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‘Something has to change’: How one Smith County mom is fighting for special education services for her son

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1 year ago

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Janiyah Wright didn’t find out an assault report was filed with the police against her 7-year-old son until days later, when she got a call from the youth court. Grayson hadn’t known it either. 

He had an incident on March 10 at the Taylorsville Attendance Center — he said he got frustrated when other students in his general education class received candy for finishing a test and he did not. Grayson has diagnosed disabilities and said he took his test in the special education classroom. According to the police report, he took another student’s candy and was not able to calm himself down when the principal came to the room to intervene. In the hallway, he ripped decorations and student work off the wall and kicked multiple staff members, which resulted in the school calling the police to file an assault charge.

When Wright arrived at the school, she did not see any police presence, just the principal sweeping up torn paper and Grayson crying in the office. She said her son later told her he saw the police talking to school staff and other students, but did not understand why the officers were there. A youth counselor with the court told Wright the following Monday when he called that the court had instructed the police not to take Grayson to a detention center because of his age.

When she explained the situation to him that night, Wright said Grayson started crying and sweating because he was worried the police were coming to get him from their house. Now he is nervous around the school resource officer, something he is working on with his therapist.

“He’s seven, why did it go to this?” she said. “Now we’re going to have him afraid of police at seven? And it’s all because of him having a disability that he sometimes needs help with?”

Despite doing well academically, Grayson has regularly been disciplined at school for behavior problems, which his mother says are a result of the school not providing adequate services for his disabilities. She’s fought for him to have access to individual support in the classroom, and even brought in outside advocates to help, but Wright is considering leaving the school altogether because of the challenges she and her son have faced. Advocates say these issues are common across the state and country; research links barriers in accessing services to the quality of parent relationships with school personnel.

School district officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

Grayson, now 8, recently finished second grade, where he earned awards for his high scores on math and reading assessments. He was diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder at age 3 and has been receiving mental health treatment since. When he started kindergarten, he was also diagnosed with autism.

Wright said her son started getting regularly suspended at the end of first grade. Discipline reports from the school describe incidents where he was “defiant” by yelling, throwing objects, or hitting other people. This year, records from the school show Grayson was removed from his general education classroom 29 times over the course of about 75% of the school year. It’s unclear how the school is defining removals in this count, which can include out-of-school suspension, in-school suspension, being sent home early for the day, or being sent to the special education classroom as a form of discipline.

Federal data shows nationally, students with disabilities are suspended at a higher rate than their nondisabled peers, a pattern that is exacerbated by race. In the 2017-18 school year, the most recent year with available data, Black students with disabilities made up 2.3% of all students in the U.S. but accounted for 6.2% of all students receiving in-school suspensions and 8.8% of all students with out-of-school suspensions, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

In Mississippi, students with disabilities are also suspended at higher rates than their nondisabled peers, according to the same 2017-18 federal data set, but those gaps are smaller than in comparable national figures. The national pattern of Black students with disabilities being suspended at a higher rate also holds true in Mississippi.

Researchers have also noted that among students with disabilities, Black students lose roughly three times as many instructional days because of discipline as their white counterparts.

In the first two weeks of second grade, Grayson had an incident where he tore his papers and pushed over his desk, which landed on a teacher’s finger. He was suspended for three days. When he returned, Wright went to the office to talk about the incident and said she was met with unexpected proposals to completely rework his individualized education plan, or IEP.

“I drop him off, say ‘Grayson, have a good day,’ and then all of a sudden I’m in the middle of an IEP meeting,” Wright said. “Usually, with the IEP meetings, you let the parent know ahead of time.”

Per Mississippi Department of Education policy, schools are required to provide advance notice of IEP meetings to parents.

Under federal law, students with disabilities are entitled to learn alongside nondisabled students to the maximum extent possible. Students with disabilities receive accommodations or services through their individualized education plan, which parents and school personnel create together. The plan also sets annual goals for the student. If the student is having trouble meeting those goals, the team that created the plan is supposed to reconvene and determine what other supports are necessary. 

