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Officer misconduct database among criminal justice bills before Legislature

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Officer misconduct database among criminal justice bills before Legislature

Members of the Rankin County “Goon Squad” who inflicted decades of terror on residents would be among those listed in a public database of law enforcement misconduct, under proposed legislation.

It’s one of over 300 bills relating to the criminal justice system that have been filed during the 2024 session of the Mississippi Legislature, which could affect policing, courts, jails, prisons, post-incarceration and more.

House Bill 828 by Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, called the โ€œTrust in Law Enforcement Act,โ€ would require the Department of Public Safety to create and maintain a database of officer misconduct incidents and publish it online by Jan. 1, 2025.

That database must include information about an officer’s conduct and performance including:

  • Revocation of law enforcement certification by the Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training and the basis of the revocation
  • Termination by a law enforcement employer, unless the termination is overturned or reversed by appeal. A notation must be placed by their name during the appeal
  • Resignation or retirement while under investigation by the employing law enforcement agency, a district attorney or the ‘s office for an incident that could result in the officer being included in the online database
  • Resignation or retirement following an incidents that, within six months, leads to the opening of an investigation that could result in placement in the database
  • Being the subject of a criminal investigation for a crime that could result in certification revocation or suspension or filed criminal charges. The investigating agency would need to notify the Office of Standards and Training about any investigation or charges as soon as practicable.
  • Whether an officer knowingly made an untruthful statement about a material fact or knowingly omitted a fact on an official criminal justice record, while testifying under oath or during an internal affairs or administrative investigation
  • Three or more failures to follow educational and training requirements by the Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training or failure to complete continuing education within a consecutive 10-year period

Multiple House members are listed as co-authors of the bill: Reps. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus; Cheik Taylor, D-Starkville; Rickey Thompson, D-Shannon; Bo Brown, D-Jackson; Robert Sanders, D-Cleveland; Jeffrey Hulum III, D-; Oscar Denton, D-Vicksburg; Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez; Keith Jackson, D-Preston; and Fabian Nelson, D-Byram.

The bill has been referred to the House’s Judiciary B and Appropriations A committees.

Here is a look at some of the other criminal justice bills making their way through the legislative process.

Policing

House Bill 301 by Rep. Ronnie Crudup Jr., D-Jackson, would require officers and sheriffs to have a less-lethal force option available to use while on duty.

Examples of these options include but are not limited to stun guns, batons and pepper spray.

Municipalities that employ the officers and counties that employ the sheriff and deputies would pay for the less-lethal force option through approved budgets for the police department and sheriff’s office.

The bill has been referred to the House’s Judiciary B Committee.

House Bill 61 by Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, would require and counties to body-worn cameras to police officers and deputy sheriffs.

Officers and sheriffs deputies would also be required to wear a body-worn camera while on patrol, or be faced with a misdemeanor with a maximum of six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000.

The bill has been referred to the Municipalities and County Affairs committees.

Domestic violence

House Bill 842 by Rep. Cedric Burnett, D-Tunica, would establish a domestic violence fatality review team within the State Medical Examiner’s Office.ย 

The multi-agency and multidisciplinary team would review domestic violence-related deaths and suicides to identify potential challenges or breakdowns in interventions, safety barriers and gaps in community services, according to the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which supports the bill. The team can consider alternate or more effective responses to prevent future fatalities.

โ€œWe cannot turn a blind eye to the stark reality that domestic violence is a pervasive issue in our communities. It shatters lives, breaks families, and all too often, results in tragic consequences,โ€ MCADV Executive Director LaVerne Jackson said in a Feb. 11 statement. โ€œThe creation of such a board is not just about acknowledging the gravity of the issue but taking concrete steps towards a safer and more secure community for everyone.

The bill has been referred to the House’s Judiciary B Committee.

House Bill 435 by Rep. John Hines Sr., D-Greenville, would allow courts to establish domestic abuse court programs that act similarly to existing intervention courts for drugs and mental .

Hines has been filing legislation to establish domestic abuse courts since as early as 2013. Last year, the bill passed the House and went to the Senate’s Judiciary B and Appropriations committees where it died โ€“ the furthest Hines’ domestic abuse courts bill has advanced to date.

โ€œIn order to fix your problem, you have to be willing to admit that there is a problem. And nobody in the state wanted to admit there was a problem with domestic violence,โ€ Hines has told Mississippi . โ€œIf you kill (the bill), we don’t have to about that.โ€

The bill has been referred to the House’s Judiciary B and Appropriations A committees.

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

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1875

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-02 07:00:00

Nov. 2, 1875

Pictured here are U.S. Sen. Hiram Revels of Mississippi, left, with six Black members of the U.S. House, Ben J.S. Turner of Alabama, Josiah T. Walls of Florida, Jefferson H. Long of Georgia, and Robert C. De Large, Joseph H. Rainy and R. Brown Elliot, all of South Carolina. Credit: Library of

The first Mississippi Plan, which included violence against Black Americans to keep them from , resulted in huge victories for white Democrats across the

A year earlier, the Republican Party had carried a majority of the votes, and many Black had been elected to office. In the wake of those victories, white leagues arose to Republican rule and began to use widespread violence and fraud to recapture control of the state. 

Over several days in September 1875, about 50 Black Mississippians were killed along with white supporters, a school teacher who worked with the Black community in Clinton. 

The governor asked President Ulysses Grant to intervene, but he decided against intervening, and the violence and fraud continued. Other Southern states soon copied the Mississippi plan. 

