OXFORD, Miss. – The vast majority of the 5,534 men and women detained in local Mississippi jails are not serving sentences for criminal convictions but instead are awaiting their day in court to face charges, and nearly half the detainees have been in jail for more than 90 days.

Those are among the findings made available to the public by the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law. The updated version of the center’s comprehensive database identifies the 5,534 detainees in Mississippi’s county and regional jails and can be accessed at https://msjaildata.com/.

The initial version of the database, released in April 2018, identified 7,193 such detainees. Besides the names of those held in jail, the database provides dates of arrest, charges against each detainee, the amount of time each person has been in jail, average length of detention in each Mississippi county and a comparison of the April and November databases. The information used to create the database was obtained directly from “jail lists” produced by Mississippi sheriffs pursuant to court rules.

Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Mississippi office, expressed continued concern regarding lengthy pretrial incarceration.

“Our database confirms that long-term pretrial incarceration of poor Mississippians, attributable primarily to improper and illegal use of the money bail system, continues to be a significant problem that costs counties millions of dollars.” Johnson said. “Our estimate is that Mississippi counties collectively are paying between $80 million and $100 million each year to lock up people who have not yet been convicted of any crime.”

A search of the database reveals that more than 2,600 people have been detained in local jails for longer than 90 days. Of those, 1,603 have been held for longer than 180 days, 1,035 for longer than 270 days, and 675 for longer than a year.

Johnson explained that lengthy periods of pretrial incarceration is of particular concern in Mississippi and is due, at least in part, to a combination of factors unique to the state.

“In addition to the widespread illegal and improper use of money bail, other significant factors are that grand juries meet infrequently in Mississippi’s many rural counties, and that prosecutors across the state, for a variety of reasons, often are slow to present cases to the grand jury,” Johnson said.

“There is no limit in Mississippi on how long a person can be held prior to indictment, so detainees can wait up to a year or more before even being formally charged with a crime. They wait months after that for their trial date.”

The MacArthur Justice Center has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to adopt a rule limiting the amount of time a person can be held in jail before indictment, but the court has declined to do so.

While the updated database shows a 24 percent decrease in the jail population since the April report, there is no clear explanation for the change.

“I believe the decrease is attributable, at least in part, to our public disclosure of information regarding the people locked up in our jails coupled with recent litigation in Mississippi reminding judges and other participants in the criminal justice system of what the law says about the proper use of money bail and the illegality of incarcerating poor folks for unpaid fines and fees,” Johnson said.

“I also credit the new Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure adopted by the Mississippi Supreme Court last year.”

The new data show that several counties have reduced their jail population since the center’s first report. Among those are:

• Desoto – from 519 to 219
• Harrison – from 1,106 to 882
• Lauderdale – from 245 to 140
• Lincoln – from 150 to 65

Despite the downward trend, the jail population in some counties increased over the same period. Those include:

• Hancock – from 124 to 185
• Hinds – from 625 to 667
• Leflore – from 86 to 136

The available data does not show whether detainees are awaiting trial, have yet to be indicted, are waiting for mental health evaluation or treatment, or have been convicted and are waiting to be transported to a state prison, Johnson emphasized.

“At this point, we can only provide limited ‘snapshots’ of Mississippi’s jail population at different points in time,” he said. “We urge the Mississippi Legislature to require the implementation of a uniform statewide system of reporting jail data that is available to the public and provides comprehensive real-time information about who is in our county jails and why.

“This tool would enable judges, lawyers, legislators, politicians and the public to make informed decisions regarding how best to make certain that our criminal justice system is efficient and fair.”

“Jail data available to everyone is a valuable tool in our struggle to reform the criminal justice system,” said Andre DeGruy, state defender for Mississippi. “Research shows that people who are in jail pretrial are more likely to get convicted and receive longer sentences for the same crimes as those who are not incarcerated pretrial.

“They are also more likely to need the services of a public defender than the person who can get out and go to work while awaiting trial. Excessive pretrial detention strains every part of the system.

“Being able to see who’s in jail and how long they have been serving allows us to shine a light on the dark places in our system and can facilitate error correction, whether that means getting the person moved to state custody, a mental health facility or back home.”

