Mississippi sent a cease-and-desist letter to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/blackrock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BlackRock</a> on Tuesday accusing the financial asset manager of misleading investors about its environmental, social, and governance policies and threatening to level a steep fine on the firm. 
The letter, from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mississippi</a> Secretary of State Michael Watson, <a href="https://www.sos.ms.gov/press/mississippi-secretary-state-issues-order-against-blackrock-alleged-securities-fraud-related" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that BlackRock may face a multimillion-dollar financial penalty if it does not comply with the state’s demands. BlackRock, which manages over $10 trillion in assets, has faced increasing scrutiny from Republican officials over its investing policies, especially in relation to its links to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/financial-giants-pull-14-trillion-from-climate-group-that-pressures-companies-to-take-action-on-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate activist</a> groups. 
“BlackRock has made and continues to make untrue statements of material fact, and to omit material facts to make its statements not misleading, to investors and potential investors in Mississippi,” a copy of the <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Final-CD-BR.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> obtained by The Daily Wire says. “These misrepresentations pertain to BlackRock’s provision of investment services, especially its involvement in pushing Environmental, Social, and Governance (‘ESG’) factors on portfolio companies. Additionally, many of BlackRock’s acts, practices, and courses of business operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon investors and potential investors in Mississippi.”
Watson said that the letter and notice of intent to impose administrative penalty was part of Mississippi&#8217;s efforts to go after politicized investment companies. 
“Investment companies will not push their political agenda on Mississippians, especially through fraudulent and deceptive means,” Watson said. “All citizens should have the opportunity to make informed and educated decisions when investing their hard-earned money. If not, our office will hold these bad actors accountable.”
The letter alleges that there are two categories of false and misleading statements made by BlackRock to investors. The first claims that while BlackRock says it doesn’t use all funds for ESG purposes it has already committed “to use all assets under management to advance the environmental agenda of reducing carbon emissions to ‘net zero.’”
The second category includes statements from BlackRock indicating that ESG-related investing brings positive financial results. Watson’s letter disputes this saying that is misleading “because the consideration of ESG factors does not provide an indication of better financial returns or current or future risk profiles.”
BlackRock has <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/finance-and-economy/2941273/mississippi-slaps-blackrock-cease-and-desist-order-esg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the letter, saying that Mississippi&#8217;s allegations against it were untrue. 
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“Many policymakers and government officials have ideas on how we should invest our clients’ assets,” BlackRock said. “We are always bound to invest consistent with our clients’ choices, their best financial interests, and applicable law. Our only agenda is maximizing risk-adjusted returns for the funds our clients choose to invest in.”
BlackRock, headed up by CEO Larry Fink, has walked back from some of its climate commitments, but has still faced calls to fully abandon ESG policies. 
“Larry Fink and BlackRock continue to pretend that the only time they engage in ESG, it is with permission of the shareholders, but in reality, ESG policies have seeped into every facet of BlackRock&#8217;s asset management,” Will Hild of Consumers&#8217; Research said in a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/mississippi-hits-blackrock-with-cease-desist-threatens-massive-fine-over-esg-policies">statement</a> to FOX Business on Wednesday. “They&#8217;ve been lying to their customers, and states like Mississippi are not going to allow this to continue.”

Blackrock Posts 22 Percent Increase In Quarterly Profits

Mississippi May Issue BlackRock ‘Multimillion-Dollar’ Fine Over ESG Investing Policies

BlackRock

Climate Change

Investors

Mississippi

At least six state capitol buildings across the country were evacuated after receiving bomb threats Wednesday morning. 
State capitol buildings in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, and Montana all reported bomb threats, prompting investigations by state police and local authorities. Each of the threats appeared to be a hoax email sent to numerous government employees claiming explosives had been placed in the capitol buildings. 
“While everyone is safe, KSP has asked everyone to evacuate the state Capitol and is investigating a threat received by the Secretary of State’s Office,” Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear <a href="https://twitter.com/GovAndyBeshear/status/1742568209121730634">wrote</a> in a post on X. “We are aware of similar threats made to other offices across the country.”
A spokesman for Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams said that the threat was sent to multiple secretaries of state across the country as a “mass email,” the Lexington Herald-Leader <a href="https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article283779473.html">reported</a>. Adams’ office added that the email claimed bombs had been placed in state capitols. 
The Michigan State Capitol <a href="https://twitter.com/MIStateCapitol/status/1742571070509535685">posted</a> on X that the building would be closed for the remainder of Wednesday as authorities continued investigating. 
&#8220;Out of an abundance of caution, the Capitol will remain closed for the rest of the day,&#8221; Michigan State Police spokeswoman Lori Dougovito said, <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/01/03/state-capitol-evacuated-due-to-safety-and-security-concerns/72095198007/">according</a> to The Detroit News.
Michigan House Republican Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus said in a statement to The Daily Wire that he and his team were in his office &#8220;when security informed us of the threat and evacuated us quickly and professionally.&#8221;
&#8220;So far there’s no cause for greater alarm as we turn the building over for law enforcement to sweep,&#8221; Posthumus added. &#8220;This is unfortunately a reality for our modern world but I applaud the quick and effective work of the first responders and capitol security.&#8221;
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Capitol buildings in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Montana all reopened after authorities investigated the threats and gave the all-clear. No state or local authorities have reported observing any suspicious activity or finding any suspicious objects on capitol grounds.

