Mississippi Today
In first weeks of availability, parents request nearly 700 vaccine exemptions for kids
Parents requested nearly 680 religious vaccine exemptions in the first weeks they were available in Mississippi, something health department officials said has slowed in recent weeks.
In April, a federal judge ruled that parents can opt out of vaccinating their children for school on account of religious beliefs. U.S. District Judge Halil Sul Ozerden of the Southern District of Mississippi issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit, filed last year by parents who said the vaccination requirement violated their First Amendment rights.
Under the newly created process, which went into effect July 17, parents must complete the form on the Mississippi Department of Health's website and make an appointment with their county health department to submit it. At the appointment, parents are shown an educational video about vaccination and are informed that if an outbreak occurs, their child will not be able to attend school or day care until it is resolved. The form is then processed by the health department.
Health department officials said that parents can apply for a religious exemption at any point, but schools are required to have proof of vaccination or an exemption form on file within 90 days of the start of school.
Dr. Jana Shaw, a childhood vaccination researcher and professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University, said Mississippi's process is more stringent than several other states.
Of those who applied for a religious exemption in the first two and a half weeks, over 80% requested exemption from all eight of the vaccines required for child care or school entry. Those vaccines protect against hepatitis B; polio; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; haemophilus influenzae type b; pneumonia and meningitis; measles, mumps and rubella; and chickenpox.
Prior to the court ruling, Mississippi led the nation in childhood vaccinations as one of six states without a religious exemption for vaccines. It's unclear exactly what impact this new exemption will have, but researchers have generally found a decline in childhood vaccination rates when a religious or personal exemption is added.
Vaccine requirement opponents have been unsuccessfully lobbying the Legislature for a religious exemption provision for years. Mississippi hasn't had a religious exemption for child vaccinations since 1979.
“This is the … one thing that I did not have to hang my head in shame about,” said State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney, referencing Mississippi's poor health outcomes, in a July 20 interview with SuperTalk.
Shaw said these types of policies in other states have led to a decline in childhood vaccination rates, but the size of that decline varies. An annual report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 10% of kindergarteners received exemptions in Idaho in the 2021-22 school year, while only 1% did in Massachusetts.
When discussing that decline, Shaw said state-level statistics are limited in their usefulness because they can disguise pockets of unvaccinated children in specific communities that can “easily start and fuel outbreaks.”
Of those who requested exemptions in the first few weeks, five counties had over 30 forms submitted: Jackson, George, Pike, Lincoln, and Madison.
Shaw also said religious exemptions are rarely actually about religious beliefs, as none of the major religions object to vaccination.
“Religious exemptions are often used, or abused, by those who do not want to vaccinate their children and use it for their personal objection to vaccination,” she said.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch admitted in her filings for this lawsuit that the compulsory vaccination law, considered on its own, would violate parents' rights, something the judge cited in his ruling.
“For a federal judge to overturn it (the compulsory vaccination law), he pretty much had to – the attorney general conceded the point, threw us under the bus, (and there) wasn't much else that could be done,” Edney said in his SuperTalk interview.
Edney and the Health Department have continued to emphasize the importance of childhood vaccinations and encouraged parents to vaccinate their children, including hosting a series of walk-in vaccination clinics at county health departments.
“Vaccines are victims of their own success,” Shaw said. “Parents don't see (these diseases) anymore, so they don't fear them.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Law enforcement officers’ oversight bill heads to governor’s desk
The Mississippi Senate passed legislation Monday to give the state's officer certification board the power to investigate law enforcement misconduct.
House Bill 691, the revised version of which passed the House Saturday, is now headed to the desk of Gov. Tate Reeves.
The bill comes in the wake of an investigation by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today and The New York Times into sheriffs and deputies across the state over allegations of sexual abuse, torture and corruption. The reporting also revealed how a “Goon Squad” of officers operated for two decades in Rankin County.
Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said if the governor signs the bill, he anticipates the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training would hire a few investigators to investigate matters and make recommendations.
The bill would enable the board to establish a hearing panel on any law enforcement officer “for whom the board believes there is a basis for reprimand, suspension, cancellation of, or recalling the certification of a law enforcement officer. The hearing panel shall provide its written findings and recommendations to the board.”
In addition, deputies, sheriffs and state law enforcement would join police officers in the requirement to have 20 hours of training each year. Those who fail to get such training could lose their certifications.
Other changes would take place as well. Each year, the licensing board would have to report on its activities to the Legislature and the governor.
The bill calls for a 13-member board with the governor having six appointments – two police chiefs, two sheriffs, a district attorney and the head of the law enforcement training academy.
