When I was a kid, my mother had a poster of a mule straddled over a rail fence. The caption was “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” That pretty much sums up Governor Tate Reeves and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t believe me? Read the comments on his Facebook page, particularly during his daily press conferences. He’s in flag jail. There is a chunk of his base who are completely ticked off at with him because he signed the legislation retiring the 1890 flag. He’s working hard to throw red meat out there to try to win them back. But they are also mad about the mask mandates. So that’s one reason his polls are struggling. The other reason, on the opposite end of the spectrum, are the people who don’t think he is doing enough. They get mad when he says one thing (Wear a mask!) and then goes to political events without a mask.
Maybe a 1890 Confederate State flag will get some people’s attention and get him out of flag jail.
Longtime former state Rep. Steve Holland reads a passage from the Bible during floor debate on a Medicaid bill in February 2018. Holland, known for his fiery arguments, often prefaces them with Scripture.
It is not at all uncommon for Mississippi politicians to quote the Bible to bolster their arguments.
Still, it was a little unusual this week when an official with the American Conservative Union, perhaps the nation’s best known conservative advocacy group, and a Democratic state senator turned to the Bible to make their arguments during a legislative hearing regarding proposed bill that would decrease incarceration rates in Mississippi prisons. What made it even more unusual is that they were on the same side of the argument.
The issue of making changes to the criminal justice system to decrease incarceration rates has long been advocated by progressives. But in recent years, the issue has been embraced by many conservatives.
On Tuesday, David Safavian, general counsel for the American Conservative Union, traveled from his home in the Washington, D.C., area to Jackson in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to voice support for criminal justice legislation vetoed earlier this year by Gov. Tate Reeves. Safavian helps run the organization that hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, where all the nation’s top conservative politicians speak each year, and that actively supported Reeves last year in his gubernatorial campaign.
Safavian told the lawmakers he recently was sitting in church when he heard his pastor cite Matthew where Jesus was asked, “How many times must I forgive my brother? Seven?” Jesus responded, “No, 77 times.” Safavian said, “I think we know where Jesus would stand on a bill that writes people off and throws them away when they are capable of redemption.” He added his organization’s “conservative principles” contend that “the harm caused by a sentence should never be greater than the harm caused by the underlying crime. Yet that is exactly what Mississippi’s habitual offender law does.”
Still, Safavian conceded the issue of changing sentencing guidelines can be difficult and cause pain for victims’ rights groups and others. That is why many prosecutors and law enforcement oppose the legislation.
When Reeves vetoed the legislation, many argued the bill would allow those convicted to life sentence without parole and sex offenders to be eligible for parole to get out early. But during the hearing this week, both sides agreed that the bill would not do that.
But District Attorney Hal Kittrell of Columbia said the bill still makes those convicted of first and second degree murder, armed carjacking, armed robbery and burglary eligible for parole after serving 50% of their sentence. He said victims were told at sentencing that people convicted of those felonies would not be eligible for parole that early.
State Senate Corrections Chair Juan Barnett, D-Heidelberg, the author of the legislation, asked Kittrell if he was familiar with the book of Acts in the Bible and the Apostle Paul. Kittrell said of course he was.
Barnett then asked if Christ was willing to forgive Paul — a prosecutor of many Christians before his conversion — then why shouldn’t the state of Mississippi be willing to give a degree of leniency to inmates who were no longer deemed by the Parole Board to be a danger to society.
To that, Kittrell and others at the hearing argued too many ex-inmates are getting in trouble again after release and asked why they should be released early. But Barnett contended that not all were getting in trouble again and that some, if given the opportunity, become productive members of society.
Kittrell pointed out that the state garnered $40 million in savings from 2014 legislation that reduced some sentences and made it easier for non-violent offenders to get parole. Those savings, he pointed out, were supposed to go back into the Department of Corrections for programs to help rehabilitation efforts. He said that is not happening.
Barnett said he has not decided whether he will try to override Reeves’ veto if the Legislature, as expected, reconvenes in October. Most concede it would be difficult to garner the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto.
