Legislature this year to increase nursing staff levels at county health departments across the state, but lawmakers did not appropriate those funds.

County health departments are typically funded through a combination of county, state and federal money, Edney said in an interview with Mississippi Today. 

“We utilize all the resources we can from our federal partners to help the county health departments, but the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) does not fund public health at the county level,” he said. “It’s up to us to do that, and we just don’t have enough state funding.”

Currently, most nurses at county health departments are paid through federal dollars, which have strings attached, Edney said. He needs state money so nurses have more freedom in the services they can provide. 

Though Edney said the need for county health departments has decreased over the decades as health care has improved, Mississippi’s health care infrastructure is in trouble. 

A third of hospitals are at risk of closure, one report says, and hospitals have shuttered service lines across the state.

“We need every partner that we can get,” Edney said. “The county health department, it should be an incredibly valuable resource. 

“Everybody has this mentality of how it used to be in the 1960s, that every county health department was fully staffed and open five days a week. The funding just isn’t there anymore.”

The renovated county health department has new doors and bathrooms, as well as ADA compliant access and parking. A press release from the Mississippi State Department of Health said an updated lab and clinic areas would allow for better patient flow. 

After a ribbon cutting and open house on Monday afternoon, the clinic will officially resume operations on Tuesday. 

The post ‘The funding just isn’t there’: Yazoo health department reopens two days a week appeared first on Mississippi Today.

DeSoto County officials believe they’ll need at least 10 years to move off Memphis’ sewer system, as a federal judge’s decision looms over how and when the connection will cease.

Memphis notified Southaven, Horn Lake, and unincorporated parts of DeSoto County in 2018 that it intended to not renew a 48-year contract between the entities. But it wasn’t until a judge’s ruling earlier this year that the termination process officially began.

Since 1975, the Mississippi towns have sent their sewage to Memphis through a local body called the Horn Lake Creek Basin Interceptor Sewer District. But the sewer district, on behalf of the Mississippi towns, and Memphis have each sued the other in the last few years over whether or not the contract would, in fact, end.

Memphis leaders said in 2018, when it sent the notice, that the city wanted to focus more of its resources towards its own residents’ wastewater, and no longer wanted the burden of assisting the growing suburbs to the South.

The initial 1975 contract says that the agreement “shall remain in effect for forty (40) years from the date hereof and at the expiration of said time shall be subject to review and change agreeable to both parties.” In 1983, the two sides agreed to extend the deal until 2023.

In Southaven, where the population has grown from 15,000 in 1980 to about 55,000 in 2020, Mayor Darren Musselwhite said that the two sides had different interpretations of the contract, and it wasn’t until a judge’s ruling in March that confirmed that the deal will expire this coming September. He said about 75,000 connections in DeSoto County are using the Memphis sewer system.

“(The sewer district) disagreed with Memphis in 2018 that the contract would end, they felt like the contract said it would be renegotiated,” Musselwhite said. “So that’s what we’ve been waiting five years on to know.”

Now, after the two sides failed to reach a settlement, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris will issue a final ruling over how many more years, and at what billing rate, Memphis will continue to handle the Mississippi towns’ wastewater.

Memphis is arguing that the new system — which would fall under the already-existing DeSoto County Regional Utility Authority, or DCRUA — could be built within seven years, while Musselwhite and the sewer district believe it would take to 10 to 12.

“I felt like Memphis was very ridiculous in some of their comments,” the mayor said. “It’s a major project.”

He said that DCRUA will have to redirect and pump the water to the new facility. With its current setup, DeSoto County benefits by being on an uphill slope from Memphis, making it easier to send the city its wastewater.

The biggest obstacle, though, is funding. The sewer district estimates it’ll cost $230 million to build the new system.

So far, the state Legislature has allocated $12 million for the project, Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch, told Mississippi Today. Parker said the local entities will put up about $9 million of initial funding. Musselwhite said the district will look for about $50 million in piecemeal federal support, including from recent infrastructure bills, $50 million from the state, and then pay for the rest with bonds and low-interest loans.