Michigan State House

Multiple State Capitols Evacuated After Receiving Bomb Threats

capitol

Connecticut

Crime

Georgia

Kentucky

Michigan

Montana

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> agents secretly recorded James Biden, who is President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>&#8216;s younger brother, as part of a bribery investigation into a group of Mississippi lawyers more than 15 years ago, according to a report published on Sunday.
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/17/james-bidens-dealmaking-caught-fbi-tapes-unrelated-bribery-probe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a> detailed how the FBI caught James Biden on tape in 2007 chatting about possible deals with associates of Mississippi trial attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, including the creation of a new consulting firm. By 2008, in the months before Joe Biden was elected vice president, Scruggs and his associates <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/business/03scruggs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded guilty</a> to charges in a scheme to pay a $40,000 bribe to a state judge and they served prison time.
Neither Joe Biden nor James Biden ever faced accusations of wrongdoing or charges in the case, emphasized the report, which relied on interviews, court records, and materials collected by &#8220;<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/190714/the-fall-of-the-house-of-zeus-by-curtis-wilkie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Fall of the House of Zeus&#8221;</a> author Curtis Wilkie. The FBI declined to comment on the report when pressed by The Daily Wire.
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Still, the revelations come as House investigators examine the business dealings of President Biden&#8217;s family members as part of a corruption-focused <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/impeachment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impeachment</a> inquiry. James Biden, along with Joe Biden&#8217;s son Hunter, has been subpoenaed for a deposition. President Biden, who is seeking re-election next year, has accused House Republicans of &#8220;attacking me with lies&#8221; and &#8220;choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt&#8221; that is &#8220;not supported by facts.&#8221;
The ties between Scruggs and the Bidens stretch back several years, per the Washington Post report, including a boat trip with James Biden and flying Joe Biden on his private plane to a fundraiser. Scruggs paid a firm run by James Biden and his wife Sara $100,000 in 1998 for advice on passing a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/18/us/tobacco-bill-overview-senate-drops-tobacco-bill-with-98-revival-unlikely-clinton.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tobacco bill</a>. Though Joe Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, threw his support behind the legislation, it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/18/us/tobacco-bill-overview-senate-drops-tobacco-bill-with-98-revival-unlikely-clinton.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not pass</a> through Congress.
Paul Fishman, a lawyer for James and Sara Biden, told the news outlet, &#8220;Jim Biden’s consulting work has never involved speaking with or providing access to his brother for this or any other client.&#8221; Scruggs reportedly claimed he did not know whether James Biden discussed the tobacco legislation with his brother. &#8220;But I hope he did,&#8221; he added. And though Scruggs insisted Jim Biden was &#8220;never untoward about his influence,&#8221; Scruggs conceded he &#8220;probably wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t the senator’s brother.&#8221;

Joe Biden sunglasses

FBI Secretly Recorded President Biden’s Brother James: Report

FBI Secretly Recorded President Biden's Brother James: Report

Executive

James Biden

Joe Biden

A Mississippi woman whose son disappeared more than a year ago only recently learned that he had never been missing and that authorities had found him quickly and buried him.
On May 20, 2022, Jonathan David Hankins hugged and kissed his mother, Gretchen, goodbye before saying he was leaving for a weekend trip with his friends. Jonathan, a meth addict, promised to come home for Sunday dinner and was known to leave for several days at a time, barred from entering the home while using the stimulant.
But Gretchen, along with Jonathan’s teenage daughter, became concerned that something had gone wrong, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jonathan-david-hankins-missing-buried-jackson-mississippi-rcna128735?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;_branch_match_id=1133745504221936325&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXz0tKzkstL9ZLLCjQy8nMy9Z3jszJz65ILit0SwIAS9EVJiQAAAA%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Gretchen reported her son missing to the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office nearly two months later, on July 14. A search <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RankinCountySO/posts/pfbid02CRd2pfLEiNsXqGd5t5HVYbhvKv477bHwcKQFiiARdC1cXoDPuzqP4FK5yJ5ixF2pl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was announced</a> on Facebook two weeks later, and the case was shared with local media outlets. Volunteers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MurkyWatersSearchandRecovery/posts/pfbid0dFnEFagK7ZJhUoL1zHpKoZUPkqm4y56RLG7pqf3XWXyvrYT3xRKcswnyJmvWMPUbl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searched</a> for him in the surrounding waterways but came up empty.
For more than a year, Gretchen contacted the sheriff’s office every few weeks asking for information about her son but was always told they had nothing new to report.
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“It was pain, mental pain, because I couldn’t imagine where he was at,” Gretchen told NBC. “I just couldn’t.”
During that time, Gretchen held out hope that her son was still alive, but that hope was shattered when NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dexter-exhumed-jackson-mississippi-final-indignity-rcna124870" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began investigating</a> people who were buried in a Hinds County pauper’s field without families being notified. The outlet combed through a register of recent burials, compared it to a list of missing people, and found Jonathan’s name, along with others, on both lists.
After confirming that it was, indeed, Gretchen’s son, the outlet visited her at her home on December 4 and shared the tragic news, along with what they had learned.
According to NBC, Jonathan had been found dead in a hotel room near Jackson, Mississippi, just three days after he said goodbye to Gretchen. NBC didn’t report the cause of death.
Investigators verified his identity but neither the Hinds County Coroner’s office nor the Jackson Police Department informed his family. He was buried in a grave marked with the number 645.
“It feels like they threw him away like trash,” Jonathan’s aunt, Jennie Jones, told the outlet. “No caring. No feeling.”
The Hinds County coroner’s office failed to notify families in two other cases, and the Jackson Police Department adopted new protocols for notifications last month.
JPD spokeswoman Melissa Faith Payne told the outlet that it was the coroner’s responsibility to contact Gretchen.
“From the scene, the victim’s body was immediately turned over to the Hinds County Coroner’s office for further investigation, including an autopsy,” she told the outlet in a statement. “To this day, the Jackson Police Department has had no further communication with the Hinds County Coroner’s office concerning this case. We were never notified of the victim’s cause of death or identity.”

