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Republican Gov. Tate Reeves ignored intense pressure and announced recently he was canceling an upcoming legislative special session where it was speculated that he would try to redraw Mississippi’s four congressional districts with the intent of eliminating a majority-Black district held by longtime Rep. Bennie Thompson.

The governor’s decision must have been gut-wrenching considering his allegiance to President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring states to redraw political maps to create more Republican districts before the November midterm elections. But Reeves’ decision should not be surprising when considering the unique challenges in redrawing the Mississippi districts.

Challenges of redrawing maps

Perhaps the overarching challenge is that Black Mississippians vote Democratic while white Mississippians vote Republican at a higher rate than in any other state.

The state also has the highest percentage of Black residents at about 38%.

As Reeves and others in Mississippi’s Republican political leadership contemplated redrawing district lines before the November midterm elections to eliminate the state’s only Black congressional district while creating another Republican district, they had to realize that Black voters still had to go somewhere if they were unpacked from the majority-Black 2nd District.

Many people believe Mississippi does not have to have a majority-Black district because of the recent controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The ruling potentially gutted the Voting Rights Act by overturning decades of established law mandating minority districts when feasible. It also ignored the heroic history of people who died to obtain voting rights for minorities.

Indeed, Reeves has said that he still wants the Legislature to redraw Mississippi’s four U.S. House districts at some point with the intent of eliminating the majority-Black district Thompson has represented since 1993. But the same issues will remain whenever that redistricting effort is mounted — perhaps later this year but more likely in 2027 for the 2028 federal elections..

Perhaps there are smart mathematicians/mapmakers who can draw four sure-fire Republican congressional districts in the state, but it might not be as easy as some people believe it will be.

Remember, the one-person, one-vote rule still applies, meaning the districts have to be nearly identical in population.

If there is no majority-Black district, it is likely that one or maybe two of the new districts will have a Black population of more than 40%, making the districts at least purple or competitive and perhaps a little blueish or Democratic-leaning. In a year where the approval rating of Trump is low even in deep red Mississippi, creating potential competitive districts had to be a little scary for Republicans.

Would redrawing of the lines this year hand Mississippi Democrats two U.S. House members instead of the one they have now? Maybe Reeves considered that when he opted not to call the congressional redistricting special session.

The bottom line is that under the current district alignment, Mississippi’s three Republican U.S. House members represent districts that are safe for the GOP and, not surprisingly, they want to keep them that way.

Past redistricting efforts

In 2022 when the Mississippi Legislature was redrawing the congressional districts after the 2020 Census, Thompson requested all of Hinds County and south Madison County be moved from the 3rd District represented by Republican Michael Guest to his 2nd District. The move would have made the 2nd District more compact, and by the way, less Black.

Instead of placing the Jackson metro area in the 2nd District as requested by Thompson, the Republican-controlled Legislature opted to extend his district nearly the entire length of the western side of the state along the Mississippi River.

It was no secret that while Thompson was eyeing a more compact district, he and others also were proposing a map where a Democrat would have a better chance in Guest’s 3rd District.

Even if the affluent white voters in south Madison County were included in Thompson’s district, he concluded there still would be enough Black voters to ensure victory for him and future Democrats while making the Republican 3rd District at least a little more competitive. Republicans also understood that fact.

Redistricting is like putting together a puzzle with complex rules.

That redistricting puzzle was complicated more by the fact Mississippi primary elections already have occurred this year. If the state were redistricted now, those elections would have to be invalidated.

It has gone against all norms for so many states to undertake mid-decade redistricting. Normally, the process occurs after the decennial census, but Trump, fearing he will lose Congress this November, has urged states to act this year to create more Republican districts. The U.S. Supreme Court, as it is wont to do, aided Trump’s effort by gutting the Voting Rights Act, giving Southern states in particular the excuse to eliminate majority-Black districts that normally vote Democratic.

But after looking at the landscape, it appears the governor came to what must have been a gut-wrenching decision for a MAGA supporter: Mississippi is not in a position to help Trump this year.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called Montgomery “sacred soil” in the fight for civil rights.

“If we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,” Booker said.

The crowd was led in chants of “We won’t go back” and “We fight.”

“We are not going down without a fight. We are not going down to Jim Crow maps,” said Shalela Dowdy, a plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving Louisiana hollowed out the voting rights law that was already weakened by a separate decision in 2013 and then narrowed further over the years. That helped clear the way for stricter voter ID laws, registration restrictions, and limits on early voting and polling place changes, including in states that once needed federal preclearance before they could change voting laws because of their historical discrimination against Black voters.

