Mississippi Today

Marcus Taylor should have been freed years ago. Mississippi courts refuse to release him

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-06-12 09:04:00

by Lili Euzet, Mississippi Today
June 12, 2025

Marcus Taylor has been incarcerated for 10 years, serving a sentence that should have ended five years ago.

In 2015, a judge sentenced the husband and father to 15 years in prison for conspiring to sell an opioid combination pain-relief medication – a schedule III controlled substance. But he spent eight years in jail before anyone realized the maximum sentence for his crime by law was five years. In May, the Mississippi Court of Appeals recognized that Taylor was serving a sentence 10 years longer than the legal maximum, but refused to order his release despite making note of the mistake, arguing that the issue was raised too late.

Taylor, now 43, was indicted in 2014 on two counts of conspiracy to sell controlled substances, and one count of business burglary for breaking and entering a drugstore to steal them. In February 2015, he took what he thought was an advantageous deal: he pleaded guilty to the first count, and the two others were dismissed. But the plea petition was riddled with mistakes. It erroneously said the maximum sentence for conspiracy to sell schedule III controlled substances was 20 years – not five years. And no one in the court, including his lawyer, realized his sentence was 10 years longer than the legal maximum.

It’s only after he challenged his sentence in 2023, demanding eligibility for parole, that the problem surfaced. The Choctaw County Circuit Court denied Taylor’s motion for post-conviction relief, because he filed it past the three-year deadline of his conviction.

After investigating the issue for over a year, the appellate court ruled on May 6 this year that Taylor was indeed serving a sentence 10 years longer than authorized by law – meaning he should have been released in 2020. Yet, in a five-five decision, the court of appeals decided Taylor should still serve the rest of his wrongful sentence – because he didn’t file his request in time.

The court invoked a 2023 ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court in Howell v. State of Mississippi, which put an end to the fundamental rights exception – an exemption to the three-year time limit to file a post-conviction relief claim, made to ensure individuals don’t stay unconstitutionally incarcerated.

The Mississippi Court of Appeals is obligated to follow the Supreme Court precedent, said Matthew Steffey, professor at the Mississippi College School of Law.

“This is the expected outcome of Howell, that there are going to be meritorious claims that are shut down for these technical limits,” he said. “That’s why many people, including dissenters on the Court of Appeals, believe it’s wrong.”

Indeed, despite this Supreme Court ruling, half the judges were ready to grant Taylor relief.

“All Mississippians have the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, and to incarcerate Taylor beyond the time authorized by law infringes upon that fundamental right,” Judge David Neil McCarty wrote in a dissenting opinion.

But if the result is tied in a Court of Appeals, common practice calls for the court to confirm the original decision, Steffey said.

On June 2, Taylor filed a motion for rehearing, asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider its application of Howell, saying his incarceration is a deprivation of his constitutional rights. But the Court of Appeals could still refuse to rehear the case.

In case of an unfavorable ruling, Taylor’s lawyer, Damon Stevenson, said they were ready to take the case to the Mississippi Supreme Court. If it agrees to examine Taylor’s case, the Supreme Court could clarify how the law should be applied in cases like Taylor’s.

“I do think one has to reinterpret Mississippi Supreme Court precedent to give Mr. Taylor relief, and that’s more a job for the Supreme Court than the court of appeals,” Steffey said.

Many hope Taylor’s case and potential release could set a precedent and protect others in the same situation. Mississippi courts have refused to grant relief to incarcerated people serving expired sentences in the past, even before Howell.

“We could get a clear law in the state of Mississippi that says there are certain rights that are not abridged by time: at any point that injustice is recognized, the court can step in and right it,” Stevenson said.

The escalation of the case has led the Capital Post-Conviction Counsel to step in. On June 4, it filed an amicus brief – additional information and legal arguments given to the court to assist them in their decision, in support of Taylor’s motion for rehearing. Although the state office normally assists individuals sentenced to death in Mississippi, it has expertise in helping people file post-conviction petitions, just like Taylor.

The attorney general’s office, which represents the state of Mississippi in the case, rapidly opposed the counsel’s intervention, demanding that the Court reject its brief. The AG’s office argued that the Capital Post-Conviction Counsel’s involvement was “neither necessary nor appropriate,” and that it had filed the brief too late.

To Stevenson, the attorney general’s office’s immediate opposition shows a broader pattern of combativeness against defendants, at the expense of fairness and justice.

“At this point, it’s our position that Mr. Taylor has actually moved from being a defendant to a victim,” Stevenson said. “The attorney general’s office has to take an honest look at this case and say, ‘Do we really want to be on the side of fighting for people to stay incarcerated who legally do not belong in a prison cell?’”

Defendants’ rights are often overlooked although they are an essential part of a fair judicial process, because severity sells electorally, and ultimately, judges are elected public officials, Steffey said.

“Judges campaign promising to be fair, or to be tough and fair, or to be tough, all of which sends a signal that they are part of the crime fighting community,” Steffey said. “You hear a lot about justice for victims, very little about justice for the accused.”