In the meantime, Barnett, House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, and House Correction Chair Kevin Horan, R-Grenada, who convened last week’s joint meeting, say if changes are not made to the prison system, the state could face major costs. The prison system is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department, and various lawsuits have been filed after violence and riots in the system in late December and early January. There have been more than 50 deaths in the system since December.
They cited neighboring Alabama having to spend more than $1 billion to address issues related to similar lawsuits and Justice Department investigation.
Those costs might be the point where biblical and fiscal issues intersect and could garner more support for legislation easing sentencing guidelines.
Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America
Mike Espy speaks to Millsaps College students during a town hall on November 15, 2018.
Galvanized by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the U.S. Senate’s role in replacing her, Democratic donors are giving in droves to Mike Espy, the Democrat challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in November.
Espy has raised nearly $200,000 since Ginsburg’s passing was announced on Friday evening, according to Espy campaign sources. That total — a single-day fundraising record for Espy this cycle — is close to one-third of what he raised from April to June.
While a fundraising advantage doesn’t translate to votes, an influx of cash 45 days from Election Day could loom large for Espy, who has acknowledged his need to reach more Mississippi voters during the COVID-19 pandemic and has largely been ignored by national Democrats.
“We know that the GOP Senate majority is very vulnerable,” Espy wrote in a Saturday morning fundraising email. “Mitch McConnell himself admitted he has a ’50-50′ chance. That’s why he announced his plans to ram through another Supreme Court Justice less than two hours after we learned our hero, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, had passed away.”
Hyde-Smith, meanwhile, has struggled raising cash this cycle. Among incumbent senators, Hyde-Smith has raised less than 96 incumbent senators, including Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, who doesn’t face another election until 2024. The three Senate incumbents who raised less than Hyde-Smith have announced they will not seek re-election.
Ginsburg’s death — and the debate over whether the Senate should confirm a President Donald Trump nomination to replace her before Election Day or before the new Senate is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2021 — brings into focus the importance of the U.S. Senate races this fall. Because senators must confirm a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court, Democrats across the nation are giving in record amounts to Democratic Senate campaigns.
ActBlue, a donation-processing site that helps Democratic candidates, committees and organizations raise money, reported nearly $57 million raised between the time Ginsburg’s death was announced and mid-afternoon on Saturday, crushing single-day records.
Many pundits believe the U.S. Senate, controlled by Republicans since 2016, could flip to Democratic control after the Nov. 3 election. And Trump, trailing in polls in key electoral college states, appears to be the underdog against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Republican leaders appear eager to use possibly their last few weeks in power to flip control of the Supreme Court. Ginsburg, only the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, became a political and cultural icon to the left, wielding an ardent defense of equal rights. Republicans being in position to fill her seat means that conservative-leaning justices could control the nation’s highest court, and Democrats fear key Supreme Court decisions like Roe v. Wade could be overturned.
Since Ginsburg’s death, Democrats have argued that a nomination to replace her on the court should wait until after a new president and new Senate are elected. Many Republicans, including Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have said that the current president and Senate should vote on a Trump nomination before the new Senate is sworn in.
“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices,” Trump wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. “We have this obligation, without delay!”
If four Republican senators and every Democratic senator choose not to confirm a Trump nominee to the court, the nomination would be blocked. By Saturday afternoon, at least one Republican senator, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said the president elected on Nov. 3 should get to nominate the next justice and that the Senate should not vote before then.
Neither Hyde-Smith nor Wicker responded to questions from Mississippi Today about whether they believe a Trump nominee should be confirmed by the Senate before new leaders take office. Espy has also not publicly commented on the matter.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gestures as the invited guests applaud while she gets seated at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, Tuesday, July 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at her home in Washington after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Ginsburg, 87, a champion for women’s rights, was the second woman to serve on the nation’s high court.
Her death poses what promises to be a heated, partisan political battle over whether incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and the GOP-led Senate should quickly confirm a replacement, or wait until after the national election in six weeks. Mississippi’s two GOP senators will be part of that debate.
