OurTupelo

The post Marshall Ramsey: Lagging Indicator appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In the popular 1970s children’s book, Alexander had a “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” where nothing went right. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves had such a day, or at least such an interview, Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper.

Reeves appeared astonishingly unprepared for Tapper’s questions about Mississippi’s highest in the nation — and second highest in the world, behind Peru — rate of COVID-19 deaths.

In quick encapsulation: When asked what he might do to address one in 320 Mississippians dying from the pandemic, Reeves said he’ll sue President Biden to stop vaccine mandates and offered some strange what-about-isms about how people, including Democrats, will probably soon be dropping like flies in other states and countries.

He also coldly referred, numerous times, to thousands of dead Mississippians being a statistical “lagging indicator.”

Reeves said “timing … has as much to do with that (deaths) statistic that you used as anything else …”

Timing? Perhaps he believes that COVID-19 is intentionally trying to make him look bad with its timing on when it kills people?

Reeves uttered some nonsensical gibberish about how Congress should be part time like the Mississippi Legislature, apropos of … who knows? He appeared at one point to begin to say that vaccination is the best way to defeat the virus. But he quickly caught himself and, as he has many times past, he equivocated on this about personal choice and individual freedom. He could only muster that people should “talk to their doctor about potentially getting the vaccine.”

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves downplays Mississippi’s highest-in-nation COVID death rate

His performance was not well received, at home or abroad.

A Washington Post opinion piece titled “Tate Reeves and the high cost of covid incompetence” said Reeves is in the running for “the poster child for irresponsible leadership” after his “disastrous appearance” on CNN. Numerous other national outlets published similar critiques.

“Yes, deaths are a lagging indicator,” the Post piece noted, “but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.”

If, as some state politicos have surmised, Reeves has national — perhaps presidential — aspirations, his performance on CNN did not make him look ready for prime time.

Tapper set up the Reeves interview with a clip of President Joe Biden responding to Reeves’ recent comments accusing him of “tyranny” over his push to have OSHA mandate large businesses require employees to be vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly.

Biden responded that Mississippi, which has one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates for school children, requires children be vaccinated for numerous diseases.

Reeves responded to Tapper by arguing that the Legislature enacted the state’s vaccine laws and, “It’s unique to kids … It’s not vaccines mandated in the workplace,” which he called “an attack by the president on hardworking Americans and hardworking Mississippians.”

Reeves said, “The question here is not about what we do in Mississippi.”

Indeed, Reeves appeared most uncomfortable being questioned about what’s being done — or not being done — in the state he leads.

“Jake, as I mentioned earlier, deaths, unfortunately, are a lagging indicator,” Reeves said, as he sidestepped questions about what he’s doing to change the virus trajectory in Mississippi. “Our total number of cases went from 100 to 3,600 and, over the last two weeks has declined. They have been cut in half, from 3,600 to 1,800 … You wanted to talk about our number of cases. And then you want to talk about our hospitalizations. Now you want to talk about a lagging indicator, which is sad.”

Tapper responded: “I’m trying to talk about the dead in Mississippi, is what I’m trying to talk about.”

READ MORE: Mississippi procrastinates as other states plan for, spend billions in pandemic stimulus

The post Tate Reeves and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad CNN interview appeared first on Mississippi Today.

All employees in the Jackson Public School District are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing after the Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new policy at its meeting Tuesday night.

Employees have until Oct. 1 to be fully vaccinated.

The policy also says that if a fully vaccinated employee contracts COVID-19 that person will be entitled to paid leave. However, unvaccinated employees will not receive that benefit, unless they are legally exempt because of a medical issue or sincerely held religious belief, per federal law.

“As a result of the aggressive delta variant and recent data on its impact on children, specifically those pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, the administration is compelled to introduce this policy,” Superintendent Errick Greene told board members. “We the administration and the JPS community endeavor to keep the health and safety of our scholars a priority.”

Employees will also be required to show proof of vaccination, said Greene.

The district will cover the costs of testing for unvaccinated teachers and staff, spokesperson Sherwin Johnson said.

Board members thanked Greene and the district for moving quickly on the policy.