While the Court of Appeals still hasn’t decided whether to rehear Taylor’s case or not, his children are growing up without him. And his wife, Kimberly Brown Taylor, is raising them alone.

When she started dating Taylor in 2008, Brown Taylor already had a baby, Joshua, who is 19 now. Taylor treated him like his own, she said. They still write each other letters. With Taylor, she had another son, Blakeland, who is 13 and has not seen his father since he got incarcerated when he was just a baby.

“It has been kind of hard on me as a single parent,” Brown Taylor said. “ I haven’t slept at night at all since he’s been gone.”

When Taylor was incarcerated, Brown Taylor found herself having to assume the financial and personal charge of raising two kids. She went back to college and studied accounting. She worked two jobs until she became an accountant. Just like everyone else, she had no idea his sentence was above the legal maximum. She’s angry about the time lost and worried about Taylor’s mental health.

“For someone to sit in there past that time, I guess the extra five years, that can mess with someone mentally,” she said. “He could have been there, being that father to my son, giving me relief, giving my son the loving that he needed.”

Brown Taylor says she keeps Blakeland and Joshua informed about their dad’s case everyday, but they still don’t understand why he can’t come home. Blakeland feels like a part of his childhood was stripped away. He said he wishes his father could watch his basketball games and participate in school father-son events with him.

“I just feel like my dad should be at home. It’s eating me alive,” Blakeland said.

Taylor might very well serve the five remaining years of his original sentence, if the Court of Appeals or the Mississippi Supreme Court don’t rule in his favor. His lawyer argues he has far served his time, and should be brought back into the community.

“When people make mistakes, it is totally acceptable to ask them to pay their debt to society,” Stevenson said. “However, their debt should not be greater than what is allowed by law.”

Time passes and incomprehension grows in the Taylor family. It gets a little harder everyday to understand why Taylor remains incarcerated.

“God gives all of us chances after chances after chances. So why can’t they or whomever allow Marcus to have a chance?” Brown Taylor said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Marcus Taylor should have been freed years ago. Mississippi courts refuse to release him appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This article presents a clear critical stance toward the Mississippi judicial system’s handling of Marcus Taylor’s incarceration, highlighting legal errors, harsh procedural limits, and their human impact. The tone emphasizes the injustice faced by Taylor and his family, using emotionally resonant language and critiques of the court system’s rigidity, suggesting sympathy toward reform and defendant rights. While factual in its presentation of court rulings and legal context, the framing and choice of quotes underline a progressive concern for fairness, due process, and systemic reform, characteristic of center-left perspectives advocating for criminal justice fairness and human rights.

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Mississippi Today

UMMC hospital madison county

Published

18 hours ago

June 13, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-06-13 11:23:00

by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today
June 13, 2025

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has acquired Canton-based Merit Health Madison and is preparing to move a pediatric clinic to Madison, continuing a trend of moving services to Jackson’s suburbs.

The 67-bed hospital, now called UMMC Madison, will provide a wide range of community hospital services, including emergency services, medical-surgical care, intensive care, cardiology, neurology, general surgery and radiology services. It also will serve as a training site for medical students, and it plans to offer OB-GYN care in the future.

“As Mississippi’s only academic medical center, we must continue to be focused on our three-part mission to educate the next generation of health care providers, conduct impactful research and deliver accessible high-quality health care,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s vice chancellor of health affairs, said in a statement. “Every decision we make is rooted in our mission.”

The new facility will help address space constraints at the medical center’s main campus in Jackson by freeing up hospital beds, imaging services and operating areas, said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs.

UMMC physicians have performed surgeries and other procedures at the hospital in Madison since 2019. UMMC became the full owner of the hospital May 1 after purchasing it from Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems.

The Batson Kids Clinic, which offers pediatric primary care, will move to the former Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine location in Madison. This space will allow the medical center to offer pediatric primary care and specialty services and resolve space issues that prevent the clinic from adding new providers, according to Institutions of Higher Learning board minutes.

A UMMC spokesperson did not respond to questions about the services that will be offered at the clinic or when it will begin accepting patients.

The Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine, a pediatric subspecialty clinic, closed last year as a result of a settlement in a seven-year legal battle between the clinic and UMMC in a federal trade secrets lawsuit.

The changes come after the opening of UMMC’s Colony Park South clinic in Ridgeland in February. The clinic offers a range of specialty outpatient services, including surgical services. Another Ridgeland UMMC clinic, Colony Park North, will open in 2026.

The expansion of UMMC clinical services to Madison County has been criticized by state lawmakers and Jackson city leaders. The medical center does not need state approval to open new educational facilities. Critics say UMMC has used this exemption to locate facilities in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods outside Jackson while reducing services in the city.

UMMC did not respond to a request for comment about its movement of services to Madison County.

UMMC began removing clinical services this year from Jackson Medical Mall, which is in a majority-Black neighborhood with a high poverty rate. The medical center plans to reduce its square footage at the mall by about 75% in the next year.