The Rev. Bernice King, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said the decision was a direct attack on the legacy of generations who faced “dogs and batons and bombs and billy clubs so that Black people and all marginalized communities could participate fully in this democracy.”

Rally where King spoke in 1965

A crowd of thousands gathered in front of the city’s historic Alabama Capitol, the place where the Confederacy was formed in 1861 and where the elder King spoke in 1965 at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. The stage, set in front of the Capitol, was flanked from behind by statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and civil rights icon Rosa Parks — dueling tributes erected nearly 90 years apart.

Speakers said the spot was once the temple of the Confederacy and became the holy ground of the Civil Rights Movement.

Some in the crowd said the effort to redraw lines has echoes of the past.

“We lived through the ’60s. It takes you back. When you think that Alabama’s moving forward, it takes two steps back,” said Camellia A Hooks, 70, of Montgomery, Alabama.

READ MORE: Some Republicans call for Mississippi to gerrymander out state’s only majority-Black congressional district

READ MORE: Lt. Gov. Hosemann forms committee to study Mississippi redistricting

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves calls off Mississippi’s special session on judicial redistricting

The rally Saturday began in Selma, where a violent clash between law enforcement and voting rights activists in 1965 galvanized support for passage of the Voting Rights Act. It then moved to the state Capitol, where King gave his “How Long, Not Long” speech that same year.

Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are alarmed by the speed of the rollbacks, noting that protections won through generations of sacrifice have been weakened in little more than a decade.

Kirk Carrington, 75, was a teen in 1965 when law enforcement officers attacked marchers in Selma on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” A white man on a horse wielding a stick chased Carrington through the streets.

“It’s really just appalling to me and all the young people that marched during the ’60s, fought hard to get voting rights, equal rights and civil rights,” Carrington said. “It’s sad that it’s continuing after 60-plus-odd years that we are still fighting for the same thing we fought for back then.”

Civil rights leaders, members of Congress from across the country, union leaders and pastors spoke at the rally, which lasted four hours.

“They think they can draw us out of power. They do not know the sleeping giant that they just awakened,” said U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York.

City will be affected by Supreme Court ruling

Montgomery is home to one of the congressional districts that is being altered in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

A federal court in 2023 redrew Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District after ruling that the state intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who make up about 27% of its population. The court said there should be a district where Black people are a majority or near-majority and have an opportunity to elect their candidate of choice.

But the Supreme Court cleared the way for a different map that could let the GOP reclaim the seat. While the matter remains under litigation, the state plans special primaries Aug. 11 under the new map.

Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, who won election in the district in 2024, said the dispute is not about him but rather people’s opportunity to have representation.

“When Republicans are literally turning back the clock on what representation, what the faces of representation, look like, what the opportunities, legitimate opportunities for representation look like across this country, then I think it starts to resonate with people in a little bit of a different way,” Figures said.

Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Republican, said the Louisiana ruling provided an opportunity to revisit a map that was forced on the state by the federal court.

“People tend to forget what happened. When this thing went to court, the Republican Party had that seat, congressional seat two,” Ledbetter said last week. “There’s been a push through the courts to try to overtake some of these red state seats, and that’s certainly what happened in that one.”

Evan Milligan, the lead plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, said there is grief over the implosion of the Voting Rights Act, but it is crucial that people recommit to the fight.

“We have to accept that this is the new reality, whether we like it or not,” Milligan said. “We don’t have to accept that this will be the reality for the next 10 years or two years or forever.”

Update, 5/16/2026: This story has been updated with additional quotes and details from Saturday’s event. New photos have been added.

A new initiative from the Mississippi Department of Mental Health is promoting community resources for Mississippians with autism, while its director says adult support remains one of the biggest gaps in care. 

While Shavvone Williams and the rest of Mississippi’s Division of Autism Services plan to eventually expand autism resources in the state, she said the division is currently focused on building relationships with clinicians and increasing public awareness of current services. 

“We’re still in the baby steps phase of everything and just working things out and figuring out what would be best for Mississippi,” Williams said. 

One potential area for improvement is adult-focused treatment. While there are resources in the state for both children and adults with autism, Williams said adults have far less support. 

“A lot of adults get left behind when it comes to their autism diagnosis and support … kids have some support — it could be more — but adults have very little,” Williams said. “Mississippi could possibly be one of the first states to have a clinic or therapy center focused on adults.”

Williams said the division also could improve public understanding of autism in Mississippi and help Mississippians better understand the resources already available. 

What is autism? 

Clinicians generally recognize autism as a spectrum disorder with three levels of support. Symptoms include persistent social difficulty and restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior. Symptoms vary widely, and treatment is tailored to the individual rather than their level of support needs. 

Williams, an applied behavior analysis therapist for 10 years, said one of the biggest misconceptions around autism is the belief that it manifests the same way in everyone. 

“Just because you meet three people with level three autism doesn’t mean they are going to be the same,” Williams said. “If you meet one person with autism, you just meet that one person. It’s literally different in everybody.” 

Tony Norwood is a poet and volunteer with The University of Southern Mississippi’s Institute for Disability Studies who was diagnosed with level one autism at age 3. Norwood requires a low level of support and only needed speech and occupational therapy as a child. Now, Norwood has published a poetry collection and has five more book-length projects in progress. 

Norwood explored the intersection of his identities as Black, neurodivergent and a member of the LGBTQ community in one of his first poems, “Triple Minority.” 

“(The poem) started out with, ‘I come from the best of three worlds, there’s no need for me to choose a side,’ meaning … I’m proud to celebrate all different types of holidays such as Black History Month, Kwanza, Juneteenth, Pride Month, Autism Awareness Month … all the things I can celebrate to allow people to get to know me because there are so many layers of who I am,” Norwood said. “No one is one-dimensional.” 

He volunteers with the institute’s Empowering Pathways to Independence in Communities program, which seeks to teach financial and life skills to adults ages 18 to 40 with intellectual disabilities. During his time as a student at USM, Norwood benefited from the institute’s services. 

“They gave me the tools and tips to advocate for myself while also advocating for others,” Norwood said. “They’re like a second family to me.” 

With the guidance of the institute, Norwood applied for and received tutoring and test-taking accommodations that helped him graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 2025.

“I don’t know what I would have done without those resources. I don’t think that I would have graduated with my graduating class without that extra help,” Norwood said. 

Resource fair connects providers 

As part of its outreach, Mississippi’s Division of Autism Services hosted a resource fair on April 28 at the Mississippi Trade Mart in Jackson. Williams said the fair connected Mississippians with autism resources and clinicians. 

“It’s what’s needed. People don’t know about the resources that we already have, so let’s bring it to them,” Williams said. “Having an opportunity to connect with providers is the perfect first step to take.” 

The event featured many service providers from across Mississippi, including Youth Villages, SPARK and The Puzzle Box. Desmeon Thomas, a community liaison for Living Independence for Everyone of Mississippi, spoke to the potential benefits of events like the resource fair. 

“There’s nothing better than all of us coming together to make things better,” Thomas said. “I think that the more we come out to show our faces and show support services that we have for children and adults with autism, the more resources are going to come out of it. We’re just happy to be part of that change.” 

Norwood said the division could help more people understand autistic Mississippians are active members of their communities. 

“It will open up people’s eyes that autism is here to stay,” Norwood said. “It’s a very good step in the direction to let people know that there are individuals with autism that are capable of living a normal life.”

Benjamin Brown was walking to a cafe on Lynch Street near downtown Jackson to buy food on May 11, 1967, when he encountered a standoff between students and police officers at Jackson State. 

Students objected to the presence of Jackson police on the campus and had begun protesting the previous day. As the demonstration continued, the state highway patrol and the National Guard got involved. Brown was nearby when law enforcement officers fired guns into the crowd.

Bullets struck Brown in the leg, back and head. People cried out for help, but 45 minutes passed before police took Brown to a hospital. He died the next morning, on his  22nd birthday.  

Now, a new historic marker will honor Brown near the site where he was shot. 

University officials, along with state and local leaders, unveiled the Ben Brown Freedom Trail Marker on Thursday during JSU’s annual Gibbs-Green Commemoration. The ceremony recognizes 21-year-old Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, who was a Jackson State student, and 17-year-old James Earl Green, who was a high school student. Both were shot to death when law enforcement officers opened fire during protests on the campus in 1970.

Brown’s marker will eventually be moved to the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) Civil Rights Center on Lynch Street, at the edge of the Jackson State campus, after road construction is completed, said Robert Luckett, a history professor and director of JSU’s Margaret Walker Center. 

JSU President Denise Jones Gregory said the university’s annual event is to not only remember history but to keep alive the spirits of Gibbs, Green and James “Lap” Baker, who was also a student and survived the 1970 shooting. Baker died in January at 77 years old.

