The Mississippi Legislature missed a great opportunity to protect the privacy of its citizens in the Information Age from the misuse of cell site simulator devices. House Bill 85 would’ve required a warrant for cell site simulator devices that can represent an invasion of privacy by law enforcement. It never made it out of committee for the third consecutive year.

Gravity is a fundamental law of nature.  It makes rivers flow to the sea.  If the natural flow is blocked, there are consequences. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blocked about 40% of the Mississippi River’s peak flow to the Gulf at Morgan City in 1964.  The delayed consequences today are unnatural floods on the Lower Mississippi. 

“This is a historic day for our State,” Secretary Hosemann said. “Today, our State and three public school districts allege the United States has taken property deeded to Mississippi 200 years ago.”

Imagine being able to vote yourself better retirement benefits while you’re a beneficiary of a retirement plan. That’s the scenario in Mississippi if the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi follows an opinion from the office of Attorney General Jim Hood and changes its present regulation. This would allow legislators and other statewide officials who are also PERS retirees to keep collecting their benefits while in office.

Mississippi has been a national leader since 2014 in the field of criminal justice reform and passage of these two bills will give recently-released convicts a chance at a new life with the goal of reducing recidivism rates.

One of the problems with Mississippi is our government selectively and sometimes severely regulates some businesses, while using tax dollars to incentivize others. It’s the worst of both worlds.