Blank Tombstone

Her Son Disappeared. For More Than A Year She Didn’t Know Authorities Had Found And Buried Him.

Her Son Disappeared. For More Than A Year She Didn't Know Authorities Had Found And Buried Him.

Death

General

Missing Person

Police

Mississippi Republican Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tate-reeves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tate Reeves</a> fended off a challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley on Tuesday after weeks of media speculation that Democrats might take the governor’s mansion for the first time in 20 years. 
Reeves defeated Presley by about 39,000 votes, taking 51.8% of the vote. Presley <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/us/politics/tate-reeves-mississippi-presley.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conceded</a> around 11 p.m. CST on Tuesday. 
“This victory belongs to you,” Reeves said on Tuesday. “This victory is more than just who will occupy the governor’s mansion over the next four years. It’s really about the direction that our state will go over the next four years. Mississippi has momentum.”
Republican candidates for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mississippi</a> lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general all won their races with around 60% of the vote.
During the campaign, Reeves tied Presley to President Joe Biden, whose approval rating remains low across the country.
&#8220;My opponent has outsourced his entire campaign to the Democratic National Committee,&#8221; Reeves <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/mississippi-election-governor-tate-reeves-brandon-presley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a debate. &#8220;Joe Biden and his buddies have funded his campaign to the tune of 80% of the money that he has raised has come from California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. It ain&#8217;t charity.&#8221;
Presley <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2023/10/31/brandon-presley-outraised-tate-reeves-election/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> about $5 million more than Reeves during the campaign, taking in $11.2 million to Reeve’s $6.2 million. 
Presley, a second cousin to musician Elvis Presley and member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, said that his campaign had left no “stone unturned.”
“This is bigger than one man,” he said. “We can lose this race tonight recognizing good on the other side.”
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During the campaign, Presley pointed to a $77 million welfare scandal in Mississippi <a href="https://apnews.com/article/welfare-scandal-mississippi-phil-bryant-brett-favre-172c836b2cbb13ac1c509782221c5976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">where</a> federal money intended for low-income people ended up with people and organizations not qualified to receive the aid. The money was misspent by the state&#8217;s Department of Human Services. 
In the days leading up to the election, many media outlets speculated that Presley might pull off an upset. For example, Business Insider ran an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mississippi-governor-election-presley-reeves-democrats-upset-gop-rural-medicaid-2023-11#:~:text=So%20in%20order%20for%20Presley,his%20rural%20visibility%20is%20key." target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> titled “How Democrat Brandon Presley could win the Mississippi governor&#8217;s race and pull off one of the biggest political upsets of 2023.”
In the end, Reeve’s margin of victory was similar to 2019 when he was first elected governor and won by about 42,000 votes. 
Republicans struggled in other high-profile races across the country with Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-wins-second-term-in-kentucky-governors-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeating</a> Republican challenger Daniel Cameron, Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-take-virginia-legislature-neutering-gov-youngkins-agenda-and-putting-felon-in-charge-of-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking full control</a> of the state legislature in Virginia, and Ohio voters <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-abortion-won-ohio-voters-add-abortion-to-state-constitution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adding abortion</a> to the state constitution.