“We promise to speak their names and tell their stories here at JSU and beyond,” Gregory said. “We promise to channel our remembrance into action to support justice, equality and peace, and this is our charge and our commitment.” 

The event ended with Renae Baker and Nick D’Angelo Baker, the sister and nephew of James “Lap” Baker singing “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” by Donny Hathaway. 

“Someday, we all will be free,” Baker sang into a microphone. 

“Did you hear what I said?” she asked. “Someday, with all of the stuff going on in the world, one day, we won’t have to worry about all the stuff that’s going on, because we’ll be free.”

On Thursday, Arthur Brown said he was grateful for the dedicated historical marker and that his brother Ben has not been forgotten. 

“I hope you’ll always remember that he was a great person that wants the rights of all people, not just Black or white,” Arthur Brown said. 

At 16, Ben Brown protested the arrest of Freedom Riders and helped organize an economic boycott of downtown Jackson businesses with his peers. His activism continued into Freedom Summer 1964 with COFO, where he joined other volunteers in registering Black voters. 

After COFO dissolved in 1965, Brown became a field secretary for the Delta Ministry’s Freedom Corps, a coalition of voter registration organizers across the Mississippi Delta. When the Delta Ministry ran out of funding, Brown returned to Jackson. 

Brown’s historic marker is a declaration that Mississippi’s history cannot be erased, said state Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson. The marker reminds everyone that the struggle for civil rights also happened on campus, she said. 

Summers said Baker was “a bridge between generations,” where he dedicated his life to keeping the history, stories and memory of the Gibbs and Green tragedy alive. The greatest way to honor Baker is through collective action, she said. 

“Action that protects voting rights, action that protects truth and education and history, that expands opportunity and justice, that ensures that our young people here in the great state of Mississippi,” Summers said. 

Brown’s historical marker is part of an ongoing struggle to preserve history, memory and legacy for Black communities in the South, said John Spann, director of strategic initiatives at Mississippi Humanities Council. 

“In the face of erasure, remembering becomes an act of resistance,” Spann said. “It becomes a way of preserving truth, honoring dignity and asserting the full humanity of our people.” 

People looking for work, training opportunities or a new career path can meet directly with employers and workforce organizations at Clocked In, a workforce expo hosted by Mississippi Today, Deep South Today and the Foundation for the Mid South.

The free event takes place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday at the Jackson Medical Mall, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave. in Jackson.

More than two dozen organizations are expected to participate, including private businesses, public agencies, training providers, staffing groups and community organizations.

The lineup is expected to include Amazon, Dependable Source Corp., the U.S. Navy, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, Hinds Community College, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, The Bean Path, Metro Booming Training Academy, Surge Staffing and other workforce and community partners.

The expo will also include public conversations about workforce challenges in Mississippi, including hiring needs, certifications, training pathways and barriers for people to enter or stay in the workforce.

Clocked In is part of the Foundation for the Mid South’s Moving Mississippians Forward Through Employment initiative. 

Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring résumés and come ready to speak with employers, training providers and workforce organizations. 

Senior U.S. District Judge  Tom Lee, who most recently presided over the guilty pleas of the “Goon Squad” of Rankin County law enforcement officers, will stop hearing cases next month in Jackson, closing out over 40 years since his appointment to the bench.  

Lee, 85, will assume inactive status in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. His existing cases will be assigned to other judges in the district. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden said Lee held himself to a high standard and maintained a level of professionalism and excellence throughout his tenure. That work earned him the respect of judges, lawyers and litigants. 

“The judges of our Court join me in congratulating Judge Lee on his lengthy record of dedicated

service to the federal judiciary,” Ozerden said in a Tuesday statement. “He has been a friend and mentor, and he will be deeply missed. We wish him all the best.”

Lee handled a range of civil and criminal cases, including personal injury lawsuits, Voting Rights Act violations and extortion. 

In 2024, he presided over the trial and sentencing of former law enforcement officers known as the “Goon Squad” who handcuffed, beat and shocked two Black men, Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, during a warrantless raid of Parker’s home in January 2023. Lee sentenced the Rankin County sheriff’s deputies to between 17 ½ and 40 years in federal prison and he sentenced a Richland police officer who was also involved to 10 years imprisonment. 

Lee is highly regarded for his intellect and a reputation for fairness and integrity, Ozerden said. He is a true “gentleman judge” who demonstrates the qualities of humility, courtesy, compassion and civility – all valuable characteristics in a judicial officer, Ozerden said. 

