13 Nov Analysis: Judge likely will overturn gay marriage ban

Posted at November 13, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Clarion Ledger Emly Le Coz If U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves doesn't grant the preliminary injunction sought against Mississippi's gay marriage ban, it will surprise most of the people in his courtroom on Wednesday. Reeves grilled the state's defense of its gay marriage ban on almost every...

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31 Oct For-profit college rules stir fierce debate

Posted at October 31, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Forbes.com James Marshall Crotty The new for-profit college rules announced this week by the U.S. Department of Education have elicited vehement detractors from both sides of the debate, who believe that the regulations either go too far or don’t go far enough. The Mississippi Center for Justice,...

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25 Oct Special education too often leads to jail

Posted at October 25, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Clarion Ledger Jackie Mader and Sarah Butrymowicz GRENADA – Cody Beck was 12-years -old when he was handcuffed in front of several classmates and put in the back of a police car outside of Grenada Middle School. Cody had lost his temper in an argument with another...

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20 Oct Prison is ‘college of criminality’

Posted at October 20, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Clarion Ledger Emily Le Coz, Jerry Mitchell One in four white males born in Mississippi will go to college. One in three of their black male counterparts will go, instead, to prison. Both will get an education. For $18,385 a year — which includes tuition, fees, books, room...

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14 Oct New coalition tries to reignite Medicaid debate in state

Posted at October 14, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Bobby Harrison JACKSON – It may be nothing more than tilting at windmills, but a coalition announced recently a new effort to get the Legislature to expand Medicaid in Mississippi. The MS Left Me Out coalition, which includes the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, Center...

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09 Oct Mississippi students learn about real-life ‘superhero”

Posted at October 09, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Clarion Ledger Jerry Mitchell The Mississippi Center for Justice is distributing copies of a new graphic novel on the life of Congressman John Lewis to 4,000 students on the Coast, Delta and the capital city. The deed coincides with Lewis delivering the keynote on Oct. 16 at the...

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16 Sep Poverty rates down, but still higher than at recession’s depths

Posted at September 16, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Washington Post Reid Wilson The nation’s poverty rate dropped over the last year for the first time since 2006, according to Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. But the number of Americans living at or below the poverty line remains at record levels, and in most states the...

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15 Sep Southern states create a new face of AIDS

Posted at September 15, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

National Memo Teresa Wiltz, Stateline.org New Yorker Deadra Malloy was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, but she remained healthy for so long she wasn’t completely convinced she was positive. When she finally started getting sick in 2006, she decided to embrace her “ancestral roots” and accepted a...

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01 Sep How for-profit colleges rip off students

Posted at September 01, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

CNN.com Whitney Barkley Editor's note: Whitney Barkley serves as staff attorney at the Mississippi Center for Justice, where her work focuses on monitoring for-profit colleges. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. (CNN) -- There are promising signs that the Department of Education...

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18 Aug No welfare cut for kids if parent tests for drugs

Posted at August 18, 2014 in In the News by Mississippi Center for Justice

Washington Times Emily Wagster Pettus JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi children would not lose welfare if a parent’s benefits are cut off because of positive tests for illegal drugs, according to rules set by the state Department of Human Services. The state’s welfare drug-testing law was supposed to...

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