Republican Tate Reeves Wins Reelection In Mississippi Governor Race

Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves Wins Re-Election

Elections

Politics

Tate Reeves

Voters across the country head to the polls on Tuesday to decide key elections, including a bid by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kentucky</a> Republicans to flip the governor’s office and a referendum in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ohio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ohio</a> on whether to establish abortion as a constitutional right. 
In Kentucky, Democratic Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andy-beshear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Beshear</a> is facing a challenge from Republican Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/daniel-cameron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Cameron</a>, with recent polls showing a <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/11/03/andy-beshear-daniel-cameron-tied-kentucky-governors-race-emerson-poll/71435638007/">tight race</a>. One survey released on Friday from Emerson College Polling showed Beshear and Cameron tied, with both taking 47%. 
Cameron had been behind by 16 points in the previous Emerson poll before appearing to close the gap in recent weeks. Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball said the gap seemed to narrow because Cameron &#8220;appears to have gained ground by consolidating Republican voters who supported former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.”
During his campaign, Cameron highlighted former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Trump won Kentucky by 26 points in 2020, and Republicans have a supermajority in the legislature, overturning Beshear’s vetoes on a number of occasions. 
Last year, Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/historic-republicans-gain-voter-registration-advantage-in-another-state-for-the-first-time-ever" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained an edge</a> in voter registration in the commonwealth for the first time, as it has trended red in recent years. 
In Ohio, voters will decide whether to place a right to an abortion in the state constitution. Pro-life advocates say that the initiative would allow abortions at all stages of pregnancy.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-attorney-general-proposed-constitutional-amendment-would-legalize-all-abortion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that, if passed, Issue 1 would effectively legalize all abortion in the state.
“[T]he Amendment would give greater protection to abortion to be free from regulation than at any time in Ohio’s history,” analysis from Yost said. “That new test includes definitions and other terms that likewise make it harder for any law covering ‘reproductive decisions’ to survive.”
Since August 9, more than $18 million has been spent in favor of the pro-abortion initiative, with just $7 million being spent in opposition, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ohio-abortion-backers-victory-unbroken-winning-streak-issue-1-rcna122831" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to NBC News. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, seven states have put abortion rights on the ballot, and pro-life advocates <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/abortion-rights-won-every-election-roe-v-wade-overturned-rcna99031">have lost every time</a>. 
Ohioans will also vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults.
In Virginia, political control of the state legislature is up for grabs with Republicans looking to hold on to the House of Delegates and take a majority in the state Senate. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/full-panic-mode-biden-asks-dnc-to-help-out-virginia-dems-amid-record-fundraising-from-youngkin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broken fundraising records</a>, prompting President Joe Biden to ask the Democratic National Committee to donate to Virginia Democrats. A win for Republicans would give Youngkin the opportunity to get some conservative legislation passed before his term expires. 
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Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves is also on the ballot on Tuesday, facing a challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley, who has accused Reeves of corruption. Reeves won his first race in 2019 by five points, and the state consistently voted Republican in presidential elections, with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-governors-race-election-2023-28ed92be2af47c1f3573eb364846c2d4#:~:text=The%20last%20time%20a%20Democrat,compared%20with%20Reeves%27%20%246.3%20million." target="_blank" rel="noopener">the last</a> Democrat to win the state being Jimmy Carter.
Voters in Pennsylvania will also vote to <a href="https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-voters-to-decide-who-fills-vacant-seat-on-state-supreme-court/45758517#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fill a vacant</a> state Supreme Court seat, which could either increase or narrow the Democrat&#8217;s 4-2 advantage on the court. Republican Carolyn Carluccio is facing off against Democrat Dan McCaffery.

Republican Candidate For Governor Of Kentucky Daniel Cameron Holds An Primary Election Night Event

Election Day: Ohio Votes On Abortion, Kentucky Republicans Look To Flip Governorship