Lee was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. 

He served as chief judge from 1996 to 2003. During his tenure, Lee oversaw the implementation of the district’s electronic case filing and management system that is still in use. 

Lee took senior status in April 2006 when he was succeeded by District Judge Daniel Jordan. 

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee on Friday announced that he is ending his bid for reelection, his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s Supreme Court decision.

Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections.

“I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,” Cohen told reporters in his Washington, D.C. office.

Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said that he would reenter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.

He lamented that Tennessee would likely shift to an entirely Republican congressional delegation after the next election, warning that it could also leave the state out of the loop once Democrats are able to regain the White House.

Redistricting targeted Cohen’s district

Tennessee was the first state to pass new congressional districts after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. But more Southern states could follow. Republicans in Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina also have taken steps toward redistricting.

Cohen has represented his Memphis-based district for about two decades, among the last of the white Democrats representing the South. He has been a longtime member of the House Judiciary Committee and has focused on strengthening voting access and civil rights.

“It’s unique in America that an African-American majority district has elected a white guy, and that we’ve got a great relationship, great amount of support,” said Cohen, who is also the first Jewish person to represent Tennessee in Congress.

READ MORE: Some Republicans call for Mississippi to gerrymander out state’s only majority-Black congressional district

READ MORE: Lt. Gov. Hosemann forms committee to study Mississippi redistricting

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves calls off Mississippi’s special session on judicial redistricting

Cohen was facing a primary challenge from state lawmaker Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat who represents Memphis in the state’s General Assembly. Pearson has said he will continue his campaign in the state’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

But Cohen predicted that it would be nearly impossible for Tennessee Democrats to win a seat in Congress with the new districts. He added there was a chance the redistricting effort could “backfire on the Republicans” but that would require an “unbelievable registration effort among Democrats” and a massive vote turnout effort.

Cohen vows to oppose Trump

Sitting in his congressional office with staff looking on, Cohen pointed to photos of Memphis and local projects that he had championed during his career and expressed worry that Memphis voters would no longer have a voice in Washington. He also recounted how he had worked with the state’s Republican leaders to win funding during the Biden administration for a larger bridge to cross the Mississippi River into Memphis.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that Cohen was “a powerful champion for civil rights” and that “the City of Memphis, the Congress and the nation are better because of Steve’s commitment to making a difference.”

Cohen said that the Republican’s redistricting effort was being done “for Donald Trump to get one more vote, he thinks, to stop them from being impeached.”

Still, he vowed to use his remaining time in Congress to try to mount opposition to Trump, calling the president “the greatest threat to democracy and to decorum and grace that we’ve ever seen.”

Like many lawmakers, Cohen has often attracted attention with colorful outbursts during congressional debates and hearings. During Trump’s first term, in 2019, Cohen brought a bucket of fried chicken to a House Judiciary Committee hearing at which then-Attorney General William P. Barr was a no-show.

“The message is Attorney General Bill Barr is not brave enough to answer questions from a staff attorney and members of the Judiciary Committee,” he said in a statement at the time.

While Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as Congress tried to certify the results of the presidential election, Cohen screamed angrily at his Republican colleagues to “Call Trump. Call your friend. Tell him to do something.”

Cohen was among the first Democrats to join impeachment efforts for Trump in his first term, and he has signed on to articles of impeachment against Trump this year as well.

Memphis activists respond to new map

Meanwhile, Memphis activists grappled with the new political realities after the Republican-led legislature’s decision to divide the city’s longtime congressional district into three neighboring districts.

Advocates said they believed they could work with — and pressure — any lawmaker who will represent the city.

“Things are going to change. We’re aware of that,” said Tierney Macon, an activist with The Equity Alliance, a local civil rights group.

Macon, who protested at the Tennessee statehouse for days following the unveiling of the redrawn maps, said that activists aimed to hold the city’s new representatives in Congress accountable no matter their party.

“We just have to be engaged,” Macon said.

Demonstrations in the statehouse included chants accusing lawmakers of resurrecting Jim Crow, a system of state and local laws that for decades enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement across the South.

___

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens did not convince a federal judge that FBI agents posing as out-of-state developers entrapped him as part of a sting operation into public corruption in Mississippi’s capital city. 

But Owens can still try to persuade a jury that was the case, the same judge ruled. 

