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BATON ROUGE, La. — Planned Parenthood on Tuesday shut down its two clinics in Louisiana over what the organization said were mounting financial and political challenges that made operating in the state no longer possible after more than 40 years.

The closures make Louisiana the most populous of just four states with no Planned Parenthood locations. Louisiana joins Wyoming, North Dakota and Mississippi as states where the organization is absent.

The exit underlines the pressures on Planned Parenthood as it warns of wider closures nationwide in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill. The organization is also halting advocacy work in Louisiana, where the state’s Republican leaders have cheered on the closures.

The closures were “not the result of a lack of need” but rather the outcome of “relentless political assaults that have made it impossible for us to continue operating sustainably in Louisiana,” said Melaney Linton, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.

Supporters have said the closures will have a detrimental impact on Louisiana, where Planned Parenthood has never been licensed to perform abortions in the state but did provide other medical care services to nearly 11,000 patients last year at its Baton Rouge and New Orleans clinics.

Advocates and medical professionals fear that the organization’s departure will further exacerbate reproductive health care in a state that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. In addition, a March report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office noted the state’s significant OB-GYN shortage and health care deserts.

Trump’s spending and tax plan instructs the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to certain abortion providers. While the organization is seeking to have its funding restored through the courts, Planned Parenthood officials have warned that around one-third of roughly 600 clinics could be forced to close.

Earlier this year, five clinics in California and eight in Iowa and Minnesota shut their doors. In the past week, the Wisconsin affiliate announced that it would stop providing abortion and the Arizona affiliate said it would halt Medicaid-funded services.

“This is a win for babies, a win for mothers, and a win for LIFE!” Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry posted on social media Tuesday.

Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services, including cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Federal Medicaid money was already not paying for abortion, but affiliates relied on Medicaid to stay afloat.

In Louisiana, a state with one of the nation’s highest poverty rates, 60% of patients at Planned Parenthood clinics used Medicaid. Last year, the clinics in Louisiana provided nearly 30,000 tests for sexually transmitted infections, 14,400 visits for birth control, 1,800 cancer screenings and 655 ultrasounds.

Nearly a decade ago, Jordyn Martin said she turned to Planned Parenthood when she couldn’t afford medical services anywhere else. While at the clinic, a doctor offered Martin a free HIV test. A week later, she was diagnosed with the virus.

“Planned Parenthood saved my life,” said Martin, who went on to volunteer for the organization.

Outside of the New Orleans Planned Parenthood clinic Tuesday, several people gathered and brought thank-you notes to the organization that has spent four decades in Louisiana. Inside the building, up until close, staff worked to connect patients with alternative health care providers.

Starting Wednesday, calls to Planned Parenthood numbers in Louisiana were being transferred to the nearest location in Texas or Arkansas.

Michelle Erenberg, head of a New Orleans-based abortion rights group named LIFT, said people have been contacting her for help to find new clinics. She said it was important to connect people with providers but worries about the strain it will put on clinics that are already short-staffed.

“Whether patients are going to be able to get appointments quickly, or access all of the services that Planned Parenthood provided, is unknown at this point,” she said.

Civil rights organizations around the country are preparing for the Trump administration’s crackdown on progressive-aligned groups, Bryan Fair, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Mississippi Today on Tuesday.

Fair spoke to the news outlet in an exclusive interview on the heels of President Donald Trump signing a memorandum directing federal law enforcement agencies to investigate what he claimed were wealthy donors and organizations funding left-wing political violence.

The memo could be used as a pretext to target civil rights organizations perceived to be enemies of the Trump administration and Republican causes in states such as Mississippi, Fair said.

“The charge from the administration, the most recent memorandum, seems to go after one type of organization — organizations that are critical of this administration, or that promote equality of opportunity for all,” Fair said. “We see this as a partisan attack on progressive nonprofits that seek to lift up due-process rights, First Amendment rights and the equal protection rights of all persons.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center — one of the nation’s most well-known civil rights organizations that rose to prominence by filing legal cases against white supremacist groups in the post-Jim Crow South — will remain undeterred from its mission, Fair said. But Trump’s memo last week and his administration’s vows to attack the financial and organizational networks that support progressive causes have sent many groups bracing for impact.

The center is part of a “civil rights ecosystem” that includes organizations such as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the ACLU, the NAACP, the Legal Defense Fund and Democracy Forward. All of these groups believe that the administration plans to target civil rights groups, Fair said. The SPLC has long attracted the ire of Republican politicians and groups who see the organization as biased against conservatives.

The organization’s work classifying “hate groups” is a particular point of contention, with critics saying the organization lumps mainstream conservative groups together with white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

Anger from Trump and his supporters toward progressive groups intensified after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump administration officials and allied media figures have claimed, largely without evidence, that progressive groups have encouraged physical violence against conservatives. Some conservative critics have trained their attention and large social followings on the center by name.

Fair said his organization condemned Kirk’s murder and has never condoned political violence of any sort.

“For 55 years, SPLC has been on the front lines of fighting hate and extremism in this country,” Fair said. “We were founded to fight for the civil rights of all persons, and that’s what we do every day. We believe that everything that we do is protected under the law.”

Fair said threats from the Trump administration against groups such as the center have arrived at the same time these organizations are working to blunt the impact of deep federal spending cuts approved by congressional Republicans.