Abortion

Andy Beshear

Daniel Cameron

Ohio

Pennsylvania

A federal appeals court ruled against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mississippi’s</a> permanent voting ban for certain felons, going against Supreme Court precedent in doing so.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the Mississippi Constitution’s lifetime voting ban for felons convicted of certain crimes violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The Mississippi Constitution revokes an individual’s right to vote permanently if they receive a felony conviction for <a href="https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&amp;crid=c71663b9-9b85-4977-b69d-2737c5b5bc1c&amp;nodeid=AABAAOAAC&amp;nodepath=/ROOT/AAB/AABAAO/AABAAOAAC&amp;level=3&amp;haschildren=&amp;populated=false&amp;title=%25C2%25A7+241.+Qualifications+for+electors.&amp;config=00JABiMjA5NGUwNy0wZjYwLTQxNzMtOTUyYi1jMzk5YjAxYjNhYTQKAFBvZENhdGFsb2eQw0EiFEVosveh1rcBQAz6&amp;pddocfullpath=/shared/document/statutes-legislation/urn:contentItem:8PFV-60S2-D6RV-H20T-00008-00&amp;ecomp=7gf5kkk&amp;prid=a50cec77-a99d-4582-abff-67e04facc6f4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crimes</a> including arson, bigamy, bribery, embezzlement, forgery, murder, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, rape, or theft, as well as those crimes the Mississippi attorney general determines fall under those explicit categories, such as armed robbery and timber larceny.
The case decided on by the court last month, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/19-60678/19-60678-2023-08-04.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hopkins v. Hosemann</a>, was initiated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the law firm Simpson Thatcher &amp; Bartlett in 2018.
Judge James Dennis ruled that Mississippi’s continuation of its lifetime ban on certain felons went against progress by “bucking a clear and consistent trend” in the country modeled by the 35 states and the District of Columbia that gave up permanent felon voting bans over the years.
Dennis further declared that Mississippi’s permanent ban “serves no legitimate penological purpose” and thwarts proper rehabilitation.
“By severing former offenders from the body politic forever, [Mississippi] ensures that they will never be fully rehabilitated, continues to punish them beyond the term their culpability requires, and serves no protective function to society,” stated Dennis. “It is thus a cruel and unusual punishment.”
Judge Edith Jones countered in a dissenting opinion that the majority ruling itself contradicted the Constitution and reflected judicial activism.
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Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/14th-amendment%23:~:text=Section%25202.,State,%2520excluding%2520Indians%2520not%2520taxed." target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> states to deprive citizens of the right to vote for either “participation in rebellion, or other crime.” Jones declared that this provision expressly allows for lifetime voting bans for felons.
“The carve-out reflects a long tradition in this country, and before that, in British law, and before that, in the Western world,” said Jones. “This tradition can be summed up in Lockean terms: if a person breaks a law, he has forfeited the right to participate in making them.”
Jones also cited the Supreme Court precedent set in the 1974 case Richardson v. Ramirez, which determined that felon voting bans don’t violate the Equal Protection Clause. In that case, the court ruled that the question of handling voting rights for felons should be hashed out in a legislative forum, and that it wasn’t for their court to “choose one set of values over another.”
“[G]o and convince the state legislatures. Do the hard work of persuading your fellow citizens that the law should change,” said Jones. “[T]he court turns that advice on its head. No need to change the law through a laborious political process. The court will do it for you, so long as you rely on the Due Process Clause, rather than the Equal Protection Clause.”
The five felons who sued for the right to vote were Dennis Hopkins, Herman Parker, Walter Wayne Kuhn Jr, Bryon Demond Coleman, Jon O’Neal, and Earnest Willhite. Hopkins, Parker, Kuhn, and Willhite were convicted of <a href="https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&amp;crid=e6805b47-997f-4320-80b5-1981477d5b8a&amp;nodeid=ABYAAJAABAAW&amp;nodepath=/ROOT/ABY/ABYAAJ/ABYAAJAAB/ABYAAJAABAAW&amp;level=4&amp;haschildren=&amp;populated=false&amp;title=%25C2%25A7+97-17-41.+Grand+larceny;+felonious+taking+of+personal+property;+felonious+taking+of+property+of+established+place+of+worship;+penalties.&amp;config=00JABhZDIzMTViZS04NjcxLTQ1MDItOTllOS03MDg0ZTQxYzU4ZTQKAFBvZENhdGFsb2f8inKxYiqNVSihJeNKRlUp&amp;pddocfullpath=/shared/document/statutes-legislation/urn:contentItem:8P6B-8B52-8T6X-73J0-00008-00&amp;ecomp=7gf5kkk&amp;prid=377ab010-0d38-4cdd-b976-d7791c69315c">grand larceny</a>; Coleman was convicted of <a href="https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&amp;crid=d81c4742-9466-4750-8b96-36d5f6e707ed&amp;nodeid=ABYAAJAABABR&amp;nodepath=/ROOT/ABY/ABYAAJ/ABYAAJAAB/ABYAAJAABABR&amp;level=4&amp;haschildren=&amp;populated=false&amp;title=%25C2%25A7+97-17-70.+Receiving+stolen+property;+dual+charges+of+both+stealing+and+receiving+same+property+not+to+be+brought+against+single+defendant+in+same+jurisdiction;+penalties.&amp;config=00JABhZDIzMTViZS04NjcxLTQ1MDItOTllOS03MDg0ZTQxYzU4ZTQKAFBvZENhdGFsb2f8inKxYiqNVSihJeNKRlUp&amp;pddocfullpath=/shared/document/statutes-legislation/urn:contentItem:8P6B-8B52-8T6X-73JR-00008-00&amp;ecomp=7gf5kkk&amp;prid=377ab010-0d38-4cdd-b976-d7791c69315c">receiving stolen property</a>; and O’Neal was convicted of <a href="https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&amp;crid=68b33329-1635-4df1-a520-52925a49f30c&amp;nodeid=ABYAAJAABAAE&amp;nodepath=/ROOT/ABY/ABYAAJ/ABYAAJAAB/ABYAAJAABAAE&amp;level=4&amp;haschildren=&amp;populated=false&amp;title=%25C2%25A7+97-17-5.+Arson;+second+degree;+other+buildings+or+structures.&amp;config=00JABhZDIzMTViZS04NjcxLTQ1MDItOTllOS03MDg0ZTQxYzU4ZTQKAFBvZENhdGFsb2f8inKxYiqNVSihJeNKRlUp&amp;pddocfullpath=/shared/document/statutes-legislation/urn:contentItem:8P6B-8B52-8T6X-73HB-00008-00&amp;ecomp=7gf5kkk&amp;prid=377ab010-0d38-4cdd-b976-d7791c69315c">second degree arson</a>. All have completed their sentences.
Mississippi does offer a slim chance for voting rights restoration: the legislature may pass a bill to restore a particular individual’s voting rights, referred to as a “suffrage bill.”
In response to the ruling, Mississippi requested an en banc rehearing. Court of appeals hearings normally consist of three justices; with this request, all justices of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals would hear the case.