Another point of dispute in the ongoing legal battle is how much customers in Southaven, Horn Lake and the other areas should have to pay. Memphis charges other suburbs, such as Collierville, Lakeland, and Millington, a wholesale rate of $3.32 per 1,000 gallons, while only charging the DeSoto County sewer district 96 cents per 1,000 gallons, the Commercial Appeal reported. While Memphis argued the district should pay what the other suburbs are being charged, the district’s attorneys said there’s no reason to change the way the rates have been calculated for decades.

Parker, whose district includes the towns receiving Memphis’ sewer service, recently authored a bill attempting to create a regional utility authority for Jackson, which would’ve put most of the decision-making power in state leaders’ hands.

“I think the Memphis system will miss us… will miss the revenue,” Parker said. “It may not be in my lifetime, but when things degrade over time, as a lot of the metro cities are suffering the same kind of financial strife and having to make major repairs.”

Parker added that lawmakers may try to redirect state money that could have gone to Jackson towards DeSoto County.

“My thought is that since Jackson got $800-plus million (in a recent federal investment), when we were looking at maybe having to give them a large sum from the state, maybe some of that money we anticipated going to Jackson can go to DeSoto County in the future,” he said.

Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said that Parker’s comment ignored the fact Jackson still needs financial support for its wastewater system, a need the city has estimated to be $1 billion.

“I do think it’s ironic that the same legislators who were so against putting resources into Jackson’s wastewater problems are now planning to come to the Legislature for their wastewater woes,” Horhn told Mississippi Today. “If they are successful, I think that would show a double standard exists in the Mississippi Legislature.”

“I think from my standpoint, I’m standing ready to promote funding for Jackson’s wastewater issues even if it means trying to amend legislation for DeSoto County,” Horhn said. “The local government’s failure to prepare for this contract ending reminds me of the local leadership’s decision making in Jackson with the garbage contract.”

The post Southaven, Horn Lake looking for more time before Memphis severs sewer connection appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A federal lawsuit has been filed saying a new Mississippi law will make it more difficult for the elderly and disabled to vote.

Republicans sponsors of Senate Bill 2358 say it is designed to prohibit what they refer to as “ballot harvesting.” The bill prohibits anyone other than election officials, postal workers, commercial carriers, household members or caregivers from providing voter assistance and submitting an absentee ballot. Under Mississippi law, only certain people, including the elderly and disabled, can vote early or via mail. But to vote by mail, a person has to go through multiple steps, including requesting a ballot application before receiving the actual ballot.

“Voters — especially those with disabilities — depend on the assistance of community groups, friends, and neighbors,” Peg Ciraldo, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, said in a statement. “Now these neighborly efforts are being criminalized, and Mississippi voters in need of assistance are being silenced. Democracy in Mississippi cannot be whole when these voters are disenfranchised.” 

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of behalf of a group of Mississippians and the League of Women Voters of Mississippi by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU-Mississippi and Disability Rights Mississippi.

“Mississippi voters with disabilities will be barred from receiving assistance from the people they trust – and some are likely to be disenfranchised,” the lawsuit reads.

READ MORE: Lawmakers pass ‘voter purge’ bill that could keep some Mississippians from voting

The lawsuit is timely, those filing it say, because state and local elections are slated later this year, with party primary election set for August.

A violation of the new law is punishable by up to one year imprisonment and a fine of $3,000. The lawsuit says the new state law violates federal elections law.

When he signed the bill into law, Reeves said, “Mississippi is taking another step toward upholding the absolute integrity of our election process by banning ballot harvesting across the state. This process is an open invitation for fraud and abuse and can occur without the voter ever even knowing.”

The Republican leadership of the Legislature passed multiple bills during the 2023 session they said were designed to maintain “the integrity” of the election process. Others argued the bills would make it more difficult for Mississippians to vote. One required local election officials to purge voter rolls if people do not vote during a a specified time.