Fair was in Jackson on Tuesday to kick off a “Truth, Poverty and Democracy Tour” around Mississippi. The multicity, week-long tour will connect Mississippians to advocates and resources that “address systemic barriers to health care, housing, education and voting rights,” the organization said.

Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country, and Fair said the center plans to wage a “war on poverty,” harkening back to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 State of the Union Address.

Three years after that speech, Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy toured the Mississippi Delta to learn more about the region’s life-shaping poverty, a seemingly intractable problem that still persists.

The center’s plans to emphasize poverty-related issues — such as the Republican-pushed “big, beautiful bill” cuts to Medicaid and food assistance — represent a new strategy for the organization.

“We’ve adopted poverty as a new pillar of our work,” Fair said. “Historically, we have not done great work in that space, but we’re trying very intentionally to shift our focus so that we’re on the ground.”

Democratic state lawmakers said at a press conference later on Tuesday that they would continue partnering with groups such as the center on shared efforts to strengthen social safety net programs.

“I’m done trying to change the minds of some of the people in this Capitol building or change the minds of the people in Washington who are in control,” said House Minority Leader Robert Johnson. “Our job is to get them out. So this partnership will continue whether Trump funds it or not.”

While the shift to a full-throated focus on poverty-related issues might be a departure, Fair said the center would not change its tactics in response to federal pressure.

“We have no intention of being silenced by this administration or any administration,” Fair said.

The Jackson City Council confirmed several members of Mayor John Horhn’s new administration, but a notable position was missing from the agenda: chief financial officer.

Fidelis Malembeka, a former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba appointee, said after heading up Jackson’s finances for the last four years, Tuesday was his last day with the city but that he would still be around to answer questions. 

Jackson plans to announce a permanent chief financial officer appointment “very soon,” Horhn told Mississippi Today. In the meantime, to aid in the development of next year’s budget, the city has contracted with Michael Thomas of Systems Consultants Associates to create performance indicators for city departments.

“He is evaluating the financial department to see where there are greater efficiencies that can be had, and he is also looking at any possibility that a deeper dive may need to take place on a forensic audit,” Horhn said. 

Thomas’s contract, which the city opted to issue without a bid, is not to exceed $50,000. The shift in financial leadership comes just after the city adopted a flat budget earlier this month — a precautionary move resulting in part from the city’s failure to maintain annual audits. 

The city is still working to complete its 2023 audit, which it was supposed to finalize last year but faced challenges in doing so due to the privatization of the city’s water system in 2022. The financial statements from the city and the water utility must be combined, but JXN Water, the third party manager, produced an audit by calendar year instead of municipal fiscal year, making the reports difficult to reconcile, Thomas said.

Thomas said the city’s goal is to finish both the 2023 and 2024 audits by next September. 

As an example of a performance indicator Systems Consultants Associates might recommend, Thomas mentioned the city’s Public Works Department. The department might be given a timeframe to complete a task — say, 24 hours from the time a pothole is identified to the time it is paved — that the department could be measured against. 

Thomas said it’s too early in his assessment to tell which departments are already effectively measured versus ones that need new benchmarks.

It’s also up to the administration to take the consultant’s recommendations. Thomas said the last time he helped the city in this capacity was during the Tony Yarber administration. He was tasked with finding efficiencies, such as with the in-house print shop — an enterprise fund that generates revenue for the city. Instead of using outside companies for the Jackson’s printing needs, Thomas said he suggests the city use its own shop. 

Public Works, a crucial yet challenged city department, has lacked a permanent leader for nearly two years now. The city council filled the vacancy Tuesday, confirming Lorenzo Anderson as the next director.

WLBT reported that Anderson most recently served as Washington County’s engineer while working for IMS Engineers – a familiar contractor to the city of Jackson – but was removed in 2024. 

This work history was not raised by council members during the confirmation, but Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes noted that he’d recently had an opportunity to check out  Anderson’s former jurisdiction. 

“I had a chance to go to Washington County, to the Delta Blues festival. I presented Bobby Rush a plaque, and the roads are great,” Stokes said. 

Just after confirming Anderson, Horhn announced the city had signed on a $40 million bond issue for ditches, drainage, street and bridge repair that “might have just made Mr. Anderson’s job a little easier.”

The city is still working to fill two other major positions: the Jackson Police Department Chief after Joseph Wade stepped down in August, and director of planning and development, a position Von Anderson has held since July on an interim basis.

The city is holding listening sessions to engage the public on the search for a new police chief. As for Planning and Development, Horhn said the city is still working through applications.

“We think we need a planning and development director with more breadth and depth of experience,” he said. 

Shortly after his inauguration, Horhn announced that Grace Fisher, communications director at the Mississippi Department of Corrections, would serve as the city’s new communications director, but after the announcement, she remained at MDOC. 

The council on Tuesday confirmed Nic Lott, a government affairs consultant and former Republican gubernatorial staffer, as the director of communications and constituent services. In addition to spearheading the city’s social media, Lott will work on a committee alongside Information Technology Director Nathan Slater, also confirmed Tuesday, on rebuilding the website. 

Ward 5 Councilmember Vernon Hartley asked Lott if he would work with council members who he said have not had the opportunity to coordinate with the city’s communications department in the past. 

“I believe we should go about telling the story of what we’re doing in the city better,” Lott said.  