“I am very proud and glad to see the urgency with which the district has pursued this policy and is bringing it before the board,” said Robert Luckett. “The bottom line is the safety of our students, scholars and entire community is of fundamental importance to the work we do. I believe this is an absolutely necessary step.”

The move follows on the heels of Natchez-Adams School District, which adopted a similar policy last month. Natchez-Adams’ policy also includes incentives for staff and teachers to get vaccinated. For those who don’t, they must submit to testing twice a week.

It is unclear if any other districts have adopted similar vaccine requirements.

Some school districts also recently indicated plans to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to incentivize teachers and staff to get vaccinated. Several are offering payments of as much as $1,000 for those who get the shots but stopping short of passing any requirements.

The newly approved policy is not yet posted on the Jackson Public School District’s website.

The post Jackson Public School District mandates COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing for staff, teachers appeared first on Mississippi Today.

This photo gallery is part of our new initiative, MT Listens. Learn more about the project here or be part of it by taking our survey.

Take a virtual stroll through New Albany, a historic Mississippi community, through the lens of Mississippi Today photojournalist Vickie King.

New Albany is just one of five communities our newsroom is focusing on for our community listening project, MT Listens. The others are Canton, Yazoo City, Forest and Moss Point.

Be part of this project.

If you live in Canton, Yazoo City, Forest, Moss Point or New Albany, please take a minute to fill out the below survey, or share it with someone you know.

The post Photo gallery: New Albany, where it’s ‘quiet, peaceful and pretty’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Justin Matheny, the state attorney representing Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, argued in federal court on Wednesday that a provision of the state Constitution adopted in 1890 designed to prevent African Americans from voting should be upheld.

During oral arguments on Wednesday before the full panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Matheny said that the constitutional provision disenfranchising people convicted of certain felonies is, in fact, constitutional.

Mississippi denies a higher percentage of its residents the right to vote because of felony convictions than any state in the country. In Mississippi, 235,150 people — or 10.6% of the state’s voting age population — have lost their right to vote, according to The Sentencing Project. Under the same restrictions, 130,500 Black Mississippians — or 16% of that voting age population — cannot vote. Since 2016, Mississippi has moved from second to first highest percentage in the nation.

Mississippi is in the minority of states — less than 10 — where voting rights are not automatically restored for people convicted of felonies either after they complete their sentence or at some point after completing parole or probation. 

The lawsuit before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals this week was filed in 2017 on behalf of Roy Harness, who was convicted of forgery in 1986 and recently received his bachelor’s degree in social work from Jackson State University. Harness lost his right to vote because of his conviction and is challenging the constitutionality of the state disenfranchisement provision. Other Mississippi plaintiffs, such as Kamal Karriem, who have lost their voting rights, also are included in the lawsuit.

READ MORE: Not all ex-felons are barred from voting in Mississippi, but no one is telling them that.

In federal court on Wednesday, Matheny’s main defense of the provision was based on two occasions the Legislature offered proposals to the voters to change those provisions of the Constitution. In 1950, the Legislature proposed, and voters approved, removing burglary from the list of disenfranchising crimes. And in 1968, murder and rape were added to the list of disenfranchising crimes.

But Donald B. Verrilli, former solicitor general in the Barack Obama administration arguing on behalf of the plaintiffs, argued that voters never had the opportunity to vote up or down on the eight specific crimes that state leaders said were made disenfranchising because of their belief that the crimes were more likely to be committed by African Americans.

The crimes were placed in the Constitution with racist intent, making the provision “unconstitutional and therefore invalid from the moment it was adopted,” Verrilli said.

He pointed out that if Mississippians had voted down the language in 1950 removing burglary from the list or the 1968 amendment adding rape and murder, the original crimes still would be enforced.

Still, some judges on the conservative-leaning court argued that because the Legislature did act on those occasions, that may be reason enough to take away the “racist taint” and leave the original disenfranchising crimes in the Constitution.

But upon questioning by other judges, Matheny conceded that no matter how Mississippians voted in 1950 and 1968, those original crimes still would be in the Constitution and people convicted of them would face a lifetime ban on voting.

Besides being in the Constitution, Matheny argued the Legislature in later years did place those original disenfranchising crimes in general law. The action on the Legislature to place the crimes in general law in later years removed racist motivation from the 1890 action, he said.