Joy Hogge, executive director of Families as Allies, a Mississippi nonprofit that advocates for kids with behavioral health challenges, said there are numerous reasons why districts can struggle to meet students’ federally protected needs. These include confusion about the law, a lack of understanding about disabilities, prejudices against students with disabilities, and a lack of resources. She said that while it is not acceptable, districts are stretched very thin and may “let go” of obligations in this area “because it’s one of the hardest for them.”

After the incident in August where he pushed over his desk, school officials proposed removing Grayson from the classroom setting almost entirely according to recordings of meetings and related paperwork. The school suggested having him participate in class virtually, coming to the school once or twice a week to receive behavioral services and work through questions on his coursework. A decision was not reached in the initial meeting; Wright said she felt uncomfortable with such significant changes to his special education plan so early in the school year when the school had barely had a chance to implement the current plan.

“That’s when I started getting my advocate involved, because I sat in the parking lot, having just started a new job, just crying, (thinking) ‘Why is this happening?’” she said.

Wright connected with Leslie LaVergne, of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Institute for Disability Studies, a few weeks later in early September to help her navigate the process. LaVergne pointed out in meetings that these new proposals violated Grayson’s rights by not first exhausting options to have him learn alongside his peers without disabilities and asked for better monitoring of Grayson’s progress toward his goals to understand whether the current strategies were effective.

Wright also filed a complaint with the Mississippi Department of Education against the school district after its August proposal to remove him from the classroom setting. The district reached out to Wright later about completing paperwork to withdraw the complaint, according to text messages, something Wright said came as a surprise to her. The complaint was resolved in mediation months later.

Hogge, of Families as Allies, said her organization does not encourage families to withdraw complaints or agree to mediation, since, in their experience, conditions will often return to what they were before the complaint was filed.

“When families file formal state complaints, they often face tremendous pressure from districts to withdraw them or agree to mediation,” she said. “I think that tells us right there that districts are not wanting to go through what it would take to make the changes to get in compliance.”

After an updated evaluation by a behavioral specialist, Wright and the school reached an agreement at the end of September on new strategies to help Grayson manage his behavior. Despite this, his mom said conditions with the school did not improve as she would have hoped.

“From there it was hostility, it was like a vendetta, just because I brought somebody with me,” Wright said.

She described a runaround throughout the rest of the fall regarding the services that were being delivered. In some meetings, they had conversations about how Grayson was progressing in a certain type of therapy, but Wright said the school told her in a later meeting that the group providing this care was primarily coming to train teachers, not work with Grayson himself. He was also suspended more times throughout the fall, according to Wright’s records.

At the end of November, the school called Wright to tell her Grayson was suicidal and she needed to come pick him up, according to a notice Wright signed. When he was evaluated by Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services later that day, the evaluator said he could return to school and continue his outpatient mental health treatment.

Wright requested additional meetings to rework the special education plan because Grayson was still getting in trouble for behavior problems. The document was ultimately revised multiple times over the course of the school year.

Grayson’s family describes him as shy, smart, and very observant. His grandma Deborah Wright, who lives next door, emphasized that he is very perceptive of tone. She said when people approach him from a place of love or care, they get a different response than a tone that makes him feel like he’s in trouble.  

Janiyah Wright at her Taylorsville home where she resides with her son, Thursday, May 25, 2023.

Janiyah Wright expressed frustration that, in her view, school employees have not worked to build relationships with Grayson, leading to some of the incidents that have occurred.

“Something has to change because I’m not seeing this behavior at home, when he goes off with other people they’re not seeing this behavior, we go to the park, he plays with other kids, they’re not seeing this,” said Janiyah Wright. “This is happening at school. I just want y’all to build a rapport with my child, make a connection with him so that he can be able to come to you in those times of a meltdown or a tantrum.”

She said pushback from the school increased toward the end of the school year, starting with the police incident in March. In the police report, unidentified staff members said Grayson needs help they can’t provide and called Wright “uncooperative” in his care. When she tried to bring the incident up at the next IEP meeting, she said the principal declined to discuss it.

