- Mississippi Free Press

In-Depth

Jackson Senators Push for Big Funding for Jails, Police Over Reversing Crime Causes

State senators from Jackson are asking the Mississippi Legislature for millions of dollars to help fund additional police and misdemeanor jail beds to keep those charged with low-level crimes who cannot afford bail locked up as a strategy to prevent violence as it rises in the capital city, they say. They are not asking for funds to support earlier interventions that a BOTEC Analysis study of Jackson crime recommended in 2016—which the Legislature authorized for $500,000 in taxpayer dollars. Kayode Crown reports.

Kayode Crown February 7, 2022

In-Depth

Strong Arms of JXN: Credible Messengers Use Experiences to Prevent Violence

John Knight, Terun Moore and Benny Ivey have all experienced life in prison and now mentor criminal-justice-system-involved young people as credible messengers with the Strong Arms of JXN, which launched in 2018. The Strong Arms of JXN gathers formerly incarcerated individuals devoted to showing young people alternate paths from the ones they at one point chose and have since turned away from.

Kayode Crown January 25, 2022

Photo of a red brick building that says "Chet" Henley, Jr - Jack Young Sr Juvenile Justice Center

In-Depth

Mental Health Experts: Raise Age of Children Locked in Hinds Juvenile Justice Center

Children at the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center were abused, a lawsuit filed in 2011 alleged, which led to a federal consent decree forcing Hinds County to make changes to its operations. Magistrate Judge F. Keith Ball is holding a hearing in his chambers today concerning the settlement that Southern Poverty Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi reached with the county. The Zoom hearing, which is closed to the public, is part of an ongoing federal court supervision of the settlement agreement’s implementation.

Kayode Crown January 20, 2022