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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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At the request of the City Attorney, Sarah O’Reilly-Evans and pursuant to court order, former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters will begin prosecution of the January 29th cases involving nudity on April 5, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in Jackson Municipal Court. These violations involving Gilbert Paige, Manager of Centerfolds and Centerfolds’ dancer Paula Young were discovered during a general walk through of night clubs in the West Street Area by Mayor Frank Melton and two Jackson Police Officers.

During a review of Municipal Court Records it was noted that over one hundred nudity cases are pending before the Court but have never been prosecuted. These violations occurred at different establishments throughout the City. Mayor Frank Melton has vowed to enforce all ordinance violations occurring in the City of Jackson. As a result, these matters were placed back on the active trial docket and are currently scheduled for trial on April 18 and 25.
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Previous Comments

Someone help me, and explain why the old cases are just coming back up? Why the old cases were never set for trial? So, does Ed Peters work for the City of Jackson as an Attorney now? If not, the city does not have attorney’s on staff competent enough to try the cases? Do not get me wrong, Ed Peters will always be respected by me, and I would never disrespect him, but I thought the City was in a budget crunch!

#121579 | Author: Lspd2 | Date: Apr 5 2006

Frank HAS to win something. He has cover the full spectrum of what’s wrong in Jackson. If he is given enough time, he would probably wind up prosecuting everyone and then turning aroung and hire them. Whatever happened to the law abidding citizens that have always done the right thing, but never been given a chance?

#121580 | Author: lance | Date: Apr 5 2006

Well now, go to city court on the 18th and 25th and you’ll be able to see practically every woman who’s danced in Jax since 2001.

#121581 | Author: JLYerg | Date: Apr 5 2006

Ed Peters said this case was a slam/dunk. If so, why is Melton/Jackson paying a private practice attorney to prosecute this “inconsequential” case? Are the City of Jackson attorneys incompetent? (Answer–perhaps???) What a ridiculous waste of money! What an annoying ploy by Melton. For those of you in the press, ask Melton how much he’s paying Mr. Peters for his services, and ask him why his hand-picked attorneys can’t prosecute this simple case. HDMatthias, MD

#121582 | Author: HDMatthias, MD | Date: Apr 5 2006

MFP Solutions Lab logo

The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

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.