“Why can’t we discuss that when we’re supposed to be here as an IEP committee for this kid?” she said. “That alone tells me you’re not here for my child.”

Wright said the meeting was otherwise positive. Grayson’s special education team agreed to have a registered behavior technician join him in the classroom for the remainder of the school year.

The feeling was short-lived. Wright said she received a phone call from the youth court the next week where she was told the principal wanted to proceed with the assault charges, something the court said they couldn’t do because Grayson has disabilities.

Wright, who also brought in Disability Rights Mississippi, received a notice in mid-April that both of the advocates she was working with were banned from the Taylorsville Attendance Center. The letter cited “bullying, disrespect, aggression, and unprofessionalism” at the most recent special education team meeting as the reason. A recording of the meeting showed it was tense at points.

LaVergne, the advocate from the University of Southern Mississippi, declined to comment on the situation as it is “ongoing.”

Jane Walton, communications director for Disability Rights Mississippi, said their organization has never heard of advocates being banned before and the organization has filed a complaint with the Mississippi Department of Education to challenge the decision.

“While I can’t speak to the situation of this particular student, I think it gives a lot of insight into the struggles that parents and students with disabilities generally face trying to get the support that they need,” Walton said.

To Wright, this move felt like the school didn’t care about what was in the best interest of her child since they were unwilling to listen to the experts in this field.

Despite these events, Grayson said his experience at the end of the school year was positive. Wright attributed this to the presence of the behavior technician in the classroom with him, something she said she’d been requesting for a while and was glad to see implemented.

In the most recent special education team meeting, the tech pointed out that tone is a trigger for Grayson’s behaviors, echoing what Wright and her family already told the school about Grayson. She wishes this service could have been made available sooner.

“If the school was willing to obtain knowledge on a professional level, like my advocates were trying to provide, I just feel like a lot of the incidents could have been avoided,” she said.

After the year they’ve had, Wright is looking to move.

It feels like something she has to do, even though it would likely mean moving away from the support system of her family. Grayson has told her he thinks a new school would be better. She’s been looking for new jobs and inquiring about selling her house.

Despite this, she said she doesn’t want the school to think it was successful in pushing her out because she’s still concerned about other children with disabilities in the community.

“Every time I go (to the school), I’m not just fighting for my child,” Wright said. “I don’t want to be in the school district anymore. I would like to move, but in regard to the kids that are still having to live in Smith County, I feel like there should be a change.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Crystal Springs commercial painter says police damaged his eyesight

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14 hours ago

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November 22, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-11-22 12:21:00

CRYSTAL SPRINGS – Roger Horton has worked decades as a commercial painter, a skill he’s kept up with even with the challenge of having what his wife has called “one good eye.” 

It hasn’t stopped him from being able to complete detailed paint jobs and create straight lines without the help of tape. But last year following a head injury, he and others said people have been pointing out a change in his work. Horton says the sight in his right eye is clouded, like he is looking underwater.

Affected vision, short term memory and periods of irritability – potential symptoms of concussion – followed after he was arrested last September. During an encounter with several police officers, Horton alleges more than one slammed his head into a cruiser and placed handcuffs on so tight that he started to bleed. 

“(The officer) was kind of rough with me and all, and he takes my head and I said, ‘What’d I do?’” he recalled recently. 

Horton ended up being convicted of two misdemeanor charges and has paid off the fines, but a year later he still has questions about the arrest and treatment by the police. 

To date, he has not seen a doctor to evaluate his eye and check for vision or cognitive issues. Horton and his wife Rhonda don’t have a car, and transportation to doctor’s appointments in the Jackson area remains a challenge. 

The Hortons have lived in Crystal Springs all their lives, and they have lived in the home the past five years that belonged to Rhonda’s mother. 

More than a quarter of all people in Crystal Springs live below the poverty line, and that includes the couple. Rhonda Horton said it’s hard to make a living because there aren’t a lot of jobs, but they support themselves as painters. 