Here are reactions from Mississippi leaders on the vaunted justice’s death:
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker: “I was sad to learn of Justice Ginsburg’s passing. Her sharp intellect and passion for equality left a significant impact on the court and made her an icon for millions of Americans. I have disagreed with many of Justice Ginsburg’s opinions, but I never questioned her sincerity or motivations. In fact, her close friendship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia is a powerful example of how we can all work with and respect others. Gayle and I send our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and many admirers around the country.”
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith: “Justice Ginsburg devoted her life to the law, becoming a respected and influential woman in our time. May she rest in peace.”
Mike Espy, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate: “Mike Espy and the Espy for Senate campaign are saddened by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the most revered legal minds in this country. The second woman to ever sit on the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Ginsburg was a legend and will take her place among the great justices in American history. Battling her health for years, Justice Ginsburg put her duty to this country and the law before everything else. She was a legal trailblazer, standing up for the less fortunate to ensure protections for gender equality, voting rights, civil rights, and health care. Justice Ginsburg will forever leave her mark on this country and on the lives of Americans.”
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson: “Rest In Peace to one of the greatest legal minds and jurists in American history. My prayers are with her family and loved ones.”
This article will be updated as additional statements are released.
Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America
“I voted” stickers are in place for voters inside of Twin Lakes Baptist Church in Madison, Miss., Tuesday, November 5, 2019.
A pre-existing health condition that places a person at a greater risk from COVID-19 does not necessarily mean the person can vote early, the Mississippi Supreme Court said in a ruling handed down Friday afternoon.
The state’s highest court said Hinds County Chancery Judge Denise Owens erred in a ruling earlier this month when she wrote current state law “permits any voter with pre-existing conditions that cause COVID-19 to present a greater risk of severe illness or death to vote by absentee ballot during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Justice Dawn Beam, writing for the majority, said current law, as amended earlier this year by the state Legislature, requires a person to be directed to be quarantined by a physician in order to vote early.
“Having a pre-existing condition that puts a voter at a higher risk does not automatically create a temporary disability for absentee-voting purposes,” she wrote.
The Mississippi Center for Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf a group of state voters, had filed a lawsuit attempting to garner the most expansive interpretation of the state law as possible to ensure people can vote early during the pandemic. Secretary of State Michael Watson, who appealed Owens’ ruling, conceded that the four individuals filing the lawsuit, based on their pre-existing conditions, should be allowed to vote early.
The Supreme Court ruling could place an additional onus on local circuit clerks to make decisions — based on their interpretation of the ruling — on who can can vote early.
Rob McDuff with the Mississippi Center for Justice said the ruling was still a victory for those with susceptible to the coronavirus because of pre-existing conditions.
“In filings before the Supreme Court, the secretary of state acknowledged that people with pre-existing conditions that meet the definition of ‘physical disability,’ and that increase the risk of severe consequences from COVID-19 can vote absentee, including four of the plaintiffs whose conditions include kidney disease, lupus, diabetes and severe asthma,” McDuff said. “The Mississippi Supreme Court never repudiated that statement by the secretary… The secretary stated that such conditions do allow absentee voting if they, like the conditions of the four plaintiffs, meet the dictionary definition of a ‘disability.’”
In a statement, the Center for Justice and ACLU said, “We hope the Legislature will go back into session and take action to protect vulnerable people during this public health crisis. Even if the legislators are concerned about mail-in voting, they could expand in-person absentee voting or allow early in-person voting during the pandemic and provide for counties to hold Saturday outdoor sessions during October so people can vote in an outdoor setting where COVID-19 is not so easily transferred.”
Mississippi is among a handful of states not allowing most people to vote early this year either by mail or in person to avoid large crowds during the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, most states allowed early voting, both by mail and in-person. But in Mississippi, early voting in allowed only for people age 65 and older, those away from home on Election Day, and those whose have a disability.
Another lawsuit, filed in federal court by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Southern Poverty Law Center and private attorneys on behalf of state residents and organizations, is claiming the state’s absentee voting rules are unconstitutional because they could jeopardize the health of citizens trying to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The groups filing that lawsuit also are asking that provisions in state law be thrown out requiring the application for an absentee ballot and the ballot itself to be notarized. Mississippi is the only state in the nation to require both documents to be notarized, state Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, has said in the past.
Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America
Cindy Hyde-Smith smiles after winning the Senate runoff election against Mike Espy Nov. 27, 2018.
After a rare, brief public appearance on Friday, incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith quickly ducked out, refusing to answer questions about her campaign or any other matters.
With less than a month-and-a-half left before Election Day, Hyde-Smith has done little campaigning or advertising, provided virtually no public access in-person or online, and has so far refused invitations to debates or forums with her opponent, Democratic former Congressman Mike Espy.
Hyde-Smith on Friday afternoon appeared briefly at a press conference with Gov. Tate Reeves and state Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson. The three briefly discussed the years-long push for a Yazoo Backwater pumping project to alleviate chronic flooding that has devastated the Mississippi Delta.
The incumbent senator took no questions at the press conference. Afterward, when she was asked by a Mississippi Today reporter if she would answer few questions about campaign, she did not acknowledge the reporter. An aide told the reporter she had another appointment to make.
With an apparent lead in polls, Hyde-Smith’s campaign has laid low, and she has so far done little public campaigning in person or virtually amid the pandemic. A campaign spokesman recently said she has focused more on her job as U.S. senator, but that she has done some virtual campaigning and fundraising online.
Most incumbent U.S. senators facing major party challengers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have attended in-person events in their home states.
Espy has made numerous in-person and online public events, has purchased statewide airtime with two television ads and his camp has criticized Hyde-Smith’s lack of visibility and availability to voters and refusal thus far to debate.
Politicos have surmised that Hyde-Smith, prone to gaffes in the past in open public or media appearances, is hoping to ride her apparent lead and support in deep-red Mississippi for President Donald Trump and avoid voter scrutiny or media questions.
Reeves on Friday announced that the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has completed an assessment of the impact of flooding in late 2018 through mid-2019 and that he presented that information this week to the Army Corps of Engineers.
The long-pushed pumps project must have federal approval, which it has failed to garner in the past. Hyde-Smith, Reeves and Gipson expressed optimism that the project will move forward, and thanked each other for their continued efforts to move the project forward.
“Over half a million acres was under water for six months, and almost 700 homes were destroyed or damaged,” Hyde-Smith said. The MEMA report also documented flooding of 548,000 acres, of which 231,000 were prime croplands — a devastating blow to the state’s crucial agriculture industry.
All eight presidents of Mississippi’s public universities presented COVID-19 updates to the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning on Thursday.
Since the pandemic began, this is the first known public update the IHL board has received about universities back to school plans or feedback on how those plans are playing out. Before the presidents’ update, the IHL board held their regularly scheduled meeting, which lasted approximately 16 minutes and did not address any COVID-19 concerns.
Though seven out of eight colleges have dashboards on their websites tracking COVID-19 infection numbers, those numbers are difficult to gauge system wide because there is not a standard protocol across the IHL system for how to display those numbers. This means that every university is storing and displaying that differently, which includes making different decisions about which metrics are or aren’t important.
During the Thursday meeting, all presidents reported on cumulative totals of active cases as well what percentage of their student body and staff have been infected with the coronavirus. Some did that based on the past two weeks, some did that based on the past month when the semester began. All colleges started class on Aug. 17, except for the University of Mississippi which began Aug. 24. The presidents also reported how much quarantine space they have and if any of their students or staff have been hospitalized as a result of getting the coronavirus.
None mentioned positivity rate — the percent of all those tested whose tests came back positive — which has been deemed by health experts as one of the most telling benchmarks for gauging how well the coronavirus is being contained.
Since classes began, a cumulative total of 1,400 students, faculty, and staff have been infected with the coronavirus. The presidents’ updates are as follows:
Felicia Nave, Alcorn State University
Fall 2020 began on August 17 in an entirely virtual format until Sept. 9, “at which time we introduced modified, in class instructions,” Nave said.