Gipsy Escobar, director of research at Measures for Justice in Rochester, New York, has reviewed the new database. Measures for Justice works across the country to develop a data-driven set of performance measures to assess and compare the criminal justice process from arrest to post-conviction on a county-by-county basis.

“The MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law has done tremendous work to collect jail data, literally by hand,” Escobar said. “Absent any other information about jails in Mississippi, this is the best we have.

“However, as MJC acknowledges, the data may not be uniformly collected or defined. Thus this terrific effort brings to the fore the urgent need for collecting uniform jail and local criminal justice data in Mississippi in pursuit of ever more reliable measurement.”

The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, known as the PEER Committee, recently issued a report addressing the lack of comprehensive jail data in Mississippi and recommending that the Legislature create a uniform statewide system of reporting jail data.

The report, referring extensively to the efforts of the MacArthur Justice Center, concluded that such information would assist policymakers in making economic decisions regarding incarceration.

“The extended imprisonment of thousands of Mississippians who have not been convicted of a crime is unacceptable,” Johnson said. “Rarely is any effort made to determine whether the release of these pretrial detainees would actually put the public at risk, and current pretrial incarceration practices cost Mississippi counties a fortune.

“We must reform this system that forces Americans to pay cash for their freedom and permits the government to lock people up for months before being formally charged with a crime and getting their day in court.”

The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center is a public interest law firm with offices in Chicago at Northwestern Law School, St. Louis, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Oxford at the UM School of Law. The MacArthur Justice Center litigates a wide range of civil rights cases, with particular emphasis in the area of criminal justice. For more information, go to https://www.macarthurjustice.org/.

OXFORD, Miss. – Macey Edmondson, assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Mississippi School of Law, has been named president-elect of the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals.

She will serve as president for the 2019-20 academic year.

NALSAP is an organization for professionals who provide support to law students. The organization was founded in 2016 to serve as a “meeting place” for student affairs professionals to learn best practices, develop ideas, engage in professional growth and discuss issues affecting law students.

Edmondson was a co-founder of the organization, along with Johnny Pryor, assistant dean for student affairs at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law; Rebekah Grodsky, director of academic and student affairs at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law; and Emily Scivoletto, associate dean for academic and student affairs at UCLA School of Law.

“There were plenty of professional organizations out there for other aspects of legal education, but nothing for student affairs,” she said. “We kept hearing that it was needed greatly.”

The UM School of Law was instrumental in helping Edmondson and her student affairs colleagues found the organization. The school’s Transactional Law Clinic assisted the board of directors in obtaining the organization’s business league status as a 501(c)6 entity, allowing NALSAP to provide professional development opportunities.

“Macey and her colleagues from other law schools throughout the country recognized the need for an organization to support student affairs professionals,” said Marie Cope, law professor and transactional clinic director. “NALSAP is an important resource and network of professionals, and Macey will be an amazing asset to the organization during her tenure as president.”

In just two years, the organization has grown, providing professional opportunities to more than 83 institutional members and 435 individual members representing 104 law schools across the country.

“NALSAP has benefited from Macey’s positivity, collaborative spirit and ability to work well with a broad range of constituents to fulfill our mission,” Pryor said. “Because of Macey’s efforts, in collaboration with the other three co-founders, law school student affair professionals have a professional home for resources, support and professional development.”

Each year, NALSAP hosts a conference that includes informational sessions and presentations that focus on resources for law students. Edmondson served as program chair for the organization’s second conference.

“I’m just so proud of NALSAP,” Edmondson said. “It’s amazing how fast our members have gravitated towards this organization.

“It’s a big resource for student affairs professionals in the law school community, and for our members to feel that I can help guide the organization is a huge honor.”

Edmondson’s goals as president includes developing online resources and programming, creating recurring communication updates among members and finding new ways for professionals to have their works published.

“I want to make sure this organization is solidified and maintains good grounding to serve as a foundation for future student affairs professionals,” she said.

OXFORD, Miss. – On Sept. 17, 231 years ago, delegates who had been meeting in Philadelphia that summer made their work public, signing the U.S. Constitution and proposing it for ratification by “We the People.”

The University of Mississippi School of Law will celebrate that triumphant day by hosting a Constitution Day commemoration Sept. 17 in the Robert C. Khayat Law Center. The 12:30 event in Weems Auditorium is free and open to the public.