That’s how they met Yvonne Florczak-Seeman, who lived in Illinois and purchased her first historical property in Crystal Springs in 2019. She splits her time between the two states. 

“We painted that porch bar and the rest is history,” Rhonda Horton said, adding that they went on to complete detailed work on mantles, kitchen cabinets and a cigar room at Florczak-Seeman’s North Jackson Street residence. 

Over the years, the couple built a relationship with Florczak-Seeman, who is seeking to open a women’s empowerment center called the Butterfly Garden, in the building next to city hall. 

Yvonne Florczak-Seeman poses for a portrait at her business, The Butterfly Garden, in Crystal Springs, Miss., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today

Florczak-Seeman has supported the couple numerous times, including helping them pay a late water bill and offering them work. She called them talented painters and hired them again to paint the interior of the future center, located at East Railroad Avenue. 

In pieces, Rhonda Horton told Florczak-Seeman about her husband’s arrest and later the injuries she said he sustained from it. Florczak-Seeman had questions about the encounter and other potential injustices at play, so she offered to help. 

“I just want them to pay for what they’ve done not just to him, but everybody,” Rhonda Horton said. “That’s what I want, justice.” 

The Arrest

On Sept. 24, 2023, Horton was walking home from a friend’s house when officers approached him. One grabbed his arms to handcuff him, and he remembers them cutting his wrist and causing it to bleed.

Then, he said, a second officer slammed his head into the top of the police car, followed by another officer who slammed his head again. During the encounter, a bag of marijuana that Horton said he found fell out of his pocket onto the ground. 

An officer put Horton in the back of the cruiser and took him to the station where Horton asked to speak to the police chief and call his wife. He said the police took his phone and clothes.

Afterward, he was taken to the Copiah County Detention Center in Gallman. 

Police Chief Tony Hemphill disputed Horton’s allegation of mistreatment, saying he did not sustain any injuries that required hospitalization. He said Horton’s wrist was cut while he resisted arrest. 

“He was not brutalized and targeted,” Hemphill said. “If he had just complied, he wouldn’t have had to come up there (to jail) that night.”

Two police reports from the night of the September 2023 arrest detail how officers had responded to a possible assault and were given the description of a white man. While in the area, they encountered Horton — the only person who fit that description. 

Hemphill said a mother called police after her daughter told her she was assaulted. He said officers approached Horton on the street and tried to talk with him to rule him out as a suspect. 

That’s when Horton began “fighting, pulling away, and kicking against (the officer’s) patrol vehicle, trying to run,” according to a police report from the night and Hemphill. Horton denies doing any of that. 

The next day police took Horton from the county jail to the Crystal Springs police station. There, police informed him a teenage girl reported being assaulted. After learning about the assault allegation, Horton remembered feeling shocked and saying it couldn’t be true because he was not on the street where the alleged incident took place. 

Hemphill confirmed the police investigated the assault allegation and found it not credible, meaning Horton wouldn’t face any related charges. He said he communicated this to Horton and his wife early on and since then, which the couple disputes. 

As Horton was being arrested and detained, his wife grew worried because she had just spoken with him on the phone and expected him to arrive home shortly. Rhonda Horton and her adult son started calling Roger’s phone, each not getting an answer. 

Then during one of the calls by her son, someone who did not identify himself answered Roger’s phone and said, ‘Your daddy’s dead’ and then hung up, Rhonda Horton said. 

She was starting to assume the worst had happened. Rhonda Horton wouldn’t have confirmation her husband was alive until he called from the county jail in the early morning. 

The next morning as she talked with the police chief, Rhonda Horton asked the chief about who answered the phone and told her son that Roger was dead. The chief told her the person who answered must have been from the county. 

Hemphill later told Mississippi Today that he did not know about the call and that type of behavior by his staff “is not going to be tolerated.” Similarly, Copiah County Sheriff Byron Swilley said he had not heard about it and could not say whether a member of his department made the comment to Rhonda and Roger Horton’s son. 