A staple in city and county government, Pieter Teeuwissen, was also confirmed as chief administrative officer. Stokes, the most tenured member of the council, recounted that when he left the city in 2012 for a stint on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, he asked Teeuwissen, then city attorney, to follow him there.

“I asked him would he consider coming to Hinds County to keep us out of jail and he came to Hinds County, did a wonderful job, kept us out of jail,” Stokes said.

Speaking before her confirmation, Municipal Clerk Angela Harris said she was continuing efforts she began in 2022 to digitize the city’s files. 

While confirming Harris, two council members urged the mayor to look at bringing the city clerk’s office back under the council, where it resided before the Lumumba administration moved it under the mayor.

“We have that under review. We have just been dealing with crisis management since we started here 12 weeks ago and as things settle down, we’ll get into the reorganization that we’ve been talking about,” Horhn responded.

During the confirmation of City Attorney Drew Martin, Hartley recommended taking more frequent legal action to hold parties accountable for the poor conditions, such as blight, that Jacksonians are experiencing. He implored the legal staff to find more ways “to make sure that we have our knife sharpened when it comes to these issues affecting our quality of life,” Hartley said. 

“We hear the complaints, we hear the issues, and a lot of times there is a legal remedy, and I’d like for us to be a little bit more nimble, a little but more flexible in applying it so we can get some results so we can’t tell the folks that there’s nothing we can do,” Hartley said.

When it came time to confirm Director of Human Resources Toya Martin, a Lumumba holdover, Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell said he was “completely against” the nomination and said he had drafted a resolution for a vote of no confidence in the director he may introduce later. Martin was confirmed by a 5-2 vote.

The council also confirmed six municipal court judges, Taurean Buchanan, Kevin Bass, Lilli Bass, June Hardwick, Jeffrey Reynolds and Virginia Watkins.

The following cabinet appointments by Horhn were confirmed Tuesday:

• Chief Administrative Officer Pieter Teeuwissen
• Fire Chief RaSean Thomas
• Director of Human and Cultural Services Pamela Junior
• Information Technology Director Nathan Slater
• Director of Communications and Constituent Services Nic Lott
• Municipal Clerk Angela Harris
• Director of Human Resources Toya Martin
• City Attorney Drew Martin
• Director of Public Works Lorenzo Anderson

Upcoming listening sessions for the ongoing police chief search:

• Tuesday, September 30 – 5:30pm – First Presbyterian Church, Miller Hall, 1390 N. State St., Jackson, MS
• Wednesday, October 1 – 5:30pm – Greater Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 1900 Robinson Rd., Jackson, MS
• Visit www.jacksonms.gov/survey to share input on public safety in Jackson

Jackson Editor Anna Wolfe contributed to this report.

Mississippi women and their children will be among those most harmed by recent federal cuts to social safety net programs, according to policy experts. 

Mississippi is one of the poorest and most federally dependent states, and President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” includes the largest spending reductions to Medicaid and food assistance in history. Even sectors that don’t face direct cuts from the law, such as child care, will be heavily impacted by shifts in state budgets, experts say. 

Women stand to lose the most from these changes, with effects on children, families, communities and businesses. 

Changes to Medicaid disproportionately impact women, not only because women participate more often in the program – due to the wage gap and life events such as childbirth – but also because they are more often caregivers to those on Medicaid. Women are also the bulk of rural health care workers who could be impacted by hospital closures. 

Those trends are even clearer in Mississippi, where nearly two-thirds of births are funded by Medicaid. That’s the second highest in the country. 

While the law doesn’t change eligibility criteria for pregnant women, the spending cuts will trigger downsizing of many rural hospitals – and labor and delivery units are often the first to go when hospital budgets shrink. 

Women in rural areas already have too few options for giving birth. Half of Mississippi’s counties are maternity care deserts, and the state Health Department recently declared a public health emergency for the state’s infant mortality rate – the highest in the nation. 

Many of the law’s provisions will disproportionately harm women, including pregnant patients, and children – even though it was touted as “family friendly,” said Megan Cole Brahim, a health policy researcher at Boston University. 

“It makes it more difficult for eligible people to remain enrolled through more administrative burdens,” Cole Brahim said. “And secondly, it ultimately cuts funding available to states and forces states to make difficult decisions about who it will cover and what it will cover. It impacts the entire health care ecosystem.”

Fewer Mississippians will lose coverage than people in other states, but experts say that’s not a win. The main group losing coverage in other states are those Mississippi already doesn’t insure because it is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid to the working poor. 

“The coverage losses will primarily be felt by those adults covered by Medicaid expansion – folks who are already shut out of coverage in a state like Mississippi that has not picked up expansion,” said Joan Alker, a Medicaid expert at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families. 

Despite having among the strictest income requirements for Medicaid in the nation, Mississippi has one of the highest rates of Medicaid enrollees – a fact that reflects the number of poor people in the state. 

To qualify for Medicaid, able-bodied adults in Mississippi must make less than 28% of the federal poverty level, a mere $7,000 annually for a family of three. 

More than a quarter of child care workers nationwide are on Medicaid, and losing coverage or access to services may weaken the already tenuous child care workforce, speakers said Tuesday at the Capitol during a hearing hosted by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus. 

“The law’s cuts to Medicaid will hit the child care workforce particularly hard, and that is going to have major ripple effects,” said Ruth Friedman, who was director of the Office of Child Care in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration.

“Its unprecedented cuts to health insurance and food assistance and the mandates it places on states is going to make the child care crisis much worse for millions of families,” she said.

Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be one of the most significant impacts to Mississippi’s budget, said Theresa Lau, senior policy counsel at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“This law forces states for the first time to pay for SNAP benefits, which will shift billions of dollars in costs to states,” Lau said.

It will also expand work reporting requirements for the food assistance program, which Lau said kicks many eligible families off the program, especially in states like Mississippi, where many people live in rural areas without consistent internet access.

Caregiving responsibilities in the home fall primarily to women – not to mention 95% of child care workers nationwide are women. 

Women also make up more than 80% of people working in rural hospitals who would be laid off as the facilities close under budget cuts. 

The cuts to Medicaid will also affect nursing homes and residents. In a national survey this year, more than half of nursing homes said they would have to reduce staff under Medicaid cuts. 

Cutting staff in an industry where 99% of facilities already don’t meet staffing requirements will have drastic repercussions on those served by and employed in nursing homes – both predominantly female. 

Conversation around the federal spending law signed by Trump highlights a major partisan rift. Both parties centralize their arguments around the concept of family, with Republicans capitalizing on rhetoric about “tax breaks for working families” and Democrats capitalizing on rhetoric about protecting the most vulnerable. 

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who voted against the federal spending cuts, spoke to the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus over video conference Tuesday and quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“‘We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope,’” Thompson said. “So I urge each of you here today to listen closely, pay attention to what is being said, and find your place in the fight for change.”

The 58th Sanderson Farms Championship, the 13th and apparently final with America’s third largest poultry producer as a sponsor, tees off Thursday at 7 a.m at Country Club of Jackson.

Mississippi’s only PGA TOUR Tournament, which faces a cloudy future with no sponsor beyond this year and no assured dates from the tour next year, will feature a strong field of players, including an impressive list of golfers with Magnolia State ties.

With the golf world still buzzing over last weekend’s Ryder Cup matches, the Mississippi tournament will feature several players with Ryder Cup notoriety, including Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, a member of this years victorious European team, and his twin brother Nicolai, who played on the victorious European team in 2023. The twins are the first brothers to ever win back-to-back on the DP World Tour and the first identical twins ever to play in the Masters together. They will be joined by Italian Francisco Molinari, vice captain of the European team and  a three-time Ryder Cup standout, who in 2018 became the first European player in history to win all five of his matches.

Otherwise, six-time PGA TOUR winner Max Homa, the top U.S. points winner in the 2023 Ryder Cup with a 3-1-1 record, will play at CCJ, along with Brandt Snedeker, a U.S. assistant coach, and a nine-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

The field will include five of the top 50 players in the world golf rankings, including No. 34 Akshay Bhatia, the top ranked player in the field. Bhatia made his professional debut at CCJ in 2019 at the age of 17.

Defending champion Kevin Wu, who set a scoring record last year, returns, along with a strong contingent of Missisippians, including:

• Hattiesburg native Davis Riley, a two time PGA TOUR champion and winner of nearly $11 million in career earnings.
• Tupelo’s Hayden Buckley, who has won on both the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Canada.
• Fulton native and former Mississippi State golfer Chad Ramey, a winner on both the Korn Ferry and PGA tours.
• Former Ole Miss golfer Braden Thornberry, who won the 2017 NCAA Championship, and is a rookie on the PGA TOUR.
• Former Ole Miss golfer Jackson Suber, a tour rookie already with over $1 million in earnings and three top 10 finishes.
• Walnut native Kye Meeks, another former Ole Miss golfer and PGA TOUR rookie.
• Ole Miss golfer Michael LaSasso, the reigning NCAA Champion, who is making his sixth PGA TOUR start while still an amateur.

The Sanderson Farms Championship field includes 28 players who have won PGA TOUR tournaments over the past two years.

The Sanderson Farms/Lyle Machinery Pro Am will be played Wednesday beginning at 7 a.m.

Since 2013 when then-Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson saved the tournament, the event has raised nearly $19 million for Children’s of Mississippi and additional $2.75 million for various Mississippi charities.

Players will be competing for $6 million in prize money and a first prize of $1.08 million.

READ: Sanderson Farms Championship: If this is the last one, thanks for the memories

Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.

As a parent with two children in public schools, I attended the recent public hearing of the Select Legislative Committee on School Choice held at the state Capitol.

The meeting was standing room only as the committee heard testimony from researchers who were school choice advocates. I wanted to ask a rather simple question, how is “school choice” a real answer to what the proponents of school choice are saying is the problem they are trying to solve – too many (black and brown) students “trapped” in failing schools?

The presenters posited school choice, such as allowing parents to choose from a variety of educational options by making public tax dollars available to parents to fund their children’s education in any format or context the parents deem is best for their children, as a solution. In this perspective, where is the real solution for children and families in so-called “failing” schools? 

I am disheartened by the rhetoric around school choice in our state. The support for “school choice” has proven to be little more than an ages-old scheme from some political leaders in our state to funnel public money into private, segregated schools. I wonder if supporters really think that creating educational vouchers and tax credit schemes will really solve the challenge of children being taught in “failing” schools? What are the real choices parents have if their children are “trapped” in a “failing” school?