Under the bill, people who do not vote in one of two presidential elections in a four-year period or in any other election between those national elections would be mailed a card asking them to confirm they still live at the same address. If they do not respond to that card, they would be required to vote affidavit in the next election.

People who vote by affidavit — with their vote accepted as still residing in the voting district — would be considered a voter in good standing. But if they do not return the card or take no voter-related action over a period of two federal elections they would be removed from the registered voter list.

The post Lawsuit: New ‘ballot harvesting’ law makes voting more difficult for disabled, elderly Mississippians appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Democratic 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and his Louisiana counterpart are requesting data about the massive layoffs at Ochsner Health System to ensure Black workers and other minorities were not disproportionately impacted.

Thompson and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana penned a letter to Ochsner CEO Pete November last week. The layoffs, which represented about 2% of the health system’s workforce, spanned both Mississippi and Louisiana.

“While only you can make your business decisions, historically these types of actions have disproportionately affected women, and minority communities including Black, Asian, and Hispanic individuals,” the letter stated. 

“We write today to ensure that the actions taken align with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, applicable labor practices and fundamental fairness.”

Thompson and Carter requested specific data, including demographics of the layoffs sorted by race, gender and age; parish of laid off employees; and downsized positions by number, classification and salary.

November on Thursday wrote back to Thompson assuring him that the decision-making process was “deliberate, organized and thorough” and included “ … significant input from legal counsel – to ensure that all our workforce reduction decisions were based on legitimate and objective criteria tied to the business needs of the organization, and that there were no improper disparities in our workforce reduction based on race, gender, or age.”

November also repeated what he said in a memo announcing the layoffs: the positions primarily affected were management and non-direct patient care roles, and employees with clinical credentials were offered frontline patient care roles with an incentive package. 

He referenced the current nationwide nursing shortage and said he is hopeful that employees who were laid off will move into “full-time frontline roles.” 

“We are already working with many clinical employees who have expressed interest in continuing their career at Ochsner, and we have rehired a significant number of affected employees to bedside positions,” he wrote. “ … We are hopeful that many impacted employees who have been in largely administrative roles will move into full-time frontline roles, and we continue to recruit for several hundred unfilled frontline nursing roles across our system.” 

At the end of the letter, November said his team is willing to meet to discuss the specific information Thompson requested.  

When the layoffs were announced last month, a spokesperson for Ochsner Health declined to answer Mississippi Today’s question about how many of the affected positions were in Mississippi.

Ochsner Health has dozens of operations in Mississippi, many of which are in the southern part of the state and on the Gulf Coast. 

The cuts are expected to save between $125 million and $150 million a year, according to NOLA.com, and is the largest such reduction in the hospital system’s history. 

Thompson referred to the “significant federal assistance” Ochsner received in the form of federal pandemic funds and said that constituents have been reaching out to his office.

“The letter was sent in response to the layoffs. They have received significant federal assistance, and we want to ensure that through this phase of reduction, they are fair to all employee concerns,” he said in an emailed statement to Mississippi Today. “As these layoffs occur, we want to ensure that they are fair to the employees. Constituents have reached out to our offices numerous times.” 

He did not answer whether he has asked for similar information from companies in the past.

Carter’s office did not respond to questions and a request for comment from Mississippi Today.

Read the full letter from Thompson here. Read November’s reply here.

The post Congressmen pen letter asking for layoff data from Ochsner CEO appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center will dissolve the LGBTQ+ clinic that came under lawmakers’ scrutiny last fall because it offered gender-affirming care like hormone therapy and puberty blockers to trans minors.  

About 67 LGBTQ+ adults who have received services at the clinic this year, from routine check-ups to gender-affirming care, will be affected. It’s unclear if trans adults will be able to receive gender-affirming care at other UMMC clinics.

