Sept. 14, 1940

With the Nazi army sweeping across Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Service Act, which required all men between 26 and 35 to register for the military draft. The decision also meant that Black men — unlike in the past — could join all branches of the U.S. military. 

“America stands at the crossroads of its destiny,” Roosevelt declared. “Time and distance have been shortened. A few weeks have seen great nations fall. We cannot remain indifferent to the philosophy of force now rampant in the world. We must and will marshal our great potential strength to fend off war from our shores. We must and will prevent our land from becoming a victim of aggression.” 

In December 1941, Japanese air forces bombed Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, and the nation was thrust into war. With this attack on America, men, both Black and white, flooded recruitment centers to sign up.

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

The five districts drawn to elect supervisors and other local officials in DeSoto County discriminate against Black Mississippians, a recently filed federal lawsuit alleges.

The Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU of Mississippi and Harvard Election Law have filed a lawsuit in the federal court for the Northern District of Mississippi claiming the districts drawn in 2022 after the release of U.S. Census data discriminate against Black DeSoto County residents.

Though 32% of DeSoto County’s 182,000 residents are Black, none of the county’s 25 officeholders elected from the five districts in question are Black. The positions elected from the five districts are county supervisors, justice court judges, constables, school board members and election commissioners.

The lawsuit says the districts are drawn in such a manner as to dilute Black voter strength and prevent the election of minorities to the various offices.

“Addressing DeSoto County’s history of injustices begins with fair electoral mapping and access to the ballot box,” Charles Taylor, executive director of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, said in a news release. “Participation and representation are the fundamental rights afforded by a democracy, yet the Black citizens of the county have long been denied their rights by those holding office.”

DeSoto is the state’s third most populous county with 182,000 residents, according to the most recent Census data. The Black population has grown 9.2% since 2010 and almost threefold since 2000, according to the lawsuit.

DeSoto County, a suburb of Memphis in Tennessee, has been the state’s fastest growing county for some time. There is currently one Black-majority state House district in DeSoto.

Federal judges in the Southern District of Mississippi have ordered that a Black-majority state Senate district be created in DeSoto County. That case is still pending.

This latest lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Mississippi challenging the supervisory districts as being discriminatory was filed on behalf of two voters in the county and on behalf of the DeSoto County NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

“DeSoto County is the fastest growing county in Mississippi. The individuals and families that move to our state deserve fair and just representation in their local government,” said Jarvis Dortch, executive director at ACLU-MS. “Unfortunately, the current supervisor district lines are drawn to favor white voters and harm voters of color. A community will only thrive when all voices can be heard, and some votes don’t count more than others.”

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

Six months after being returned to prison on a DUI charge, a man paroled  last year after serving nearly 20 years for the double murder of his father and stepmother is free again, this time through a court order.

On Aug. 30, Hinds County Circuit Judge Debra Gibbs vacated the Parole Board’s decision to return James Williams III to prison for at least a year for violating parole. 

“Mr. Williams has already served more than ninety (90) days in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections,” the judge wrote. “Therefore – unless he is held pursuant to some other sentence or order – he SHALL BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY from the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and returned to parole.” 

Family of Williams’ victims – his father James Jr. and stepmother Cindy Lassiter Mangum – said they learned last week that Williams would be released. Since Williams became eligible for parole a decade ago, they have sent letters to the board and attended hearings, but for the court decision they did not get to voice their concerns and opinions, Mangum’s sister, Brenda Lassiter Rankin, wrote on Facebook. 

As of Friday, MDOC records list Williams as being on parole in Rankin County. 

In October 2023, the Pearl Police Department arrested Willliams for a DUI through a warrant issued by his parole officer, according to court records. 

“The family wants to know if the Mississippi State Parole Board still feels that the community is better served to have James Williams in the community drinking and driving than be incarcerated for the double murders that he is guilty of committing,” the Mangum family said in a statement at the time. 

A month later, the Parole Board found that by violating the law, he violated a condition of his parole. Three of four members voted to return him to prison for a year, according to court records, and the lone “no” vote was that of board chairman Jeffery Belk.

Gibbs agreed with Williams’ argument that his DUI misdemeanor offense was a technical violation of his parole, and under state law, 90 days is the maximum period someone can be imprisoned for a first time revocation. 

The order is also in line with a February attorney general‘s office opinion answering a question posed by Belk, but the question and response did not mention Williams. 

At the beginning of the year, Williams filed an application for post-conviction relief with the Mississippi Supreme Court to challenge the board’s revocation. The court ruled in June that his motion had to be filed in the Hinds County Circuit Court, which led to Gibbs’ ruling. 

A technical violation is an act or omission that violates a condition of parole placed on a person by the Parole Board or a parole officer. Examples of technical violations could be a missed check-in, failed drug test or missed curfew. 

Under House Bill 585 passed in 2014, if someone is revoked parole for the first time for one or more violations, the Parole Board can order them to serve time in MDOC custody for a maximum of 90 days. Subsequent revocations can mean longer time, and by the fourth revocation, the board can impose the remainder of the person’s sentence.

Over the years, circuit judges around the state have ruled in post-conviction petitions to immediately release at least six people returned to prison for parole or probation violations who had already served the corresponding amount of time defined in state law for technical violations, according to Williams’ complaint challenging his parole revocation. 

Current members of the board and those who served with former chairman Steve Pickett have 

found misdemeanors are technical violations. Court records list examples of at least seven people for whom the board revoked parole for committing DUIs, simple assaults and other misdemeanors that it ordered to serve 90 days in a technical violation center. 

Williams’ initial parole on May 16, 2023, faced pushback from the victims’ family, community members and lawmakers. 

However, the Parole Board found multiple reasons to release him, including a good prison record, community support, participation in rehabilitative programs and recommendation by prison officials, according to court records. 

Williams received five votes for parole from current members Belk, James Cooper, Julia Norman and Marlow Stewart and former member Anthony Smith, who resigned in May 2023 ahead of Williams’ release, according to Williams’ parole action sheet in court records. 

Publicly, Belk has stood by the board’s decision. 

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