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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Ever since the former Judge Bobby DeLaughter’s plea deal with the feds was announced last week, with him headed to prison, we’ve heard the words “Cedric Willis” come out of many people’s mouths. It seems we’re not the only ones thrilled to see justice, of a fashion, coming to the former prosecutur who, alongside then-boss Ed Peters, allowed Cedric to go to prison for 12 years based on bad evidence. Then, as Cedric sat in prison praying for justice, DeLaughter became famous, wrote a book and became a judge. Disgusting irony.

In Cedric’s honor, here is the link to Brian Johnson’s award-winning feature about his case, and the role DeLaughter played in it. This should have been exposed a long time ago. Read it and weep.

Previous Comments

Maybe Bobby will tell everything he knows now and carry some people with him. If I were his buddy, I’d promise Bobby that I’d dump every extra penny I’ve inveighled there and elsewhere toward him and his family if he just stays silent and does his time without dragging me to the big house too. It’s actually quite sad that he wanted to be judge bad enough to commit misconduct. I hope they didn’t intentionally act unjust or callously to send Cedric to jail. Otherwise, I hope they pay dearly here or in the hereinafter.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.