Watch 5:14
News Wrap: Supreme Court throws out Curtis Flowers conviction, citing racial bias
In our Friday news wrap, the Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction and death sentence for a black Mississippi man, citing racial bias in jury selection. A 7-to-2 majority found Curtis Flowers was deprived of a fair trial. Also,…
Supreme Court throws out murder conviction of black inmate
The court's 7-2 decision says the removal of black prospective jurors violated the rights of inmate Curtis Flowers.
Midwestern floods devastate seafood catches downstream
Many species that depend on a brackish mix of fresh and saltwater in coastal estuaries are decamping as this year's huge floods flush in fresh water, laden with pollution from farms and cities in the Mississippi River basin.
Watch 7:06
With the Juke Joint Festival, a Mississippi city aims to lose its economic blues
In Mississippi’s Clarksdale, the heart of the rural Delta, a celebration of the blues has been drawing thousands of fans to the area for the past 16 years. The Juke Joint Festival, named for bars and informal music venues scattered…
Two U.S. senators from opposing parties praised their former colleague, Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi, as one of their closest friends and as a gentleman who cared about the people of his state and worked across party lines.
In 1890, as white politicians across the South cracked down on the black population with Jim Crow laws, Mississippi inserted into its constitution an unusually high bar for getting elected governor or winning any other state office.
When he won a Senate seat in 1978, Cochran became the first Republican since Reconstruction to win statewide office in Mississippi.
"Here we go again," U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his order. "Mississippi has passed another law banning abortions prior to viability." His new order stops the law from taking effect July 1.
The federal judge hearing the lawsuit against Mississippi's 6-week abortion ban already struck down a 15-week ban last year.
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