A Sept. 25, 2023, citation signed by Hemphill, shared with Mississippi Today, summoned Roger Horton to municipal court for the misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest and directed him not to have contact with the alleged victim in the assault case. No contact orders are typically for cases such as domestic violence and sexual assault and they are set by a judge.

LaKiedra Kangar, who works in municipal court services, said the no contact order was put in place because of the assault allegation. She confirmed Horton was not charged with the offense following the police department’s investigation of the allegation. 

Weeks passed. Roger Horton went to court for the misdemeanor charges, to which he pleaded guilty.  Felony assault charges were not part of the hearing. Municipal Court Judge Matthew Kitchens ordered Roger to pay over $900 in fines for the misdemeanors. 

Horton was able to pay for some of the fine through at least 10 hours worth of court-ordered community service, which he said involved painting buildings for the city. 

Months later after learning about Horton’s arrest and how he said the police treated him, Florczak-Seeman said she wanted to know more. Horton didn’t have access to his arrest documents, so she accompanied him and his wife to the police department to ask for them. 

The first visit, Horton asked but did not receive the arrest report. Florczak-Seeman asked if he had a fine for any of the charges, which police said Horton did even after completing some community service hours. Florczak-Seeman paid for the remaining balance and had him work for her for two days to pay that off. 

This year, they went to the police department a second time so Horton could ask for his arrest paperwork. An officer told him he didn’t need it and that the rape allegation had been investigated and found not to be credible, Horton told Mississippi Today. 

Florczak-Seeman asked why Horton couldn’t receive the report. She said Hemphill asked if she was Horton’s attorney, and Florczak-Seeman clarified she was his representative. 

The chief left for a few minutes and returned with two pieces of paper and handed them to Horton. Hemphill told Mississippi Today he did not recall whether he was the one who handed the report to Horton. 

Florczak-Seeman took the document from Horton and began to read it as they stood in the lobby. She said she was horrified to see the name of the alleged, underage victim and her address in the report.

Hemphill said the victim’s personal information should have been restricted and not doing so was an oversight. 

After reading the report, Florczak-Seeman went down the street to the mayor’s office at city hall to explain what happened, and how she believed the mayor had grounds to fire the police chief because he provided that document to Roger with the alleged victim’s information. 

Crystal Springs Mayor Sally Garland Credit: Crystal Springs website

Mayor Sally Garland confirmed she had a conversation with Florczak-Seeman about the police chief’s employment. 

She said she reviews all complaints about city officials, and Garland said she goes to the department head to get a better understanding of the situation. If she determines there are potential grounds for termination, a hearing would be scheduled with the Board of Aldermen, and the group would vote on that decision.   

Garland did not find grounds for termination, and Hemphill remains police chief. 

A Strange Visit

The Hortons and Florczak-Seeman hadn’t given much thought about the 2023 arrest, until weeks ago when a teenaged girl suddenly showed up in Florczak-Seeman’s yard. 

At the end of September at the North Jackson Street home, Florczak-Seeman heard screaming and found the teenage girl who came onto her property. She asked what was wrong, and the teenager said she was chased by a dog, which Florczak-Seeman and Rhonda Horton did not see. 

The teenager asked for a soda, and Rhonda Horton went inside to get one. Florczak-Seeman asked where the teenager lived, and she gave an answer that Florczak-Seeman said conflicted with what two girls who were standing nearby on the public sidewalk said she told them. 

Then Florczak-Seeman asked the teenager’s name and recognized it as the name of the alleged victim on Horton’s arrest record. Immediately, Florczak-Seeman said she turned to Horton and told him to stay back, and she told the teenager to get off her property, which she did. 

At the moment, they were not able to verify whether the teenager was the alleged victim from the report. Neither the Hortons nor Florczak-Seeman had seen her before, and they only knew her name from the arrest report.

“That didn’t make sense at all,” Rhonda Horton told Mississippi Today. 

Florczak-Seeman called 911 to report the situation and ask for police to come, which they did not. Hemphill told Mississippi Today a dispatcher informed him about the call with Florczak-Seeman, including details with the teenage girl and how she wanted to report the girl for trespassing. 

Florczak-Seeman is one of the people who have noticed a difference in Horton’s vision. It’s clear when comparing the detailed and clean paint job Roger completed at her Jackson Street property in 2019 and the center where he painted last year.

During an interview at the center in October, Florczak-Seeman pointed to the ceiling and noted spots that Horton did not paint. She remembers telling him about them and realized that he couldn’t see them. 

“The spots on my ceiling are still not painted, and they’re not painted as a reminder of the injustices that happened in this situation and why I got involved,” Florczak-Seeman said. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Job opening: Jackson Reporter

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15 hours ago

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November 22, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Mississippi Today – 2024-11-22 15:00:00

Mississippi Today, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom focused on investigative and accountability journalism, is building a dedicated team of reporters to provide in-depth coverage of Jackson, Mississippi.

As the state’s largest and capital city, Jackson matters greatly to us and all Mississippians. Launched in 2016 as the state’s flagship nonprofit newsroom focused on Mississippi government and policy, Mississippi Today is focusing our lens beyond the statehouse and to the city of Jackson, serving our readers with the watchdog reporting they’ve come to expect from Mississippi Today. Our newsroom, with a proven record of providing impactful government accountability, aims to serve the city more directly with this team.

Our Jackson team will focus on sharp investigative reporting, watchdog accountability journalism and meaningful cultural storytelling. We aim to both elevate the voices of those working for positive change in the community while offering a balanced perspective on the city’s obstacles and triumphs. Our goal is to deliver impactful, honest journalism that will inform, inspire and empower Jackson’s citizens.

The team will be led by Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Wolfe, an investigative reporter with a decade of experience covering Jackson.

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • We are purposefully casting a wide net, hoping to connect with journalists of many different backgrounds who may be uniquely qualified to help us launch this team. If you’re a reporter with any of the following experience or attributes, this team may be for you.
  • Investigative reporting focused on uncovering systemic issues within government and politics. The bigger the impact of your reporting on government leaders or systems, the better.
  • Political reporting covering not only high-profile candidates for offices, but experience delving into issues and ideas that affect a community. We hope to delve deeply into a deep distrust in the city’s institutions.
  • Cultural reporting that highlights the often-overlooked success stories of citizens who are making a positive impact on their communities.
  • Strong understanding of Jackson (or similar large urban centers) and the unique challenges facing the city and its residents.
  • Commitment to the mission of balanced, impactful journalism that centers and respects the voice of the community.
  • Collaborative mindset and ability to work within a team-oriented newsroom.

The starting salary for this position is $58,000. Compensation is commensurate with experience level.

Expectations:

  • Work with a small team of journalists who are focused on social inequities and racial equality in our area.
  • Willingness to collaborate closely with a small team of like-minded journalists.
  • Get people to talk, find willing sources and protect them while telling sensitive and timely stories.
  • Build trust: Many people who have been impacted by inequities in Mississippi have been victims of predatory practices and forces. This will require empathy, patience and savvy.
  • Work with our Audience Team and data and visual journalists to create compelling story presentations.

Qualified candidates should have:

  • Experience working as a reporter in a newsroom.
  • Ability to work quickly, with accuracy and good news judgment.
  • Comfortability in digital or multimedia journalism spaces.
  • Ability to independently develop and cultivate sources.
  • Ability to use social media for research and to engage readers.

What you’ll get:

  • The opportunity to work alongside award-winning journalists and make significant contributions to Mississippi’s top nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news and information sources.
  • Highly competitive salary with medical insurance, and options for vision and dental insurance.
  • Use of appropriate technology and equipment. 
  • 29 days paid time off.
  • Up to 12 weeks of parental family leave, with return-to-work flexibility.
  • Simple IRA with 3 percent company matching. Group-term life insurance provided to employees ($15,000 policy).
  • Support for professional training and attending industry conferences.