The co-director of the center that oversees the TEAM clinic said he felt “completely blindsided” by the decision to close operations on June 30, which was made without him, and worries about the ethics of suddenly closing a specialized clinic for a marginalized group of patients.

“This is an institution responding in fear not responding in reason,” said Alex Mills, a tenure-track professor of pharmacy at University of Mississippi and the co-director of the Center for Gender and Sexual Minority Health. He oversaw operations at the TEAM clinic. “It’s demoralizing and dehumanizing to the LGBTQ community.”

The surprise decision is “based in part” on a legislative committee report released last month that included recommendations for steps UMMC could take to shutter the pioneering TEAM, or “Trustworthy, Evidence-based, Affirming, Multidisciplinary,” clinic, wrote Dr. Alan Jones, the associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs, in an email Thursday morning. 

“UMMC will cease operations of the clinic at the end of this academic year, June 30, 2023, read Jones’ email to clinic providers. “All patients who are currently scheduled will be contacted by phone in the coming days about this change. Please work with your department chair to ensure a smooth process during this change.” 

UMMC did not respond to questions about the future of clinic patients’ care by the time this story published.

Services for trans kids have been limited at UMMC since executive leadership decided the clinic should stop seeing minors after lawmakers complained, according to emails obtained by Mississippi Today. Then the Legislature passed House Bill 1125 earlier this year, banning gender-affirming care for trans youth entirely. 

By Thursday afternoon, the webpages for TEAM Clinic and the Center for Gender and Sexual Minority Health had been taken down from UMMC’s website. 

“They are erasing us,” Mills said. 

He has several new patients scheduled for their first appointment at TEAM clinic tomorrow — now he doesn’t know what he’s going to tell them. 

Immediately after receiving the email, Mills wrote to Jones’ assistant requesting a meeting, hoping to ask if UMMC could postpone the shutdown for 90 days to give patients a smooth transition.

Mills got an email back from Brian Rutledge, Vice Chancellor Dr. LouAnn Woodward’s chief of staff, Thursday afternoon. His request was denied.

“Dr. Jones is not able to meet, but UMMC will be handling everything regarding the UMMC TEAM clinic and its patients,” Rutledge wrote. “After this point, I would encourage you to work directly with your UM School of Pharmacy chair or dean on how this impacts your practice responsibilities within your faculty role there.”

Mills said his department chair’s request to meet with Jones was also denied.

Since the decision was made without him, Mills said he doesn’t know what leadership’s transition plan entails.

He’s planning to write up a letter to give to patients tomorrow, but he doesn’t know if UMMC leadership has already made one. He doesn’t know who will be notifying his patients, what they will be told or the kind of care UMMC will give them once the month is up  — or even who will be their providers. 

He doesn’t know what will happen to the clinic space or to the three grant proposals he just submitted. 

“Why isn’t that being communicated to the people who run the damn clinic?” Mills said. 

The legislative committee report, published by the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER, recommended that UMMC could dissolve the TEAM clinic by “integrating services” back into the medical center’s regular care setting and offer “optional LGBTQ training courses to all staff and students.” 

Even if UMMC fully follows PEER’s recommendation and continues to provide gender-affirming care for trans adults, Mills said he doesn’t know if it will be done in a respectful and dignified manner. What made the TEAM clinic unique, Mills said, is that it is a dedicated space where LGBTQ+ patients could be assured that every employee, from the receptionists to the nurses, believe trans people exist and would use the right pronouns. 

That’s why the clinic was cofounded in 2015 by Dr. Scott Rodgers, who is now UMMC’s associate vice chancellor for academic affairs: To try to help LGBTQ+ Mississippians overcome one of the biggest barriers to care they face, which is finding providers who respect their sexual and gender identity. 

A 2019 press release from UMMC emphasized the clinic’s unique mission: to “ensure every Mississippian has access to accepting, high-quality and holistic primary health care” regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Mills feared this was going to happen ever since UMMC leadership decided the clinic should stop providing care to trans youth after lawmakers complained last fall. When that happened, Mills said he at least had some input. 

