Next week is the Mississippi Free Press’ fifth birthday and Sunshine Week, an annual initiative focusing on the importance of government transparency. It’s apropos that it falls the same week and follows the decision from the Hinds County Chancery Court that ruled the Mississippi Legislature wasn’t a public body.
This whole thing started in 2022 when investigative reporter Nick Judin, who at the time was covering the Legislature for us, tried to enter the House GOP Caucus meeting and was asked to leave, which led to our team filing a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission. The commission ruled that the caucus, which includes a majority of the current Mississippi House of Representatives and decides on policy behind closed doors, was not a public body and not subject to the Open Meetings Act. Hinds County Chancery Dewayne Thomas has now agreed with that disturbing logic. It should come as no surprise that as a news publisher I disagree, but I’m not a judge. I do not serve on the Mississippi Ethics Commission, so my opinion doesn’t matter much.
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My grandmother used to say, “What’s done in the dark will come to light,” and I believe that, but I’m not sure we have time to wait for the natural evolution of events. As I personally see it, the United States is very, very close to losing our democracy. Some would say we’ve lost it. Historically, a lot of politicians and government officials have not been amenable to openness and transparency with the folks that elected them and
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