How to Apply:

We’re committed to building an inclusive newsroom that represents the people and communities we serve. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply for this position, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people who are differently abled. Please apply here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Central, south Mississippi voters will decide judicial runoffs on Tuesday

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 22, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-22 11:16:00

Some Mississippi voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide who should represent them on the state’s highest courts. 

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Absentee voting has begun, and in-person absentee voting at county circuit clerk’s offices ends at noon on Saturday. 

In the Jackson Metro area and parts of central Mississippi, incumbent Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens will compete against Republican state Sen. Jenifer Branning of Neshoba County. In areas on the Gulf Coast, Jennifer Schloegel and Amy St. Pé will face each other for an open seat on the Court of Appeals. 

Candidates for judicial offices in Mississippi are technically nonpartisan, but political parties and trade associations often contribute money to candidates and cut ads for them, which has increasingly made  them almost as partisan as other campaigns. 

In the Central District Supreme Court race, GOP forces are working to oust Kitchens, one of the dwindling number of centrist jurists on the high Court. Conservative leaders also realize Kitchens is next in line to lead the court as chief justice should current Chief Justice Mike Randolph step down.

Kitchens is one of two centrist members of the high court and is widely viewed as the preferred candidate of Democrats, though the Democratic Party has not endorsed his candidacy. 

Kitchens, first elected to the court in 2008, is a former district attorney and private-practice lawyer. On the campaign trail, he has pointed to his experience as an attorney and judge, particularly his years prosecuting criminals and his rulings on criminal cases. 

In an interview on Mississippi Today’s ‘The Other Side’ podcast, Kitchens said his opponent, who primarily practices real estate law, would be at a “significant disadvantage” because the state Supreme Court often reviews criminal cases and major civil lawsuits that are sent to them on appeal. 

“I’m sure she has an academic knowledge about the circuit courts that she perhaps learned in law school or perhaps has been to some seminars, but she does not have the hands-on trial experience that I have,” Kitchens said. “And that’s so important to the work that I do.” 

Branning, a private-practice attorney, was first elected to the Legislature in 2015. She has led the Senate Elections and Transportation committees. During her time at the Capitol, she has been one of the more conservative members of the Senate leadership, voting against changing the state flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem, voting against expanding Medicaid to the working poor and supporting mandatory and increased minimum sentences for crime.

While campaigning for the judicial seat, she has pledged to ensure that “conservative values” are always represented in the judiciary, but she has stopped short of endorsing policy positions — which Mississippi judicial candidates are prohibited from doing. 

Branning declined an invitation to appear on Mississippi Today’s podcast. 

“Mississippians need and deserve Supreme Court justices that are constitutionally conservative in nature,” Branning said in a recent interview with radio station SuperTalk Mississippi. “And by that, I mean justices that simply follow the law. They do not add or take away.”

The two candidates have collectively raised around $187,00 and spent $182,00 during the final stretch of the campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office. 

Since she initially qualified in January, Branning has raised the most amount of money at $879,871, with $250,000 of that money coming from a loan she gave her campaign. She spent around $730,000 of that money. Several third party groups have supported her campaign. 

Kitchens has raised around $514,00 since he qualified for reelection. He’s spent roughly $436,000 of that money, and some of his top contributors have been trial attorneys. 

For the open Court of Appeals seat, Schloegel and St Pe, two influential names on the Gulf Coast, are working to turn out their voters in a close election. 

Schloegel is a Chancery Court judge in Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. St. Pé  is an attorney in private practice, a municipal court judge in Gautier, and a city attorney for Moss Point. 

Schloegel has raised roughly $214,000 since she qualified, and has spent almost that same amount of money this election cycle. St. Pé has raised around $480,000 this year and spent approximately $438,067 during that timeframe. 

Whoever wins the race, it ensures that a woman will fill the open seat. After the election, half of the judges on the 10-member appellate court will be women, the most number of women who have served on the court at one time. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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