The presenters suggested that they could take the proposed voucher, which would be worth about $8,000, and hire a tutor or enroll their children in “micro-schools” where a small group of families contract with a teacher to teach children in small classes of five to 10 students

The presenters also suggested private tutors, homeschooling, or even using the voucher to pay full tuition and cost of attendance to a yet to be opened private school that would cater to the needs of these children and only charge about $8,000 per year. I cringe at thinking about the quality of education that could be offered by such a school.

Ultimately, the funding schemes proposed would siphon much needed tax dollars from our already underfunded public schools and into a variety of educational contexts (including private schools that have origins in our dark, segregationist past) with little to no accountability for how those dollars would be spent. 

Why would any citizen see this school funding system as a better way forward for our state? None of the alternatives suggested would make much practical sense for the families that are said to be targeted by these “reforms.”

Nor does there seem to be a real citizen demand for a “school choice” reform law that calls for tax dollars to be given directly to parents rather than schools that are proven to be making great gains in educating our children.

Are the public schools perfect? Of course not.

Reforms are needed to help families who are in communities where the schools are rated as “failing.” The most important reform being fully funding the schools in those communities, not subjecting them to less resources for the neediest children. 

One glaring reality that was not mentioned one time in the hearing was the impact that poverty has on schooling. What is seen mainly as a failing school cannot be divorced from the concentrated poverty that is evidenced in most of the communities in which failing schools are located.

Poverty’s impact of academic skill development in children is well documented but often overlooked in school policy debates. The assumption is that all children can learn if the schools “just did a better job” with the resources already given to them.

While teaching and learning can always improve, the biggest factor in the academic skill development of children is the social economic class of their family and community.

It is no coincidence that the highest rated schools in Mississippi are in the most affluent communities.This isn’t because they all have better teachers and leaders in schools, or innately “smarter” children, but because the children in these communities are advantaged by access to more resources such as healthcare, more community support, better educated parents and networks, and safe, more stable homes and communities. These social economic factors weigh heavily in the academic skill development of all children.

If a school is over-concentrated with children living in poverty, due mainly to residential segregation, it is much harder to provide children with the educational experiences and support they need to actualize their full potential. 

Yes, we all want every child to have access to the best education that works for them and helps them fulfill their dreams and potential. We can disagree on the ways to make this happen, but we cannot step backward as a state and allow for the most advantaged to gain even more resources at the expense of the least advantaged in our communities.

Public schools are a part of the commitment we make to provide all citizens with the tools they need to live the best life they can, with the responsibilities of freedom, as they pursue the happiness that makes life enjoyable. When we do this, we enhance the quality of life and affirm the humanity of everyone.

A “school choice” scheme that further divests in the humanity of some of our children is a pathway to an even more segmented society that history has taught us doesn’t help us grow as a state. 

Bio: Chauncey R. Spears is a veteran educator and community champion with two children in the public schools. He is the innovation hub manager at the Beloved Community Partnership with the International museum of Muslim Cultures. He previously worked for the Alluvial Collective and for the Mississippi Department of Education. He says he is a sucker for engaging conversations, Tennessee Titans football and a medium rare, char-grilled T-bone steak. 

The mother of Jaylen Lewis, killed by Capitol Police officers in 2022, is now suing them and others in federal court.

In March, a Hinds County grand jury indicted the then-officers Michael Lamar Rhinewalt and Steven Frederick Jr. on a manslaughter charge in the Sept. 25, 2022, death of the 25-year-old. Both were part of the crime suppression Flex Unit.

“Jaylen Lewis should be alive today,” said Bobby DiCello, a partner in the law firm DiCello Levitt, which is representing the Lewis family. “The actions of these officers were not just reckless — they were unconscionable and indefensible. Jaylen was a devoted father with his whole life ahead of him, and his family deserves justice. We are committed to fighting for accountability, transparency and meaningful reform, so that no other family in Jackson has to endure this kind of heartbreak.”

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for “the willful, reckless and malicious conduct of defendants.” The lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal argument, also seeks reforms “to ensure the Capitol Police adopt and enforce policies that prevent future tragedies,” DiCello said.

According to the indictment, Frederick and Rhinewalt said one of them shot Lewis because it “was necessary to protect himself from great bodily harm or death at the hands of Lewis,” but the indictment concluded that was “not a reasonable belief under the circumstances.”

The lawsuit also accuses the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Capitol Police, of permitting “officers who have engaged in excessive force or unreasonable violence toward citizens to avoid the consequences of discipline.”

Spokesperson Bailey C. Martin responded, “We have not yet had the opportunity to review the claims, and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety does not comment on pending litigation.”

An investigation by Mississippi Today has uncovered that Col. Steven Maxwell, then-director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, rejected hiring both officers, but Capitol Police, also part of the Department of Public Safety, hired them.

Rhinewalt and Frederick at the time of the fatal shooting were conducting a drug narcotics operation when they saw a white Jeep Cherokee turn north on West Street in Jackson driven by Lewis, who had a female passenger.

After the officers saw the Cherokee run a red light at Stonewall Street, they turned on their police lights and pulled Lewis over and blocked him from going forward with his car.

Lewis wound up reversing his car and bumping into the police cruiser behind his vehicle, according to the lawsuit. “Jaylen does not brandish a weapon, reach for a weapon, make any violent gestures, threaten anyone, or take any other actions that could be reasonably perceived as endangering officers or others.”

After this, Frederick and Rhinewalt opened fire into the Cherokee, shooting Lewis in the head and killing him, according to the lawsuit. 