Voting

Federal Court Strikes Down Felony Voting Ban As ‘Cruel And Unusual Punishment’ In Unprecedented Ruling

Felony

Voting Rights

Four hunters bagged the biggest alligator ever officially caught in the state of Mississippi after an all-night battle.
Alligator hunter Donald Woods of Oxford, Mississippi, went hunting on the Yazoo River on August 25 with three friends: Joey Clark of Jackson, Will Thomas of Madison, and Tanner White of Flora. The men had caught 12-foot alligators before, but the largest ever officially caught had been a mammoth 14-foot, 3/4-inch behemoth caught in 2017.
“We got on the water right at dark,” Woods <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/28/massive-alligator-captured-mississippi-breaks-record/70697288007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>. “We were seeing a lot of alligators. It was a calm night. We saw a lot of 8-footers, 10-footers, but that&#8217;s not what we were after. &#8230; We&#8217;ve been hunting these things a long time. We&#8217;ve killed a lot of 12-footers.”
Then they saw the enormous alligator. “We knew he was wide,” Woods recalled. “His back was humongous. It was like we were following a jon boat.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Later, gator: Record-shattering 800-pound ‘nightmare material’ alligator caught in Mississippi <a href="https://t.co/sG1nlUXVgd">https://t.co/sG1nlUXVgd</a> <a href="https://t.co/6paOLJdfCB">pic.twitter.com/6paOLJdfCB</a>
&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1696151163920380375?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Woods hooked the alligator at roughly 9 p.m. “We held onto him a while — until 10 or so,” Woods said. “He broke my rod at that point. We hooked him eight or nine times and he kept breaking off. He would go down, sit and then take off. He kept going under logs. He knew what he was doing. The crazy thing is he stayed in that same spot.”
“There was no moving him,” Woods admitted. “We couldn&#8217;t do anything with him. He dictated everything we did. It was exhausting, but your adrenaline is going so you don&#8217;t notice it. It was more mentally exhausting than anything because he kept getting off.”
By the early morning, when the men’s assortment of rods and reels had been rendered unusable, the alligator started losing steam. “We were down to pretty much down to those two rods and reels at that point,” Woods acknowledged.
The men were able to hoist the gator into the boat by 4 a.m.
“We just knew we had a big alligator,” Woods stated. “We were just amazed at how wide his back was and how big the head was. It was surreal, to tell you the truth.”
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Alligator Program coordinator Andrew Arnett weighed and measured the gator; it was 14 feet, 3 inches and weighed 802.5 pounds.
“We&#8217;re done with chasing big ones this year,” Woods laughed. “I might even call it a career after that, honestly.”
One woman commented on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheRedAntler/posts/pfbid0igo3LSWrkiDU5fDmckc2rqWZ4zHLmXWVEXx6K2p4uXafod5UYfMp4gEENbL1pEtFl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook post</a> showing the alligator: “Jurassic World! TRex without legs!!!”