Approximately 70% of classes have face-to-face components and 30% of classes are entirely online.
There is currently one active student case and zero active employee cases; less than 1% of the student body has tested positive since the start of the semester.
Alcorn has set aside 23 quarantine spaces total (13 on the main campus and 10 in Natchez) and of those 23, 21 are currently available.
“Since the start of the semester, we are not aware of any employees who have been hospitalized because of COVID-19,” Navi said.
Bill LaForge, Delta State University
Approximately 65% of courses are offered in a hybrid and face-to-face method with about 35% being offered online. “We also allow faculty and students to elect to take all of their courses or teach all of their courses online if they have any concerns or fears about being present on campus during the pandemic,” LaForge said.
In the last 14 days, there have been a total of 12 students and 3 employees who tested positive for COVID-19.
The percentage of students and employees who have tested positive since Aug. 17 are 3.37 %of students and .85 % of employees.
DSU has 23 designated, separated apartments on campus for quarantine. Twenty are available today and three are in use. They also have 11 hotel rooms off campus for quarantine use.
No DSU students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Thomas Hudson, Jackson State University
Approximately 80% of classes are offered online.
Currently there two active employee cases and three student cases. “Less than 1% of our students and employees have tested positive since the beginning of the semester,” Hudson said.
Six students and three employees have tested positive since the beginning of the semester.
There are 86 spaces available on campus for quarantine.
No JSU students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Mark Keenum, Mississippi State University
Seventy percent of classes “are in some form of an in person component,” Keenum said.
Over the past 14 days, there have been 80 students who have tested positive.
“That’s a very positive trend that we’re experiencing over the last two weeks. If you look at the fact that over the last two weeks we’ve seen the number of students who tested positive has declined by 68 percent is extremely positive for us,” Keenum said.
There have been five employees who have tested positive over the past two weeks.
So far, 1.8% of our students have tested positive since the start of the school year. Less than .002% of employees have tested positive since the start of the school year.
MSU has an arrangement with a hotel where there are 238 quarantine rooms that can be used for students. To date, 34 students are in quarantine, leaving a total of 204 quarantine rooms available.
No known MSU students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Nora Miller, Mississippi University for Women
“We tried to de-densify the campus as much as possible so we’ve moved many many courses online and virtual. Over 75% of our classes are virtual,” Miller said.
In the last 14 days, there have been four students test positive and one employee, which is less than one percent of the student and employee population.
There are currently 31 spaces available for quarantine or isolation.
No known MUW students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Jerryl Briggs, Mississippi Valley State University
“We started Aug 17. 100 % online but since then we’ve evolved to about 30 %of our classes being face to face. From what I’ve heard, our students are appreciative and really are enjoying being in the classroom environment again,” Briggs said.
There are currently one student and one employee active cases, which represents less that 1%of students and employees.
MSVU started with 54 spaces for quarantining and 52 are currently available.
No known MSVU students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Glenn Boyce, University of Mississippi
Since classes began on Aug. 24, 2.5 percent of the total university population has tested positive.
“In the last 14 days, we’ve had 177 students that have tested positive. However the current decline is 60 percent for the last seven days,” Boyce said.
There are currently 62 active cases on UM campus.
UM has had a total of 15 employees who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Both of these obviously are less than one percent of our population in those areas,” Boyce said.
Boyce said 89.5% of on campus isolation space is available, which is reserved for people who have tested positive for Covid-19. There is 43% of quarantine space available, which is reserved for people who aren’t showing symptoms but who have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive.
No known UM students or employees have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 since classes began.
Added context from Mississippi Today: As of Sept. 18, Oxford is the fifth highest metro area in the country for greatest number of new cases relative to its population in the past two weeks, according to The New York Times.
Rodney Bennett, University of Southern Mississippi
Over the past 14 days, USM has had 53 students and 1 employee test positive for COVID-19.
Our overall positive rate since the beginning of the semester is less than 1% for the student body. The actual percentage is .6% for students and .3% for employees.
Currently have 146 beds available on campus for quarantine.
One USM employee has been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19.