It was pointed out to Matheny by members of the court that the original state Constitution had a provision preventing African Americans from owning guns, which is clearly unconstitutional. He was asked whether it would be constitutional if such language was in in general law instead of the state Constitution.

“Perhaps not in that hypothetical,” Matheny said.

Matheny also was asked why other crimes viewed by the Legislature as more serious because they carried longer sentences — such as certain child exploitation offenses or kidnapping and drive-by shootings — were not made disenfranchising, but lesser crimes, such a bigamy and forgery, were.

Those crimes placed in the Constitution where conviction would cost a person the right to vote were bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, bigamy and burglary.

Under the original language of the Constitution, a person could be convicted of cattle rustling and lose the right to vote, but those convicted of murder or rape still would be able to vote — even while incarcerated.

In 1968, the crimes of murder and rape were added as disenfranchising crimes. But even today, a person could be convicted of writing a bad check and lose the right to vote, but be a major drug kingpin locked up in prison and still vote. The lawsuit does not seek to overturn the voting ban for those convicted of murder or rape.

Under the Mississippi Constitution, a person who loses his voting rights because of a felony conviction cannot have the rights restored without a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature or by a gubernatorial pardon. The Legislature — and most governors — has been extremely reluctant to restore those rights.

READ MORE: Mississippi Senate killed 19 House bills to restore voting rights

Both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Mississippi Center for Justice filed separate lawsuits challenging Mississippi’s felony voting restrictions. Earlier this year a three judge panel of the 5th Circuit rejected the arguments of the lawsuits against the state. But the case was revived when the full panel agreed to hear it.

The case was argued Wednesday via video conference. It is not clear when the court will rule on the case.

The post Attorney general argues in federal court that Jim Crow-era voting ban should be upheld appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rick Cleveland was present for Greenville Christian’s thrilling 48-41 victory over powerhouse Oak Grove and says it was no fluke. Plus, the Cleveland boys discuss the weekend in Mississippi college football – the Ole Miss run-away and the Mississippi State take-away – and what’s coming up next.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: Greenville Christian proves to all it’s legit appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: The Lifeguard appeared first on Mississippi Today.

We want to know more about educators’ experiences with helping students get to graduation. Please take a moment to fill out the brief survey below.

Your name or any identifying information you submit will not be used without your consent.

The post Reader survey: Dropout prevention in schools appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The full U.S. 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday morning from its federal courthouse in New Orleans on whether Mississippi’s lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of certain felonies is constitutional.

A ruling by the federal panel overturning the Jim Crow-era provisions of the state Constitution could restore the voting rights to tens of thousands of Mississippians “who’ve been locked out of the democratic process for life even after completing their criminal sentences and returning to their communities,” said Kevin Pallasch of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Both the SPLC and the Mississippi Center for Justice filed separate lawsuits challenging Mississippi’s felony voting restrictions, which were placed in the state’s 1890s’ Constitution to try to disenfranchise African Americans, writers of the Constitution said at the time.

Earlier this year a three judge panel of the 5^th Circuit rejected the arguments of the consolidated lawsuits against the state. But the case was revived when the full panel agreed to hear it.

In the 1890s, the Mississippi Supreme Court said the disfranchisement of felons was placed in the Constitution “to obstruct the exercise of the franchise by the negro race” by targeting “the offenses to which its weaker members were prone.” Rob McDuff, an attorney with the Center for Justice, said the provision’s intent was the same as the poll tax, the literacy test and other Jim Crow-era provisions that sought to prevent African Americans from voting.

Those crimes placed in the Constitution where conviction would cost a person the right to vote were bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, bigamy and burglary. Those were crimes that the 1890 framers believed African Americans were more likely to commit.

Under the original language of the Constitution, a person could be convicted of cattle rustling and lose the right to vote, but those convicted of murder or rape and still be able to vote — even while incarcerated.

In 1968, the crimes of murder and rape were added as disenfranchising crimes. But even today, a person could be convicted of writing a bad check and lose the right to vote, but be a major drug kingpin locked up in prison and still vote. The lawsuit does not seek to overturn the voting ban for those convicted of murder or rape.