Alligator portrait close up

‘Jurassic World’: Mississippi Hunters Bag Largest Gator Ever Caught In State

Alligator

Twice-failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/stacey-abrams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stacey Abrams</a> has resurfaced with a new book and an apparent appetite to turn a couple of southern states blue.
Abrams, last seen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stacey-abrams-now-throwing-her-weight-around-with-group-advocating-gas-stove-regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">throwing her weight</a> around with a group advocating that Americans ditch their gas stoves, released a new fiction book on Tuesday titled, &#8220;Rogue Justice.&#8221; Here&#8217;s an interview she did with CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper on Tuesday about that novel. As described by Media Research Center&#8217;s Curtis Houck, the media appearance is &#8220;what one could call the interview equivalent of a back or foot massage at a five-star hotel and spa.&#8221;
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This from CNN&#39;s Jake Tapper to Stacey Abrams is what one could call the interview equivalent of a back or foot massage at a five-star hotel and spa <a href="https://t.co/zjZiJS9TXn">pic.twitter.com/zjZiJS9TXn</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1661106766422089731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Giving Abrams a back or a foot massage sounds like hell in a handbasket. But, if you happen to own a five-star hotel in Kentucky or Mississippi, you might have to give Abrams one anyway. It looks like she might soon spend some time in the Magnolia and the Blue Grass States.
On MSNBC, anchor Eugene Robinson asked her, &#8220;Which southern state do you think is ripest for the transformation you helped accomplish in Georgia?&#8221;
&#8220;I think that we have an exciting set of elections coming up in Mississippi with Brandon Presley running against a very weakened Tate Reaves,&#8221; Abrams said. “I think that Andy Beshear is going to put on a very credible race against Daniel Cameron. He has been a strong governor, and that is a real opportunity.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MSNBC: &quot;Which southern state do you think is ripest for the transformation you helped accomplish in Georgia?&quot;
STACEY ABRAMS: &quot;I think that we have an exciting set of elections coming up in Mississippi&#8230;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/2VECEukd21">pic.twitter.com/2VECEukd21</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1660982000939876352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
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For context, after the 2018 election, the Georgia Democrat refused to concede on election night only to spend the next four years bemoaning that Governor Brian Kemp (R) had effectively stolen the election from her. Then, after he signed election reform laws that included items such as voter ID, she alleged he was suppressing the black vote even further.
After primary and general election turnout saw record early numbers with little wait times and near zero reports of voting difficulty, she alleged that the overall smooth process was not necessarily evidence that suppression did not exist. Other Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-georgias-record-voter-turnout-is-actually-voter-suppression" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concurred</a> with that assessment.
In the waning days of her campaign, she spent her time appearing at concerts pushing abortion and claimed that Republicans wanted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stacey-abrams-tells-oprah-elect-me-or-transgender-kids-will-be-banned-from-playing-with-friends-parents-will-be-forced-to-lie-and-gay-people-wont-be-protected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlaw certain friends from playing with each other</a> and would force parents to lie.
In 2022, Abrams was trounced by Kemp, who won with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-georgia-governor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">53.4% of the vote</a>.
Abrams also has experience abroad acting as a part of a 40-member crew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stacey-abrams-pops-up-in-nigeria-as-an-election-observer-losing-side-promptly-alleges-rigged-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">observing</a> polls in Nigeria’s elections.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams Resurfaces With New Fiction Book, Hungry To Turn Southern States Blue

Democratic Party

A Mississippi high school boy who claims he is a girl was told by his school he had to wear boy’s clothes to his high school graduation — and then his parents sued the school district to force them to allow him to wear a dress.
L.B. Brown said he was informed by Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King that he had to “dress like a boy” at the graduation, wearing a white button-down shirt, tie and black slacks.  Brown said he was instructed to wear “pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy” by King. Girls are required to wear white dresses.
“Me going to graduation in what they asked me to wear would be me telling them that it&#8217;s OK, and it&#8217;s not,” Brown declared. “It would just feel like I was shadowed and tainted by bigotry, hate. My graduation, it&#8217;s the start of a new life, a better life.”
Brown had worn girl’s attire to school before, a point that the lawsuit stressed. “When we looked at that policy, under our impression, my daughter identifies as female every day of her life. She dresses in feminine clothing every day of her life,” Brown’s mother Samantha <a href="https://www.wdtv.com/2023/05/22/transgender-student-who-sued-over-graduation-dress-code-tells-her-story/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding of King, “He also said that the kids needed to have on their ‘Sunday best.’ How is her wearing her dress not her Sunday best?”
Brown’s family along with the ACLU filed a lawsuit on Thursday, May 18, in order to force the school, located near Lyman, Mississippi, to accept Brown wearing a dress to the Saturday May 20 graduation. In court, both Brown and his mother <a href="https://www.wlox.com/2023/05/20/court-upholds-school-district-policy-not-allowing-transgender-student-wear-dress-graduation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> he had been officially registered as a male during the four years he attended the school. They also stated that they had signed a commencement participation agreement in March that adumbrated the graduation dress code policy.
King stated in court that he had seen a young man wearing a dress at an earlier event, prompting him to examine the school’s dress code policy. He asked the principals at Harrison Central, West Harrison and D’Iberville High Schools to name students who might be breaking the dress code.
On Friday night, U.S. District Court Judge Taylor McNeel <a href="https://www.wlox.com/2023/05/20/court-upholds-school-district-policy-not-allowing-transgender-student-wear-dress-graduation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied the request</a>, asserting that Brown’s case did not meet the standard so he could grant “extraordinary relief in changing the status quo in a short time period.” McNell said the status quo was the school sticking to its dress code policy.
The school also refused permission for a girl to get her diploma at the graduation because she wore black pants instead of the requested girls’ attire.

holding a shot of graduation cap

Mississippi High School Won’t Let Boy Wear Dress To Graduation. His Family Sues The School.