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan denied Owens’ motion to dismiss bribery charges because of entrapment. The judge also blocked the prosecution’s motion to prevent Owens from mounting such a defense – one of many legal decisions the judge made in a raft of orders this week setting the stage for the July 13 trial involving the district attorney and two former Jackson elected officials. 

“Whether Owens can meet his burden based on the trial evidence remains to be seen,” Jordan wrote. “But the Court will not prevent him from attempting to prove his theory of the case.” 

The judge’s orders are the first time many details are coming to light about the defenses for Owens and his alleged co-conspirators, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Councilmember Aaron Banks. 

Documents are unsealed

Dozens of filings in the case have been sealed from public view since earlier this year after Owens filed a fiery motion containing numerous sensitive exhibits, such as investigative files featuring unverified claims that Lumumba had connections to a local drug dealer. 

On Friday, Jordan ordered federal clerks to begin unsealing many documents. But he also indicated that some files will be restricted until the trial’s conclusion. Even then, certain ones will remain redacted. 

Jordan also denied requests from Lumumba and Banks to sever the trial. The former mayor had sought a separate trial in part because he views the district attorney as the “more culpable co-defendant,” the judge wrote. 

In its fall 2024 indictment, the federal government had included inflammatory comments from Owens. Lumumba had argued these statements could taint the jury’s perception of his alleged actions. Lumumba also argued that Owens’ legal strategy has, so far, resulted in blowback for him and that the former mayor will likely have no opportunity to cross-examine the district attorney at trial. 

In response to these concerns, Jordan wrote that he was optimistic about a jury’s ability to understand the sprawling saga. 

Lumumba “worries about the ‘many vulgar and amoral statements’ Owens made,” Jordan wrote. “But the Court believes under these circumstances — and with only three defendants — the jury will be able to keep the facts straight and follow the instruction to consider the defendants separately.” 

An indictment accuses Owens, Lumumba and Banks of allegedly taking bribes from real estate developers who were actually undercover FBI agents. Prosecutors allege the scheme worked like this: The agents funneled money through an unsuspecting Owens to Lumumba and Banks, who were then supposed to help the developers secure the city’s approval to use federal funds to build a downtown convention center hotel. 

The indictment quoted Owens at length bragging about his supposed ability to launder money and bribe local politicians. 

“That’s why we have businesses. To clean the money,” Owens allegedly told the undercover agents.

Prosecutors plan to play some of the recorded statements at trial, but Owens had hoped the judge would limit this activity. The district attorney argued that some of his comments have nothing to do with the charges he’s facing and are merely “prejudicial” – that is, designed to bias jurors against him. 

Jordan agreed with some of Owens’ points, but the judge noted that Owens’ chosen defense of entrapment had resulted in a double-edged sword for the district attorney. 

An entrapment defense requires a public official to prove they were not inclined to break the law without the government’s influence. This argument opens the door for prosecutors to show that the public official was already engaging in corruption. 

In Owens’ case, prosecutors could cite his comments. Jordan wrote that Owens’ statements could show his “predisposition – an issue for which he has opened the door by asserting entrapment.” 

Owens said in court papers that he is a diagnosed alcoholic and claimed the federal government entrapped him by plying him with alcohol. He said a “drunken rant” caused the salacious statements attributed to him in the government’s indictment, according to court filings. 

Lumumba says he took no ‘official action’

All three men going to trial have pleaded not guilty. Jordan’s orders revealed Banks does not intend to argue entrapment and it’s unlikely Lumumba will. 

Banks will argue he is innocent, while Lumumba primarily contends he did not take an “official action” in exchange for bribes from the developers.

In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Lumumba accepted $50,000 in campaign donations in exchange for assisting the developers, who purported to represent a company called Facility Solutions Team, in obtaining the city’s blessing to build a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson. 

While on a yacht off the coast of Florida, the indictment alleges that Lumumba discussed the payment Owens was going to give him on behalf of the developers. Then he placed a call asking a city employee to shorten the bid window for the hotel development. 

Lumumba described this action as “ministerial at best,” according to court documents, thus not in line with how federal law and the courts have defined an official action a public official must take as part of a quid pro quo. 

But the judge pointed out a technical issue with this defense. Jordan wrote that none of the five charges for which Lumumba is actually indicted include the term “official action” in their statutory definitions. 

The judge also rejected arguments from Lumumba claiming that the federal government included falsehoods in the indictment. 

Jordan wrote that the former mayor claimed prosecutors sought to convince the grand jury that the city was under a time crunch to meet the terms of a federal loan backing the downtown development. 