Under the Mississippi Constitution, a person who loses his voting rights because of a felony conviction cannot have them restored without a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature or by a gubernatorial pardon. The Legislature has been reluctant to restore those rights.

It is not clear when the full panel will rule after the oral arguments.

The case against the state will be argued by former U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli.

The post 5th Circuit to hear arguments on state’s felony voting ban appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Democrats in the U.S. Congress are considering a way to offer health care insurance for low income Mississippians who have been denied coverage because of the refusal of the state’s political leadership to expand Medicaid.

The proposal would provide health care coverage to people who are below the federal poverty level (an individual making $12,880 per year or less) in the 12 primarily Southern states — including Mississippi — that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Two million Americans could access health care coverage through the plan, with the bulk of those being in Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, according to an analysis by Judith Solomon, a health policy analyst with the Washington-based Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

In Mississippi, studies have estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 primarily working Mississippians could qualify for coverage if the state would expand Medicaid.

“The problem is the 12 states that refuse to expand despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of expansion of coverage to people, state budgets and health care providers,” Solomon said. “Given it’s been seven years since expansion took effect and huge financial incentives in the American Rescue Plan Act haven’t moved any states into the expansion column, this is the only way to get coverage to those who have been left out.”

The congressional proposal is being considered as part of the budget reconciliation bill that Congress is currently negotiating. The initial budget plan was $3.5 trillion, which was met with intense pushback by Republicans and moderate Democrats.

The proposal is tied up in political negotiations, and it’s possible it will not make the final bill. Southern Democrats, in particular, are lobbying their party’s leadership for the workaround to Medicaid expansion in the 12 non-expansion states. But some Democrats in states that have already expanded Medicaid are arguing that if concessions must be made in the final budget bill, they would prefer to focus on other aspects of the sweeping bill — namely providing free dental, vision and hearing coverage to seniors across income levels.

Health care is a chief policy platform of Democrats across the nation, and considering how best to move forward on providing coverage to more Americans is at the forefront of the debate. But because most of the 12 states are controlled by Republicans, and Democrats typically lose elections in those states, there is tension within the party ranks about whether the Medicaid expansion workaround is politically advantageous.

If Mississippi were to expand Medicaid under current law, the federal government would pay 90% of the health care costs with the state paying the remainder. Gov. Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip Gunn and others have argued Mississippi cannot afford the costs of expanding Medicaid, though multiple studies — including one last week from the Mississippi state economist — have found that the expansion with the infusion of billions of dollars in federal funds would actually increase state revenue collections.

READ MORE: State economist refutes politicians’ claim that Mississippi cannot afford Medicaid expansion

Under the proposal being considered by federal lawmakers, Mississippi would not be required to provide any matching funds.

“I imagine if there was any program like that, the governor and attorney general (Lynn Fitch) would sue to try to keep us from getting the money,” surmised Senate Public Health Committee Chair Hob Bryan, D-Amory, who has been a proponent of Medicaid expansion.

The federal American Rescue Plan, passed earlier this year as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, provides additional incentive for Mississippi to expand Medicaid, offering more than $600 million over a two-year period. The other non-expansion states received similar incentives as part of the American Rescue Plan. Presumably, because the 12 states refused to take advantage of those incentives, congressional leadership is developing the workaround to provide coverages to the uninsured in those states.

As the proposal is currently written, people who earn under the federal poverty line could obtain insurance on the Healthcare Marketplace. People, based on their income level, receive federal subsides to help pay for their marketplace policies.

Under current law, people who earn below the federal poverty level do not qualify for marketplace policies.

Also under the proposal, those falling below the federal poverty level could obtain the insurance on the marketplace at no cost to them. And then in 2025, the people would transition to a Medicaid program run solely by the federal government.

If passed, states currently in the Medicaid expansion program could opt out of their current program and rely on the solely federal program, but they would have to provide a payment to the federal government.

“I hope the expansion states that have embraced expansion and seen its benefits will understand that this is critical to do,” Solomon said.

READ MORE: Mississippi chamber of commerce mulling Medicaid expansion

The post Congress considers Medicaid expansion workaround to provide health care to poor Mississippians appeared first on Mississippi Today.