As a result, his family has “endured pain, anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, feelings of powerlessness, harm to self-esteem, emotional distress, fear, anxiety, emotional agony, loss of support, loss of companionship, loss of sense of personal safety [and] dignity,” the lawsuit says.

The state Legislature expanded the jurisdiction of Capitol Police beyond the state Capitol in the city of Jackson. “The shift in jurisdiction drastically altered the role of Capitol Police from limited security to full-spectrum urban policing,” according to the lawsuit. “The expansion coincided with a surge in high-intensity encounters, including pursuits, officer-involved shootings, and use-of-force complaints.”

Within the first six months of the Capitol Police beginning to patrol the expanded area, officers shot at least four citizens. “In each case, there were questions about whether officers followed constitutional standards regarding lethal force and pursuit justification,” according to the lawsuit.

A month before Lewis was killed, Capitol Police officers opened fire on a car, striking a passenger in the head. That victim, Sherita Harris, was taken to the hospital where she had surgery to remove bullet fragments from her head. She survived but now has “permanent neurological and facial injuries,” according to the lawsuit.

A grand jury indicted Rhinewalt and another officer, Jeffrey Walker, for aggravated assault in that case. According to the lawsuit, no weapon was recovered from the car.

Walker also faces federal charges for allegedly violating the civil rights of a handcuffed man by slamming his head into the hood of a car and kicking him in the head and face in July 2022.

Frederick, the son-in-law of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, totaled his Capitol Police Ford F-150 on U.S. 49 South in Covington County on March 12, 2023. He flunked the DUI field test with a .15 score, nearly twice the legal limit of .08. He was handcuffed and arrested. He was released without bond into Bailey’s custody.

Five months later, Frederick dodged conviction when a state trooper failed to appear for the court hearing, and the judge dismissed the DUI charge.

State authorities have learned that a prosecutor, who wasn’t from Covington County, said Bailey called him and asked him what would happen if a trooper didn’t show up for a DUI hearing and the prosecutor replied that the case would be dismissed.

Bailey has denied these allegations. “Whoever said that I talked to a prosecutor is a liar,” he told WLBT. “That is a completely false lie.”

The sheriff admitted he spoke to the trooper, Clay Loftin, but denied trying to influence him. He said he spoke to Loftin a “handful” of times and told the trooper to “do his job.”

Authorities have also learned that after the wreck, Bailey reportedly telephoned Frederick’s supervisor at Capitol Police, Porfirio Grimaldo, telling him that he should keep Frederick on the force because “the DUI has been taken care of.” 

Contacted for comment, Grimaldo referred all questions to the lawyers for the Department of Public Safety. They wouldn’t comment on it, and neither would Bailey’s lawyer, Jason Dare.

The sheriff told WLBT, “I can swear on a stack of Bibles, I did not ask anyone for any help on that just because I knew the finger would be pointed at me because of that, and you know, let things take their course naturally. I hate that it happened to him (Frederick) because he is a good guy.”

Frederick resigned three days after the wreck “to prevent termination,” according to his certification records. He had worked for Capitol Police less than eight months and paid nothing toward the Ford F-150 he totaled.

A year and a half after Frederick demolished his Capitol Police truck, he wrecked another patrol vehicle, this time as a deputy for Scott County. The sheriff there has said Frederick no longer works there.

WASHINGTON — A majority of Mississippi’s congressional delegation had little say about the vast welfare scandal that rocked the state for years and led to multiple people pleading guilty to state and federal crimes.  

Mississippi Today recently interviewed members of the state’s congressional delegation in Washington and asked each of them whether they were satisfied with the Department of Justice investigation, which began during President Donald Trump’s first term and stretched at least into the Biden administration. Congress has oversight of the Justice Department and has the authority to request information about the agency’s investigations.  

Seven people have pleaded guilty to crimes within the welfare scandal that first came to light in 2020. Millions of taxpayer dollars meant to provide support to the poor in one of the country’s most impoverished states were diverted to the rich and powerful — including pro athletes.

READ MORE: Mississippi Today’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series ‘The Backchannel’

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Democratic President Joe Biden administration sent a penalty notice to Mississippi, determining the state must pay back nearly $101 million in welfare money it says officials misused. The state asked for an extension and has yet to make any repayment.

It’s unclear with a new Trump administration whether the investigation will ensnare more people or if the federal government will still force the state to repay the millions of dollars it believes were misused.

Prosecutors have suspended sentencing for the seven people until they decide they no longer need the defendants’ cooperation for potential cases against others. Federal authorities have been tight-lipped about the progress of their investigation or who else they might charge in the future.

Another person charged in connection with the scandal has been indicted on federal fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. 

Todd Gee, who was U.S. attorney for southern Mississippi during the Biden administration, resigned once Trump won reelection. Trump has appointed Baxter Kruger as the new federal prosecutor for the district, but the U.S. Senate has not yet confirmed him.

Five years after prosecutors indicted six people in connection with the scandal, and with a new federal prosecutor’s nomination pending, followers of the scandal continue awaiting a resolution — accountability for all perpetrators of the theft. Many are concerned a resolution may never come.

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican who represents northeast Mississippi, said he knew that some of the misspending involved an organization in his district, a reference to the Tupelo-based Family Resource Center. That nonprofit’s former director is one of the people who pleaded guilty to federal charges within the scheme. Kelly, a former district attorney, believes federal and state officials have dealt with the misspending. 