Graduation

High School

Transgender

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/morgan-wallen">Morgan Wallen</a> set off a firestorm on social media after abruptly canceling his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi">Mississippi</a> concert minutes before he was supposed to take the stage.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/country-music">country star</a> was scheduled to perform Sunday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium as part of his “One Night at a Time World Tour.” The musician played the same venue Saturday night along with opening acts Hardy, Ernest, and Bailey Zimmerman. But then, right before he was scheduled to begin his portion of the show Sunday night, Wallen announced that he was unable to perform.
Fans who had sat through the opening acts saw a message posted on video screens in the stadium saying the show was canceled because Wallen had “lost his voice.” The message instructed them to make their way safely to the exits and assured them they’d be issued a refund for the event at the point of purchase.
Concertgoers headed to social media to express their disappointment.
“Drive 10 hours for a concert, Morgan cancels… at least we saw Hardy! The amount of grown women crying on ground was insane,” one person <a href="https://twitter.com/auroraliane_/status/1650323458092408833">tweeted</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Drive 10 hours for a concert, Morgan cancels 🤪 at least we saw Hardy! The amount of grown women crying on ground was insane <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/oxfordms?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#oxfordms</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/morganwallen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#morganwallen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/olemiss?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#olemiss</a> <a href="https://t.co/yKwxIJzAN6">pic.twitter.com/yKwxIJzAN6</a>
&mdash; Aurora Long (@auroraliane_) <a href="https://twitter.com/auroraliane_/status/1650323458092408833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Completely disappointed in [Morgan Wallen]!! Been sitting in this stadium for 3 hrs and he just announced the show is canceled!!! COMPLETE BULLS***!!” another person wrote.
Hey [Morgan Wallen] Thanks for ruining my 10 year olds first concert experience after driving 3 hours, paying a butt load to park, and having us sit there 5 hours before cancelling,” one mom <a href="https://twitter.com/nblackburn12/status/1650324833979318272">tweeted</a> alongside a string of angry face emojis. She also included a photo of her child enjoying the concert before finding out about the last-minute cancellation.
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Wallen shared a personal update later via his Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/morganwallen/">page</a>.
“After (Saturday) night’s show I started losing my voice so I spent the day resting up, talking to my doctor and working through my vocal exercises trying to get better. I really thought I’d be able to take the stage and it kills me to deliver this so close to showtime, but my voice is shot and I am unable to sing,” he shared. “All tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could.”

Morgan Wallen

Morgan Wallen Cancels Concert Minutes Before Showtime, Fans React With Fury Online

Country Music

Music

Social Media

Former WWE wrestler Ted Dibiase Jr., the son of Ted &#8220;The Million Dollar Man&#8221; DiBiase Sr., has been charged with fraud and theft in connection with a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mississippi</a> welfare scandal that misappropriated millions of dollars in federal safety-net funds.
According to a federal indictment authorities unsealed on Thursday, authorities charged DiBiase Jr., 40, along with co-conspirators, for allegedly fraudulently obtaining federal funds — including from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program — using the funds intended for low-income families and individuals for their benefit.
&#8220;DiBiase allegedly used these federal funds to buy a vehicle and a boat, and for the down payment on the purchase of a house, among other expenditures,&#8221; the DOJ said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-professional-wrestler-charged-theft-millions-dollars-federal-funds-intended-needy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>.
DiBiase Jr. wrestled with the WWE until 2013. Fans of the sports entertainment network best know him for his role as one of the three members of &#8220;The Legacy,&#8221; which included Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
Authorities also named John Davis, the Mississippi Department of Human Services executive director, Christi Webb, the head of the Human Resource Center of North Mississippi Inc., and Nancy New, who ran the Mississippi Community Education Center, in the alleged scheme.
According to the Justice Department, Davis directed the Mississippi Department of Human Services to subgrant federal funds to the nonprofit organizations operated by Webb and New through &#8220;sham&#8221; contracts to the various people and entities to deliver social services.
At least five contacts were awarded to DiBiase&#8217;s companies, Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem LLC, which authorities said the former wrestler &#8220;did not provide and did not intend to provide&#8221; such social services.
Federal authorities charged DiBiase with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering.
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If convicted, DiBiase faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy count, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and for each count of money laundering.
DiBiase&#8217;s lawyer has not responded to media requests for comment.
The case dates back to early 2020, when New and her son, former Mississippi Department of Human Services executive director John Davis, and three others were charged with diverting welfare money to items such as drug rehabilitation for former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase.
According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/former-wwe-wrestler-charged-theft-millions-from-mississippi-welfare-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>, DiBiase Sr. founded the &#8220;Heart of Davis Ministry&#8221; in 1999, which allegedly received more than $2.1 million in welfare funds from the state of Mississippi after the Department of Human Services hired his son, Brett, as the deputy administrator.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services then sued the DiBiase family, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, and others, to recover $20 million in &#8220;squandered&#8221; funds, which is considered the biggest fraud case in state history, Fox News reported.
Favre told Fox News in October 2022 that the media &#8220;unjustly smeared&#8221; him, adding he had &#8220;done nothing wrong.&#8221;

Ted DiBiase Jr.

Former WWE Wrestler Ted Dibiase Jr. Charged In Mississippi Welfare Program Scheme

Department of Justice

Welfare

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