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Secretary of State Michael Watson calls for campaign finance reform, less business regulation

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Secretary of State Michael Watson calls for campaign finance reform, less business regulation

Secretary of Michael Watson on Wednesday outlined his legislative agenda, continuing his call for campaign finance reform, voicing for reinstated ballot initiative rights and vowing to be “a wrecking ball” for business regulations.

Watson also confirmed that his office received the email bomb threat that closed the Capitol for a few hours Wednesday morning, although he deferred further questions to enforcement.

During last year’s statewide elections, Watson’s office flagged several potential campaign finance violations and fielded numerous complaints as millions of dollars of dark money flowed into Mississippi races amid what appeared to be flagrant disregard for the law. The election cycle showed again that Mississippi has weak campaign finance laws and nearly nonexistent enforcement. Watson said at the time his office has no enforcement authority over violations.

“We sent 10, 11, 12 campaign issues, some of which we felt were fraud, to the attorney general’s office, and we saw no enforcement of that,” Watson said.

Watson said he is pushing for his office to have authority to issue fines for campaign finance violations and a revamping of laws.

He said he also is pushing lawmakers to approve โ€“ and pay for โ€” a new campaign finance system, so voters can easily view and search campaign donations to candidates as is the case in most other states. Watson has previously estimated such a digital system would cost $2 million to $3 million.

READ MORE: Chris McDaniel, Lynn Fitch and the case of the missing $15,000

Watson also said he wants to end the “grandfathering” in state law of candidates being able to spend money from pre-2018 campaign accounts on personal expenses. Reforms passed in 2017 candidates to keep the old accounts provided they didn’t accept new donations and kept them separate from new accounts, from which personal spending is prohibited. Watson said about 40 politicians still have such legacy accounts totaling about $5 million. He said Gov. Tate Reeves’ is most notable, containing about $1.9 million, and is drawing thousands of dollars in interest each year.

“I’m not trying to point fingers at anybody with this,” Watson said, “… but I think it’s just wrong.”

Watson said he also wants lawmakers to change law to prohibit political action committees from donating to each other as a way to obfuscate the source of donations to politicians.

“I want to eliminate PAC to PAC contributions,” Watson said.

Watson said he also wants lawmakers to restructure the Occupational Licensure Board on which he serves with the governor and attorney general. Watson proposes adding several other state , but removing the attorney general because that office also legally represents the boards and commissions the OLRC is monitoring.

The OLRC was created by lawmakers in recent years as a way to rein in the many agencies, boards and commissions that regulate and license many businesses in Mississippi. The Magnolia State ranks high nationwide in the number of occupations that require special licensure, and many GOP Watson have called for less regulation.

Watson said Wednesday he plans to be “a wrecking ball” for such boards and commissions and red tape.

Watson also said he supports lawmakers reinstating voters’ right to ballot initiative โ€” to take matters in hand and sidestep lawmakers with a statewide vote.

“We govern by the consent of those who are governed,” Watson said.

Watson said he is not proposing any major changes to the state’s system, such as expanded early voting.

“No, but there are more conversations every day about such issues,” Watson said. “As far as I’m aware we have a really good system here in Mississippi.”

PODCAST: Secretary of State Michael Watson pitches campaign finance reform

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

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 ; 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 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 opportunity 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 matched 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 Mississippi Today 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 will explore the critical role local newsrooms play in holding power accountable, highlighting recent restrictions on press freedom such as Louisiana’s โ€œ25- law,โ€ which affects journalists’ ability to report vital .

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 come.

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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