“I trust them to dig in,” Kelly said of the U.S. attorney’s office. “We’ve gone through multiple administrations with that. Hopefully, the people are going to be held accountable, or the money is returned if it was taken inappropriately. Or either people are validated in saying they didn’t do anything wrong.” 

U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell, a Republican who represents the Gulf Coast and south Mississippi, said he wondered how much political motives have influenced the trajectory of the investigation that has spanned Republican and Democratic administrations. The welfare scandal has at times sparked conflict between state officials, including Republican State Auditor Shad White and Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch, both of whom are seen as prospective candidates for governor in 2027.    

“That’s one of those things that just seems to, you sometimes wonder how much politics are involved in it,” Ezell said. “You know, the attorney general’s in on it, the auditor’s in on it. I know they’ve had some back and forth with each other about it, so I just kind of want to let them folks handle it themselves. But I will say, if anybody’s broken the law, if anybody’s intentionally stolen money, they need to be held accountable.” 

The welfare scandal and the issue at its core — the misspending of cash assistance provided through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — has remained a subject of concern in the state. Just last week, White’s office published a report alleging that a nonprofit that received over $2.4 million from the TANF program had fumbled its financial paperwork.     

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat in Washington who represents the Delta region and most of Jackson, was the only congressman from the delegation who said he was not satisfied with the Justice Department’s investigation and believes state officials should be held accountable for the misspending that occurred under their watch. 

“I think the state of Mississippi should be made and held accountable for its lack of management of those taxpayer dollars because the … intentions of Congress were not met by the expenditure of those funds,” Thompson said. 

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican who represents central Mississippi, said he had not been briefed on the investigation and referred questions to the Justice Department. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, similarly stated that he didn’t have enough information about the situation to comment on its status.

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is the only member of the state’s delegation who did not grant an interview to Mississippi Today in Washington or respond to a request for comment about the welfare scandal.

Since the scandal, the state has spent less TANF money for basic cash assistance to needy families. 

In 2023, the latest year for which federal data is available, the state spent about $4.3 million of its welfare funds on basic cash assistance – even less than the state spent during the height of the fraud scandal 2016-2019, when an average of around $8 million was going towards direct cash annually.

But that decline also predates the scandal.

The number of families, children and adults receiving basic cash assistance in Mississippi through the federal TANF program has consistently declined from around 25,000 people in 2010 to an all-time low of under 2,200 in 2023, ticking up slightly to 2,500 in the most recent available data. 

The Mississippi Department of Human Services has said that “a request for assistance in the State of Mississippi is a request for help in finding and keeping a job.” But in September 2024, the latest month available, only 310 adults were in the program. The vast majority of families on the program, or 1,143 out of 1,464, were “no parent” families, meaning they did not contain an adult participating in the TANF Work Program.

The state agency has paid nearly $2.1 million to Jones Walker, the law firm representing the state in its civil lawsuit aimed at recouping the misspent funds. Most of it has been categorized as spending under the state’s TANF Work Program since 2022. Though publicly visible work on the state’s civil case against numerous entities alleged to have misspent TANF dollars has slowed to a crawl since last year. Jones Walker has continued raking in funds, nearly $300,000 since the beginning of this year.

The state has spent roughly $100 million in TANF funds since the beginning of fiscal year 2024. 

Here are the complete responses from the congressional delegation when asked if they were satisfied with the investigation into the welfare scandal by the Department of Justice. 

Trent Kelly 

“It had very little impact on me, so I don’t know what’s done. I think a lot of that is for political posturing so to speak, people wanting to run for office. I trust the attorney general, I trust all those folks who were there, the governor, to get to the bottom of where they were.

“I know there were grants and things in my district that I think they addressed. I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. It’s not something I can impact. I’ve learned in life I impact things I can, and things that are outside of my purview I just don’t worry about a whole lot.”

“I trust them to dig in. We’ve gone through multiple administrations with that. Hopefully the people are going to be held accountable or the money is returned if it was taken inappropriately. Or either people are validated in saying they didn’t do anything wrong.” 

Bennie Thompson 

“Of course not. It’s, for all intents and purposes, I’m not aware that (the U.S. Attorney’s office is) doing anything at this point beyond those individuals who have pleaded guilty. And … of other ineligible individuals having received TANF money. I’m not aware of anything.

“I think the state of Mississippi should be made and held accountable for its lack of management of those taxpayer dollars because the people — that we did in Washington creating the TANF program – the intentions of Congress were not met by the expenditure of those funds.

“Now HHS obviously is derelict in its oversight responsibilities for the expenditure of those funds, also.” 

Michael Guest

“Neither I nor my office has been briefed on the federal investigation into this matter.

“I defer to the Department of Justice to answer any questions as to the status of the investigation and if any additional prosecutions may be forthcoming.”

Mike Ezell 

“That’s one of those things that just seems to, you sometimes wonder how much politics are involved in it. I really hadn’t put a lot of thought into that because, you know, my background being a law enforcement officer, I think if there was some cheating and there was some embezzling, if there was any sort of illegal activity, I’m sure that the auditor’s going to find it. And you know, those that need to be prosecuted, they’ll be prosecuted. You know, the attorney general’s in on it, the auditor’s in on it. I know they’ve had some back and forth with each other about it, so I just kind of want to let them folks handle it themselves. But I will say, if anybody’s broken the law, if anybody’s intentionally stolen money, they need to be held accountable.

