The city of Bay St. Louis, Miss., provides us with a $300,000 lesson on why the widespread use of asset forfeiture at a local, state, and federal level needs to end. That is the amount the city must repay the Federal Department of Justice after an investigation concluded the city misspent drug forfeiture money. According…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 29, 2016) – A Mississippi bill would legalize medical marijuana for qualifying patients in the state, nullifying in practice the unconstitutional federal prohibition on the same. It is accompanied by legislation to fully decriminalize marijuana as well. Introduced by Sen. Derrick T. Simmons (D-Greenville), Senate Bill 2378 (SB2378) would “ensure that physicians…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 23, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Mississippi Senate would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction. The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off to the feds in most…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 18, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Mississippi House would ban the use of “stingrays” to track the location of phones and sweep up electronic communications without a warrant in most situations. The proposed law would not only protect privacy in Mississippi, but would also hinder one aspect of the federal…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 17, 2017) – A bill filed in the Mississippi Senate would build on the foundation of legislation signed into law last year and block state enforcement of future federal gun control regulations in the state. Last year, Gov. Phil Bryant signed legislation into law that removed conceal carry licensing requirements, allowing Mississippians…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 15, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Mississippi Senate would end all state support and cooperation with the implementation and administration of Obamacare. Passage of this bill would set the stage to bring down the federal health care act in Mississippi. Sen. Michael Watson (R) introduced Senate Bill 2300 (SB2300) Jan.…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 9, 2017) – A bipartisan bill introduced in the Mississippi House would legalize the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes, setting the foundation to nullify federal prohibition in practice. Rep, Joel Bomgar (R-Madison) introduced House Bill 180 (HB180) on Jan. 3. Kathy Sykes (D-Jackson) signed on as cosponsor. Under the…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 6, 2017) – A Mississippi bill would legalize medical marijuana for qualifying patients in the state, setting the foundation to effectively nullify the unconstitutional federal prohibition on the same. Introduced by Rep. Joel Bomgar (R-Madison), House Bill 179 (HB179) would ensure that any “qualifying patient who possesses a valid registry identification card is…
JACKSON, Miss. (Jan. 6, 2017) – Two bills introduced in the Mississippi legislature would halt implementation of Common Core and require legislative approval for all future education standards. Passage of the legislation would take an important step toward nullifying the nationalized education program in the state. Rep. Ashley Henley (R- Southaven) introduced House Bill 279 (HB279)…
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Nov. 7, 2016) – The Hattiesburg City Council will consider an ordinance that would take the first step toward limiting the unchecked use of surveillance technologies that violate basic privacy rights and feed into a broader national surveillance state. Councilwoman Deborah Delgado will sponsor the ordinance. It would require the Hattiesburg Police Department…