This year, the celebration will feature a debate between UM associate professor of law Christopher Green and Georgia State University law professor Eric Segall titled “What is Originalism, and Is It a Good Idea?” They will discuss how the Constitution should be interpreted today.

“We are proud to host the annual commemoration of this foundational moment in our history,” said Michele Alexandre, the school’s associate dean for faculty development and intellectual life. “Professor Green and Segall are two dynamic scholars in the field with divergent views on the constitution.

“Their conversation will provide valuable food for thought and useful information to the audience.”

The event is sponsored by the Boyce Holleman Debate Series.

“It’s not surprising that Congress has told all of the universities in the country to set aside some time thinking about the Constitution every Sept. 17,” Green said. “Developing views about the Constitution, however tentative or incomplete, is an important obligation of everyone in the country.

“Love it or hate it, no matter what you think the Constitution is, no one should just be apathetic about it.”

The Constitution should not be left solely to the experts, Green said, who invites everyone to hear the debate in person.

“Anyone who grows up in places governed by the Constitution really ought to start thinking about it shortly after they learn to read,” he said.

Green joined the Ole Miss faculty in 2006. He is a graduate of Princeton University, Yale Law School and earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.

He clerked for UM law school alumnus Judge Rhesa H. Barksdale on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Green also is author “Equal Citizenship, Civil Rights, and the Constitution: The Original Sense of the Privileges or Immunities Clause” (Routledge, 2015).

Segall has taught at Georgia State University since 1991. A graduate of Emory University and the Vanderbilt University Law School, he clerked for U.S. District Court and U.S. Circuit Court judges Charles Moye Jr. and Albert J. Henderson in Georgia.

He also wrote “Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices are Not Judges” (Praeger, 2012).

Green and Segall also have both authored numerous articles and essays on constitutional theory.

“It’s exciting to be able to have a debate with someone like Eric Segall so soon after school begins,” Green said. “Eric and I have been Twitter ‘frenemies’ for several years, so it will be fun to translate our battles in that medium into a more formal debate, even though we disagree about nearly everything.”

For more information about the event, contact Alexandre at malexandre@olemiss.edu or operations assistant Carroll Moore at carrollm@olemiss.edu.

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Law has two new faculty members with a wealth of experience to lead its groundbreaking education and research program in air and space law.

Michelle Hanlon and Charles Stotler will serve as associate directors of the Master of Laws program in air and space law.

Hanlon, who has earned degrees from Yale University, Georgetown University and McGill University, comes to Ole Miss after spending more than 25 years as a practicing business attorney. She is co-founder and president of For All Moonkind Inc., the world’s only organization focused on preserving human cultural heritage in outer space, starting with lunar landing sites.

For All Moonkind was named a “Top 10 Innovator in Space” by Fast Company and has been granted observer status at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Stotler holds degrees from St. John’s College, Loyola University and McGill University. He brings deep experience in aviation, international and space law to Ole Miss. He has advised corporate clients, international airports, international intergovernmental organizations and trade associations; advocated for the growth of the space law discipline through the American Society of International Law; and focused on the intersection of science and technology with law and policy as a Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academies.

The core of the university’s air and space law program was built in 1965 by Stephen Gorove, one of the earliest jurists to focus on legal aspects of space exploration.

“The School of Law’s long tradition and institutional experience leaves us uniquely poised to help our global society assure the responsible and ethical utilization of opportunities in aviation and space,” Dean Susan Duncan said. “Expanding our air and space law program will open exciting new job opportunities for our students and foster truly cutting-edge legal scholarship.”

The appointment of Hanlon and Stotler emphasizes the school’s enduring commitment to the country’s first space law program and only LL.M. degree program in air and space law.

“The rich history of the air and space law program at the University of Mississippi is truly inspiring,” Stotler said. “In the tradition of Dr. Gorove, it’s important to make sure our air and space laws and regulations keep up with technology. Otherwise we are just crippling important – perhaps vital – innovation.”

Hanlon and Stotler aim to educate the next generation of industry professionals.

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be an air and space lawyer,” Hanlon said. “Every day, someone, some company or some nation is challenging the current legal regime.

“From flying cars to drones to private robots on the moon, we have a lot of gray areas to navigate as humanity moves into the future.”

Hanlon and Stotler both joined the faculty in July are teaching classes this fall.