“Mind you, it was secretive, but we had a meeting to discuss a plan, at least, that was appropriate and ethical,” he said. “But this is just not how leaders should work. It’s not how you should be conducting yourself in any workplace. It’s just a really big slap to the face.” 

Now he is concerned that even if the TEAM clinic is shut down and its services are dispersed across the medical center, it still won’t be enough to appease lawmakers. 

“They are trying to erase a group of people,” Mills said. “If they find out it’s going to be throughout other clinics, people are now going to complain and say all of UMMC is doing this.” 

“I hope and pray that’s not the case,” he added. 

The post UMMC to shut down LGBTQ+ clinic amid political pressure appeared first on Mississippi Today.

RAYMOND — Gov. Tate Reeves refused to answer a question Wednesday about why he has not fulfilled a pledge to give away campaign donations from people who have pleaded guilty to multiple state charges involving Mississippi’s massive welfare scandal. 

The first-term Republican governor running for reelection told reporters at a Hinds County event that he will eventually donate at least $6,000 that he received from Nancy and Zach New, two central figures in the scandal, to a charity once the ongoing criminal and civil cases involving how federal welfare funds were misspent have concluded. 

But Reeves, at the same event, ignored a question from Mississippi Today seeking to clarify why, exactly, he’s waiting for the litigation to conclude to return the funds when the News pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges at the federal and state levels more than a year ago.

“… You don’t get to follow around and ask the governor questions,” Reeves said in a tirade about Mississippi Today, refusing to answer the original question and several follow-ups. 

Note: Audio of Reeves’ full response can be found at the bottom of this article.

In April 2022, the News brokered a plea deal with federal and state prosecutors, where the two defendants pleaded guilty to counts of bribing a public official, fraud against the government and wire fraud in exchange for cooperating with federal investigators.

The ongoing investigations by state and federal officials are unlikely to change the News’ guilty status.

The impetus for lingering questions about their donations to the governor stems from a 2020 press conference Reeves conducted, where he promised to place the contributions in a separate bank account from his primary campaign accounts.

But Reeves admitted on Wednesday that he had not transferred that money into a separate account, and it remains stowed away in his campaign coffers that total more than $9 million.

“It currently continues to be in the same account,” Reeves said in response to a WJTV reporter’s question. “We have probably five or six different accounts situated through Friends of Tate Reeves as well as Tate for Governor, and those monies, $9,000 or somewhere in that range, will be refunded at the appropriate time.”

The News also pleaded guilty to separate federal charges that involved bilking millions in taxpayer funds for their now-shuttered private school — the same private school Reeves showcased in a 2019 campaign ad.

Reeves’ campaign has reused the 2019 campaign footage in recent ads for his current bid for the Governor’s Mansion.

The governor on Wednesday criticized the press for asking why he would continue using footage from a school previously operated by people who have pleaded guilty to several crimes. Still, he ultimately said his campaign decided to include the video because it made for “a good picture.” 

“I presume that the fact that those videos were shot over five years ago, and for whatever reason, I guess whoever did the editing decided that it was a good picture,” Reeves said. “And that’s the reason they put it in the campaign ad.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley has continued to attack the governor for his connections to people caught up in the scandal and for failing to adequately provide oversight to the state’s welfare agency during the eight years he served as lieutenant governor.

Presley again criticized Reeves at a campaign event in Tupelo on Thursday, though the governor has not been charged with any crime and has denied taking any part in the scandal.

Note: Click below to listen to the audio of the May 31 interview with Gov. Tate Reeves. WJTV senior political reporter Richard Lake and Mississippi Today’s Taylor Vance were the two reporters asking questions.

The post Gov. Tate Reeves refuses to answer question about returning campaign donations tied to welfare scandal  appeared first on Mississippi Today.