In reality, the city had been granted an extension, according to Lumumba’s arguments. In response, prosecutors said the government had checked the dates of the loan with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. No extension was mentioned. 

“The Government contends … no one advanced the ‘narrative’ that Lumumba moved the SOQ deadline because he was desperate to secure a developer,” Jordan wrote. “Indeed, the Government’s theory is that Lumumba did not have the City’s ‘best interests in mind at all when he took that $50,000.’” 

Jordan wrote that Lumumba also plans to introduce a 35-minute speech that he gave during the fateful trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Prosecutors had claimed the speech would “confuse the jury,” but the judge wrote that he would allow Lumumba’s team to attempt to offer it as evidence at trial.

Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share their ideas about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here.    

Keeping energy affordable is a growing concern for Mississippi families, businesses and communities. As demand rises and gas prices fluctuate, the state is looking for ways to deliver reliable power without driving up costs.

Just a few years ago, utility-scale wind energy in Mississippi sounded unlikely—if not impossible. Today, turbines rising nearly 700 feet above the Delta are proving that assumption wrong and delivering fuel-free power to the state.

For decades, Mississippi sat on the sidelines of the wind industry. Today, a new generation of wind technology is changing what’s possible.

At the center of this new opportunity for Mississippi is the emergence of “tall wind” turbines, with tip heights reaching more than 700 feet. These turbines can access stronger, more consistent wind speeds at higher elevations —resources that older, shorter turbines could not capture.

Unlike traditional power plants that rely on fuel subject to price swings, wind energy has no fuel cost, which helps both lower and stabilize electricity prices over the long term. 

Data from 2024 to 2026 shows that onshore wind is frequently the most affordable source of new power generation, with global weighted average costs sitting at approximately $0.03–$0.05 per kilowatt-hour, which is often cheaper than building new natural gas or coal plants. For context, average retail electricity prices in Mississippi are typically more than double that range, meaning lower-cost generation sources like wind can play a meaningful role in keeping customer bills down over time.

In Tunica County, the Delta Wind project is Mississippi’s first utility-scale wind farm. It began operating in 2024 with 184.5 megawatts of capacity and generates enough energy to power tens of thousands of homes each year.

The project created hundreds of construction jobs, supports seven full-time local positions and is expected to generate millions of dollars in local tax revenue for schools and public services.

In addition to these economic benefits, projects like Delta Wind help diversify Mississippi’s energy mix by supporting grid resilience and price stability over time. It is a clear example of how modern turbine technology is turning what was once considered an unlikely resource into real economic and energy benefits for rural communities. 

Importantly, wind energy doesn’t compete with Mississippi’s agricultural identity. Instead, it complements it. Taller, more powerful turbines mean that modern wind energy projects can generate more power with fewer turbines. Wind turbines require only one-quarter to one-half acre per turbine for access roads and foundations, leaving the vast majority of farmland in production.

For farmer landowners, that means a reliable stream of lease payments that can help stabilize farm income in an industry often shaped by uncertainty.

Mississippi now faces a clear choice: embrace this momentum or risk falling behind. Capturing the full potential of wind energy will require thoughtful policy, continued investment and a willingness to rethink long-held assumptions about the state’s energy future.

Failing to diversify the state’s energy mix could leave Mississippi more exposed to future energy price volatility.

Wind energy is already delivering results in places like Tunica County. What is changing now is the scale of what’s possible, as new tower technology expands access for more of the state.

The success in Tunica County is an illustration of how wind energy can become a meaningful part of Mississippi’s larger economic and energy landscape.

Katharine Kollins is president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, where she leads outreach and education efforts to advance land-based and offshore wind power across 11 Southeastern states. Since 2015, she has worked to grow SEWC into a trusted regional resource focused on economic benefits for communities.

Lisa Jo Chamberlin decided to speak out about her treatment in prison, including the past decade as the only woman on Mississippi’s death row. 

Speaking to Mississippi Today earlier this year, she raised issues about the isolation and restriction she has experienced in closed custody, including more time locked in her cell and less time to shower or go outside.  

After a Jan. 14 Mississippi Today article about Chamberlin’s treatment compared to the men on death row, her usual contacts said they were unable to reach her until the spring. Chamberlin said she was punished for speaking out with months of more restrictions and what she describes as retaliation. 

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride since I started caring,” Chamberlin said in a Thursday interview several weeks after she regained phone privileges. 

Since she has been under more restriction, Chamberlin said her mental health has worsened, which contributed to a Rules Violation Report writeup. 