John R. Lynch, the last Black congressman for Mississippi until the 1986 election of Mike Espy, wrote: โ€œIt was a well-known fact that in 1875 nearly every Democratic club in the State was converted into an armed military company.โ€ 

A federal grand jury concluded: โ€œFraud, intimidation, and violence perpetrated at the last election is without a parallel in the annals of history.โ€

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

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Mississippi Todayโ€™s NewsMatch Campaign is Here: Support Journalism that Strengthens Mississippi

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mississippitoday.org – Mary Margaret White – 2024-11-01 12:34:00

High-quality journalism like ours depends on reader support; without it, we simply couldn’t exist. That’s why we’re proud to join the NewsMatch movement, a national initiative aimed at raising $50 million for nonprofit newsrooms that serve communities like ours here in Mississippi, where access to reliable information has often been limited.

In a time when trusted journalists and sources are disappearing, we believe the stakes couldn’t be higher. Without on-the-ground, trustworthy , civic engagement suffers, accountability falters and corruption often goes unaddressed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Here at Mississippi we act as watchdogs, holding those in power accountable, and as storytellers, giving a platform to voices that have been ignored for too long. And we’re committed to keeping our stories for everyone because information should be accessible when it’s needed most.

Why NewsMatch and Why Now?

This year’s NewsMatch campaign runs from November 1 through December 31, giving us a special to make each dollar you give go even further. Through matching funds provided by local foundations like the Maddox Foundation, and national funders like the MacArthur Foundation, the Rural Partner Fund and the Hewlett Foundation, your gift will be dollar for dollar up to $1,000. Plus, if 100 new donors join us, we’ll unlock an additional $2,000 in funding, bringing us even closer to our goal. Boiled down: your donation goes four times as far.

Every dollar raised strengthens our ability to serve you with fact-based journalism on issues that impact your everyday lifeโ€”whether it’s covering local election issues or reporting on decisions affecting schools, safety and economic growth in Mississippi. Your support makes it possible for us to stay rooted in the community, offering nuanced perspectives that Mississippians understand and engage with what’s around them.

Special Event: โ€œFreedom of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impactโ€

As part of the campaign, we’re excited to host a special virtual event, โ€œFreedom of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impact.โ€ Join Deep South Today newsrooms and Verite News, along with national experts on press freedom, for an in-depth discussion on the unique challenges facing journalists in the Deep South. This one-hour session will explore the critical role local newsrooms play in holding power accountable, highlighting recent restrictions on press freedom such as Louisiana’s โ€œ25-foot law,โ€ which affects journalists’ ability to report vital news.

We’ll examine what’s at stake if local newsrooms lose press freedoms and will discuss how you, as members of the public, can help protect it. This event is open to Mississippi Today and Verite News members as a special thank-you for supporting local journalism and standing with us in this mission. Donate today to RSVP!

How You Can Help

Make Your Gift Today

Together, let’s ensure Mississippi has the robust, independent journalism it needs to thrive. Your support fuels our ability to expose the truth, elevate marginalized stories and build a more informed Mississippi.

Thank you for believing in the power of journalism to strengthen the communities we loveโ€”not only during election season but year-round. With your help, we’ll keep Mississippi informed, engaged and connected for generations to .

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

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Hinds County loses fight over control of jail

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mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-11-01 12:57:00

The sheriff and Board of Supervisors have lost an appeal to prevent control of its jail by a court-appointed receiver and an injunction that orders the county to address unconstitutional conditions in the facility.   

Two members from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with decisions by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to appoint a receiver to oversee day-to-day jail operations and keep parts of a previous consent decree in place to fix constitutional violations, a failure to protect detainees from harm. 

However, the appeals court called the new injunction โ€œoverly broadโ€ in one area and is asking Reeves to reevaluate the scope of the receivership.

The injunction retained provisions relating to sexual assault, but the appeals court found the provisions were tied to general risk of violence at the jail, rather than specific concerns about the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The court reversed those points of the injunction and remanded them to the district court so the provisions can be

The court also found that the receiver should not have authority over budgeting and staff salaries for the Raymond Detention Center, which could be seen as โ€œfederal intrusion into RDC’s budgetโ€ โ€“ especially if the receivership has no end date. 

Hinds County Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham was not immediately available for comment Friday. Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to comment because he has not yet read the entire court opinion.ย 

In 2016, the Department of Justice sued Hinds County alleging a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conditions in four of its detention facilities. The county and DOJ entered a consent decree with stipulated changes to make for the jail system, which people facing trial. 

โ€œBut the decree did not resolve the dispute; to the contrary, a yearslong battle ensued in the district court as to whether and to what extent the County was complying with the consent decree,โ€ the appeals court wrote.  

This prompted Reeves to hold the county in contempt of court twice in 2022. 

The county argued it was doing its best to comply with the consent decree and spending millions to fix the jail. One of the they offered was building a new jail, which is now under construction in

The county had a to further prove itself during three weeks of hearings held in February 2022. Focuses included the of seven detainees in 2021 from assaults and suicide and issues with staffing, contraband, old and use of force. 

Seeing partial compliance by the county, in April 2022 Reeves dismissed the consent decree and issued a new, shorter injunction focused on the jail and removed some provisions from the decree.

But Reeves didn’t see improvement from there. In July 2022, he ordered receivership and wrote that it was needed because of an ongoing risk of unconstitutional harm to jail detainees and staff. 

The county pushed back against federal oversight and filed an appeal, arguing that there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that there are current and ongoing constitutional violations at the jail and that the county has acted with deliberate indifference. 

Days before the appointed receiver was set to take control of the jail at the beginning of 2023, the 5th Circuit Court ordered a stay to halt that receiver’s work. The new injunction ordered by Reeves was also stayed, and a three-person jail monitoring team that had been in place for years also was ordered to stop work. 

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

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