Category: In-Depth

a close up photo of Cliff Johnson
In-Depth

Mississippi Says Poor Defendants Must Always Have a Lawyer. Few Courts Are Ready to Deliver.

In April, the Mississippi Supreme Court changed the rules for state courts to require that poor criminal defendants have a lawyer throughout the sometimes lengthy period between arrest and indictment. The goal is to eliminate a gap during which no one is working on a defendant’s behalf. That mandate went into effect Saturday. But few of the state’s courts have plans in place to change their procedures in a way that is likely to accomplish what the justices intended.

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A close up of Phil Bryant, looking up
In-Depth

Phil Bryant Threatens Defamation Suit Against Mississippi Today Over Claim He ‘Embezzled’

Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is threatening to sue news outlet Mississippi Today after its CEO claimed publicly to a national gathering of journalists and news leaders that her organization’s reporting had demonstrated that he “embezzled” millions in welfare dollars as part of a massive scandal involving the misuse of Temporary Assistance For Needy Families funds.

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