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesperson Kate Head did not respond to a request for comment about Chamberlin’s alleged conditions.

The Rev. Jeff Hood, one of her advocates, has called Chamberlin’s treatment the worst he’s seen, even as he communicates with death row prisoners from across the country and has served as a spiritual adviser in 11 executions. 

He and other advocates have pointed out how her treatment differs from that of the men on death row who have the ability to move throughout their own unit and have access to amenities such as a garden and privileges including freer use of tablets to message and talk with family and friends. 

“They treat her like she doesn’t exist,” said Mitzi Magleby, a Mississippi-based advocate who also was unable to contact Chamberlin for a few months.  

“I feel for her and what she’s going through. I feel like she’s not even given basic human decency.” 

J.R. Rainbolt, an adjunct professor who teaches college criminology and forensic psychology courses, began talking with Chamberlin last year as part of his research into the childhoods of women with death or life without parole sentences. 

In November, Chamberlin used her prison tablet to appear virtually as a guest speaker in one of Rainbolt’s classes – an experience he said students found invaluable and an event that gathered a lot of interest at the school. 

After the January article, Rainbolt said he lost contact with her until April. 

“I kept messaging her. She wasn’t responding. That was it for a while, and I was kind of dumbfounded. Maybe she didn’t want to communicate with me,” said Rainbolt, who is also a retired special agent and host of the podcast “Criminology Chats” through The Chicago School where he teaches.  

To help ease some of the restrictions, Chamberlin’s goddaughter, Laykin Bordelon of Tupelo, sent a letter to state and regional legal organizations and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights Division, requesting an investigation and improvement in Chamberlin’s prison conditions.

Bordelon documented examples of mistreatment, unconstitutional conditions and gender-based disparities Chamberlin has faced, including extreme isolation, punitive restrictions not applied to the men on death row and a severe decline in her mental health.  

Those issues mirror what Chamberlin previously shared with Mississippi Today and recently with Mother Jones, which first reported about the letter. 

“Lisa has had to endure this type of treatment on death row, and it is a systemic issue,” the letter states. “Her conditions are not the result of isolated incidents but reflect an ongoing pattern of unequal treatment, neglect, and punitive practices that are not applied to male death‑row prisoners.”

Bordelon said she has received an automated response from the DOJ confirming receipt of her report and the message gave an idea of what to expect next. Staff will review the report and determine whether to take on an investigation.

Bordelon was not available for comment, but she did give Rainbolt permission to share the letter and the DOJ’s response with Mississippi Today. 

Head, the MDOC spokesperson, did not respond to a request for comment about whether the department was aware of the letter requesting an investigation. 

Chamberlin has been incarcerated for over 20 years for the 2004 murder of two people in Hattiesburg with her then-partner, Roger Gillett. Both received a death sentence, but the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Gillett’s sentence and in 2018 the trial court resentenced him to life without parole. 

She has filed appeals, and her most recent petition for post-conviction relief has been under consideration by the Mississippi Supreme Court since January. Her attorneys argue that unfair evidence about her sex life and failings as a mother introduced during trial violated her due process. They also said her claim is an exception to state law that enforces time limitations on appeals and limits repetitive filing for post-conviction relief.  

As of October, fewer than 50 women are on death row nationwide. Seven states including Mississippi have only one woman with a death sentence. 

Hood and Rainbolt have compared Chamberlin’s treatment to that experienced by Christa Pike, the only woman on death row in Tennessee. 

Pike spent years in solitary confinement until 2024 after successfully suing the prison system. The lawsuit settlement has given her more interaction with women in general population, the ability to earn opportunities the death row men have access to and work, according to the Death Penalty Information Center and local reporting.  

Chamberlin has said she is considering legal action around the conditions of her confinement. 

She said she will continue to speak out, including with reporters, even after what she went through earlier this year. Chamberlin said she has been told to keep quiet, but she has reached a point where she wants to advocate for herself and connect with others, whether that’s through interviews, writing or conversation. 

Since the renewed attention of Chamberlin’s prison conditions, she said she met with the women’s prison superintendent about easing some of the restrictions and restoring some of her privileges. 

But Chamberlin isn’t sure whether the changes will happen because she was told the prison doesn’t have the necessary staffing to escort her out of her building to places such as the chapel and the garden. Because of her custody status, only supervisory staff could escort herr, Chamberlin said. 

“It hasn’t happened,” she said.  “I don’t think it will until I make them make me a priority.”