“On issues with programs like TANF: When you set up a program, you’ve got to have checks and balances. And sometimes the big problem that I have seen in government is that we don’t have enough checks and balances to follow the money, to see where it’s going, to see that the people that need the money are getting the help that they need. And that that is one of one of the things that I have complained about over the years.”

Roger Wicker

“I really don’t know enough to comment on that.

“It’s not something that’s taking my time.” 

Cindy Hyde-Smith 

She did not sit down for an interview with Mississippi Today in Washington, and her office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Mississippi Today editor Anna Wolfe contributed to this report.

Mississippi Today, the state’s flagship nonprofit newsroom, has named veteran journalist Emily Wagster Pettus as its next editor-in-chief.

Pettus, one of the South’s most respected journalists, brings more than three decades of experience covering Mississippi to her new post. As Mississippi Today’s Senior Editor since May, she has helped shape the newsroom’s editorial direction, mentored its journalists and met with stakeholders across the state who believe in the power of strong local journalism.

Pettus succeeds Adam Ganucheau, who has moved into a regional leadership role as Executive Editor & Chief Content Officer of Deep South Today, Mississippi Today’s parent organization. The changes took effect Monday.

“It is thrilling that Emily gets to write Mississippi Today’s next chapter,” Ganucheau said. “She cares so deeply about our state and the Mississippians we serve, and she knows them so well. Her leadership has already proven vital to our newsroom’s incredible staff and our planning for what’s next. Mississippi Today’s future is, without any doubt, in such capable hands, and I can’t wait to see how the newsroom grows from here.”

READ MORE: Adam Ganucheau named Executive Editor & Chief Content Officer of Deep South Today

The dean of the Mississippi Capitol Press Corps, Pettus covered Mississippi for The Associated Press from 2001 until January 2025. She previously reported for The Clarion-Ledger, The Vicksburg Evening Post and The Oxford Eagle. She is a graduate of the University of Mississippi.

Her reporting has been widely praised for its fairness, accuracy and depth. In March, the Mississippi Legislature honored her with a resolution recognizing her contributions to journalism and public understanding. She is also a past recipient of the University of Mississippi’s prestigious Silver Em Award.

“Mississippi Today has a strong record of holding public officials accountable and shining light on complex issues that people in our state face on a daily basis,” Pettus said. “We will continue doing that with a newsroom full of smart, talented journalists who care deeply about this place.”

About Deep South Today

Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today, Verite News and The Current.

Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now the largest newsroom in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Verite News launched in 2022 in New Orleans, where it covers inequities facing communities of color. The Current is a nonprofit news organization founded in 2018 serving Lafayette and southern Louisiana.

With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded, and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.

Deep South Today, a growing nonprofit network of independent newsrooms in Louisiana and Mississippi, has named Adam Ganucheau as its first Executive Editor & Chief Content Officer.

Ganucheau has led Mississippi Today as Editor-in-Chief since April 2020 and began his new position on Monday. He steps into a regional leadership role overseeing Deep South Today’s editorial and content strategy across its growing network of nonprofit newsrooms. 

Working closely with Deep South Today President and CEO Warwick Sabin, Ganucheau will support the newsgathering efforts of Deep South Today’s existing outlets, provide essential direction for the launch of new newsrooms across the region and identify impactful editorial collaborations.

“As Deep South Today continues to expand its geographic reach and forge new partnerships, we need to ensure that we have a coherent content strategy and can provide editorial support to our newsrooms,” Sabin said. “Adam Ganucheau is the perfect person to provide that leadership as our first Executive Editor & Chief Content Officer. He has been enormously successful as the Editor-in-Chief of Mississippi Today, he knows our organization intimately and he has the respect of his colleagues and the national journalism community. I am looking forward to working even more closely with Adam as we build a sustainable model to deliver essential local news to the communities we serve across the Deep South.”

Ganucheau is succeeded at Mississippi Today by Emily Wagster Pettus, who has been the newsroom’s Senior Editor since May.

READ MORE: Emily Wagster Pettus named Editor-in-Chief of Mississippi Today

Under Ganucheau’s leadership, Mississippi Today grew into the largest newsroom in the state, earning a reputation for hard-hitting investigative reporting and developing innovative audio, video and community engagement initiatives.

Mississippi Today also was recognized with numerous national journalism awards under Ganucheau’s leadership. The newsroom won one Pulitzer Prize and was named a finalist for a second. It also won two Goldsmith Prizes, a Livingston Award, a Collier Prize and numerous Society of Professional Journalists regional awards. Many of the newsroom’s successes came in the face of one of the most aggressive and notable attacks on the free press in modern U.S. history, leading to Mississippi Today’s receipt of the National Press Club’s highest honor for press freedom.

“It has been the honor of my career to lead Mississippi Today’s newsroom through a period of remarkable growth and impact. I’m incredibly proud of the work our journalists do for Mississippians, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it,” Ganucheau said. “I’m energized by the opportunity to step into this new role at Deep South Today to expand the reach of our mission across the region and keep working hard to shore up a sustainable model for local news.”

About Deep South Today

Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today, Verite News, and The Current.

Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now the largest newsroom in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Verite News launched in 2022 in New Orleans, where it covers inequities facing communities of color. The Current is a nonprofit news organization founded in 2018 serving Lafayette and southern Louisiana.

With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded, and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.