The movement of health care services from Jackson to the suburbs is a “very troubling trend” that will make it more difficult for Jackson residents to access care, Democratic state Sen. John Horhn, who will become Jackson’s mayor July 1, previously told Mississippi Today.

Lawmakers sought to rein in UMMC’s expansion outside Jackson this year by passing a bill that would require the medical center to receive state approval before opening new educational medical facilities in areas other than the vicinity of its main campus and Jackson Medical Mall. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed the legislation, saying he opposed an unrelated provision in the bill.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post UMMC hospital madison county appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article presents a primarily factual report on UMMC’s expansion into Madison County, outlining the medical center’s services and strategic decisions while including critiques from Democratic leaders and local officials about the suburban shift. The inclusion of concerns over equity and access—highlighting that the expansion is occurring in wealthier, whiter suburbs at the expense of services in majority-Black, poorer neighborhoods—leans the piece toward a center-left perspective, emphasizing social justice and community impact. However, the article maintains a measured tone by presenting statements from UMMC representatives and government officials without overt editorializing, thus keeping the overall coverage grounded in balanced reporting with a slight progressive framing.

Mississippi Today

Rita Brent, Q Parker headline ‘Medgar at 100’ Concert

Published

19 hours ago

June 13, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-06-13 10:26:00

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
June 13, 2025

Nationally known comedian Rita Brent will host the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute’s “Medgar at 100” Concert on June 28.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 14, and can be ordered on the institute’s website.

The concert will take place at the Jackson Convention Complex and is the capstone event of the “Medgar at 100” Celebration. Organizers are calling the event “a cultural tribute and concert honoring the enduring legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers.”

“My father believed in the power of people coming together — not just in protest, but in joy and purpose, and my mother and father loved music,” said Reena Evers-Everette, executive director of the institute. “This evening is about honoring his legacy with soul, celebration, and a shared commitment to carry his work forward. Through music and unity, we are creating space for remembrance, resilience, and the rising voices of a new generation.”

In addition to Brent, other featured performers include: actress, comedian and singer Tisha Campbell; soul R&B powerhouse Leela James; and Grammy award-winning artist, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Q Parker and Friends.

Organizers said the concert is also “a call to action — a gathering rooted in remembrance, resistance, and renewal.”

Proceeds from the event will go to support the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute’s mission to “advance civic engagement, develop youth leadership, and continue the fight for justice in Mississippi and beyond.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Rita Brent, Q Parker headline 'Medgar at 100' Concert appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents a straightforward, factual report on the upcoming “Medgar at 100” concert honoring civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers. The tone is respectful and celebratory, focusing on the event’s cultural and community significance without expressing a political stance or ideological bias. It quotes organizers and highlights performers while emphasizing themes of remembrance, unity, and justice. The coverage remains neutral by reporting the event details and mission of the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute without editorializing or promoting a specific political viewpoint. Overall, it maintains balanced and informative reporting.

Mississippi Today

U.S. Supreme Court may be death row inmate’s last chance to avoid execution

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-06-12 15:25:00

by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today
June 12, 2025

Less than two weeks from the scheduled execution of Richard Jordan, the Mississippi Supreme Court said it will not reconsider the death row inmate’s appeal, but the federal high court is expected to discuss his case next week.

Jordan, at 79 the state’s oldest and longest serving death row inmate, was first convicted in 1976 for kidnapping and killing Edwina Marter in Harrison County. He had four trials until a death sentence stuck in 1998.

On Thursday, eight of the nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court declined to rehear an order to set Jordan’s execution date. Justice Leslie King was the lone person who wanted to grant a rehearing.

This decision comes about a week after Jordan’s attorney, Krissy Nobile of the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, wrote to the court to emphasize that her client has not yet exhausted federal remedies and an execution could not be set.

The U.S. Supreme Court distributed Jordan’s petition for a writ of certiorari at a May 29 conference and is expected to discuss it again at a June 18 conference – a week before the execution.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s attorneys filed an emergency application for a stay of execution with Justice Samuel Alito Jr. pending the court’s disposition on the case.

They argue there is a reasonable prospect that the court will grant certiorari and reverse the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision, and that Jordan will suffer irreparable harm if a stay is not ordered.

In its response, the state argues Jordan has been trying to avoid his death sentence for almost 50 years and that he is repeating baseless arguments in his pending petition for certiorari.

His attorneys argue Jordan’s death sentence is not valid because in 1976, when the murder was committed and Jordan was sentenced, Mississippi and all other states had ceased executions based on a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia that capital punishment was unconstitutional.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post U.S. Supreme Court may be death row inmate’s last chance to avoid execution appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The article reports factually on the legal developments surrounding Richard Jordan’s impending execution, presenting arguments from both his attorneys and the state without apparent editorializing. It neutrally covers the procedural history, legal basis for appeals, and positions of involved parties, without adopting a tone that favors or opposes capital punishment or any political viewpoint. The language remains formal and focused on the judicial process, reflecting balanced reporting rather than ideological framing. Overall, the piece serves to inform rather than advocate, maintaining a centrist stance in its coverage.