Other members include the attorney general, the public safety commissioner, the head of the Highway Patrol, and the presidents of the police chiefs association, the constable association, the Mississippi Campus Law Enforcement Association and the sheriff's association (or designee).
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Legislators extend 2024 session after missing budget deadline
Legislative leaders are optimistic that they will be able to start passing bills to fund the $7-billion budget to fund state services on Tuesday.
“We will be rolling Tuesday and the day after I suppose,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg.
Late Monday the House and Senate agreed on a resolution to extend the session. Appropriations and revenue (taxes and borrowing) bills died Saturday night when House and Senate leaders could not reach agreement on a key deadline. The resolution approved Monday was needed to revive the bills.
The final day of the session was scheduled for Sunday, May 5. Now it is scheduled for May 14, but House Speaker Jason White, R-West, predicted Monday that the Legislature will finish its work this week, though leaders did concede there were still some “minor” disagreements between the House and Senate.
Under the resolution, the legislators – even though their work would be completed this week — will return on May 14 unless White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann agree not to return.
Returning on May 14 would give the Legislature the opportunity address any possible vetoes by Gov. Tate Reeves. Lawmakers can override gubernatorial vetoes with a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
Asked Monday if an agreement had been reached on the revenue bills, Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, R-Brandon, who handles those proposals, said, “Gosh, I hope so. If not I am going holler a Jerry Clower for them to shoot up amongst us,” Harkins said referencing a skit by the Mississippi comic.
It took a two-thirds vote of both chambers to pass the resolution to extend the session. It passed unanimously in the House, but six members of the 52-member Senate voted no. Without the resolution, it most likely would require a special session called by Gov. Tate Reeves to pass budget bills and revenue bills.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Lawsuit in death of man following Jackson police encounter may be headed to trial
The family of George Robinson plans to move forward with a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Jackson and three former police officers after rejecting a nearly $18,000 settlement offer.
Attorney Dennis Sweet III made the intentions of Bettersten Wade, Robinson's sister, and Vernice Robinson, Robinson's mother, clear in a Thursday letter sent the day after the City Council approved a $17,786 payment to settle the family's 2019 lawsuit.
“This is more than anyone should have to endure. Much less have the City of Jackson tout the purported term of settlement as some sort of victory,” Sweet wrote in the letter. “Needless to say, no individual or party obtained a victory in this matter.”
The financial terms of the settlement and plaintiffs' identities were not supposed to be disclosed publicly and the council did not approve the settlement in executive session, Sweet said. According to Mississippi's open meeting law, any public body can enter executive session for a number of reasons, including for negotiations relating to litigation.
Sweet was not immediately available to comment Monday. Last week, he told WLBT he would take it to trial.
Council President Aaron Banks, who was also not immediately available for comment, said the settlement was freely negotiated among the parties and signed by Wade and Vernice Robinson, who had their attorneys with them, according to a Friday statement to the Clarion Ledger.
Banks disputed Sweet's claims that the city violated any terms of the settlement, such as a confidentiality agreement, saying the city didn't agree to one and that settlements are public records, according to the statement.
“The City intends to honor the agreement it reached and expects the Wade family to do so, also,” Banks said in the statement.
However, some city council members said after the meeting that they were not aware of a confidentiality agreement.
City Attorney Drew Martin declined to comment Monday.
All the parties met for mediation April 12. Sweet said that during the session, a representative from the city said it is in “financial straits and did not possess substantial funds in which to resolve Ms. Wade's claims against it.” The lawsuit complaint asked for a jury trial and damages to be determined by a jury.
Banks's statement did not address the attorney's claim about the city's finances.
Wade agreed during mediation to settle with ambulance provider American Medical Response and to allow the city to join that settlement and end litigation, according to Sweet's letter.
“Had AMR not agreed to a substantial settlement amount, Ms. Wade would not have settled with the City of Jackson,” he wrote in the letter.
The company settled for a different amount that was not disclosed, according to Sweet's letter.
As of Monday, electronic court filings for the lawsuit do not show that the judge has signed off on a settlement.
In January 2019, 62-year-old Robinson was pulled from a car and beaten by officers, leaving him with severe injuries. At the time, he was recovering from a stroke. Robinson died days later.
In 2022, former detective Anthony Fox was convicted culpable-negligence manslaughter for Robinson's death, while charges against officers Desmond Barney and Lincoln Lampley were dismissed a year earlier.
Fox was incarcerated until January when the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned his conviction and issued an acquittal, freeing him. Fox has returned to work for the Canton Police Department.
This isn't Wade's only loss and fraught experience with the city, Sweet said.
Last year, her son Dexter died after being hit by a car driven by an off-duty Jackson police officer. He was buried unidentified in the Hinds County pauper's field, despite having identification on him. His family did not know he was there until months later.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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