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A Welcoming Church

Blurb

On August 25, 2008, the small town of Laurel, Mississippi was the site of the largest single workplace site raid in U.S. history. Early that morning hundreds of Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agents swooped down on the Howard Industries plant in Laurel, which produces electric transformers, and began rounding up workers. Anyone who appeared to be of Hispanic origin was separated from other workers and escorted outside to a fenced yard. In the midst of such terror, a small Catholic church became the center of solace and assistance.

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Mississippi congregation reaches out after devastating immigration raid

By Sue Weishar, Ph.D.

Jim Crow—Born Again: The Case of Mississippi

Blurb

As the U.S. is the global leader in incarceration, so Mississippi is a national leader. Mississippi has the second highest rate of incarceration in the nation, second only to Louisiana. Mississippi incarcerates its citizens at a rate of 735 per 100,000 population. The Sentencing Project reports that since 1988, the number of persons imprisoned in Mississippi has increased by 208 percent, from 7,384 to 22,754. The national growth rate during the same period is 133 percent. [1]

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

As the U.S. is the global leader in incarceration, so Mississippi is a national leader. Mississippi has the second highest rate of incarceration in the nation, second only to Louisiana. Mississippi incarcerates its citizens at a rate of 735 per 100,000 population. The Sentencing Project reports that since 1988, the number of persons imprisoned in Mississippi has increased by 208 percent, from 7,384 to 22,754. The national growth rate during the same period is 133 percent. [1]

Religious leaders call Mississippians to end predatory lending

Blurb

Pending bill continues debt trap for low-income borrowers 

On January 11, 2011, a coalition of Mississippi’s religious and social justice leaders called Mississippians and the state legislature to end predatory payday lending.   As the Mississippi House Banking Committee unanimously passed a bill that would extend predatory lending in Mississippi, Bishop Hope Morgan of the United Methodist Church reflected: “I come to bring good news to the poor—572 percent is not good news to the poor.  The poor are being entrapped.  We are better people than this.

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Pending bill continues debt trap for low-income borrowers

By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.

Mississippi's missed Katrina recovery

Blurb

Report documents unfulfilled promises and 5,000 families without permanent housing
In a new report authored by Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for Justice senior attorney, the center documents the shortcomings of Mississippi’s post-Katrina housing recovery. The report is entitled Hurricane Katrina: How Will Mississippi Turn the Corner?

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Report documents unfulfilled promises and 5,000 families without permanent housing

by Fred Kammer, SJ, JSRI Director

In a new report authored by Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for Justice senior attorney, the center documents the shortcomings of Mississippi’s post-Katrina housing recovery. The report is entitled Hurricane Katrina: How Will Mississippi Turn the Corner? Among its key findings are these: