Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP) announced today that Aaron Rice has been named the new Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute (MJI).

Founded in 2016, MJI serves as the legal arm of MCPP, representing Mississippians whose state or federal Constitutional rights have been threatened by government actions. Rice replaces Shadrack White, who was recently appointed State Auditor of Mississippi by Gov. Phil Bryant.

“Simply put, there may not be a more important public policy initiative than what the Mississippi Justice Institute does every day to allow ordinary Mississippians to pursue their own version of happiness and prosperity,” Jon Pritchett, the President and CEO of Mississippi Center for Public Policy said. “When normal citizens experience barriers on the road to prosperity, it is often a barrier placed there by government. Aaron Rice is the kind of person who has never let any obstacle stand in his way. This is why I’m delighted that Aaron is leading our efforts.”

“Aaron Rice is a skilled litigator who will continue MJI's mission of pursuing cases that will foster economic liberty and personal freedom in Mississippi,” Mike Dawkins, Chairman of the Board of MCPP, said. “Aaron has a vision for the types of cases MJI should pursue and for how we can multiply our efforts through his recruitment and management of volunteer lawyers.”

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead MJI,” Aaron said.  “To fight every day for the constitutional rights of Mississippians is a dream come true for me. Constitutional rights may sound like an old issue that was settled a long time ago, but every day, the lives of ordinary Mississippians are affected because the government has ignored their rights.  We want to put an end to that, and empower Mississippians to live freer, more prosperous lives.”

MJI’s activities include direct litigation on behalf of individuals, intervening in cases important to public policy, participating in regulatory and rule making proceedings, and filing amicus, or “friend of the Court,” briefs to offer unique perspectives on significant legal matters in Mississippi and Federal courts.

In a short period of time, MJI has built a reputation as an organization who will fight for Mississippians, whether it is entrepreneurs hoping to start a business, parents looking for a better educational option for their children, or taxpayers wanting to hold government accountable.

“I've known Aaron for over a decade and worked with him in the past,” Shadrack White, State Auditor and former Director of MJI, said. “I can say without hesitation that he is a brilliant lawyer and, more importantly, a man of deep conviction, courage, and character. MJI is in good hands. I look forward to seeing the work he will do on behalf of Mississippians in his new position.”

Aaron is native of Hattiesburg. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Aaron felt called to serve his country. He joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines; the battalion would go on to suffer the highest number of casualties of any in the Iraq war. Aaron received the Purple Heart for sustaining combat injuries that resulted in the loss of his left leg below the knee.

Upon returning home, Aaron earned a degree in political science from Mississippi State University and was awarded the national Truman Scholarship to pursue his graduate studies. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he focused his studies on constitutional law.

Prior to joining the Mississippi Justice Institute, Aaron built his career as a litigation attorney at Butler Snow, a nationally recognized law firm in Mississippi. Aaron is a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) National Trial College at Harvard Law School, and a Graduate of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy at Stanford Law School.

“My vision is for MJI to fight for ordinary Mississippians who want to do simple things every American has the right to do,” Aaron said. “Things like earning an honest living, keeping what rightfully belongs to them, sending their kids to a good school, and speaking freely about business or politics.

“If we are successful, every government body in Mississippi will know: if you overstep your bounds, we will find out about it, and we will stop you.  Every Mississippian will know: if the government is unnecessarily standing in your way, you can fight back, and we can help.”

Aaron is a Deacon at Madison Heights Church, PCA. He and his wife, Kelly, live in Madison with their four children, Clark, Griffin, Ramsey, and Miles.

We don’t want government telling us what to put in our mouths any more than we want them to tell us what can come out of our mouths. And the federal government has no legal authority to prevent state governments from changing their laws to remove state-level penalties for medical marijuana use. As a conservative state with a love for individual liberty and for federalism, this should be an easy decision, especially if we take the time to review the facts. In my view, the evidence is overwhelming.

Polling demonstrates that citizens are ahead of politicians and legislators across the county on this issue, with anywhere from as low as 65 percent to as high as 94 percent of Americans supporting the legalization of medical marijuana. And it spans all ages and party affiliations. A vast majority of Americans recognize the legitimate medical benefits of marijuana, as well as a large number of medical organizations. It is less harmful and poses fewer negative side effects than most prescription drugs – especially opiate-based painkillers – and patients often find it to be a more effective treatment.

Licensed medical doctors, already heavily regulated by the state, should be allowed to recommend solutions to deal with debilitating medical conditions, no matter the derivative of such solutions. If marijuana can provide relief to those suffering from terrible illnesses like cancer and HIV/AIDS, it is unconscionable to criminalize patients for using it. People who would benefit from medical marijuana should have right to use it legally. Legal prohibitions on commonly accepted behavior has never produced positive results. It’s bad public policy.

Medical marijuana is not the same as recreational marijuana and to try to conflate the two is an insult to the citizens of Mississippi and comes at the expense of patients who should be free to choose a legal option to opiate-based painkillers, with the guidance of their doctor. Rather than trying to turn this issue into a “law and order” one and attempting to convince us that patients suffering from debilitating illnesses and the doctors caring for them are criminals, our politicians should focus on removing this unnecessary barrier. The federal government put the barrier in place and 31 other states have rightly removed it. There is no legitimate reason for Mississippi not to do the same.

This is not a “crackpot” or “fringe” issue. The American Medical Association, The Institute of Medicine, and the American College of Physicians have all acknowledged the potential benefits of medical marijuana and the New England Journal of Medicine reported 76 percent of surveyed physicians would recommend it to a patient. Other legitimate health organizations supporting it include; American Academy of Family Physicians, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and the Epilepsy Foundation.

Government is already regulating the healthcare industry at an unprecedented level. The federal government has grown into an unwieldy and unresponsive beast – increasing its paternalism over us all. Is all of this really required? Is it even legitimate? Mississippi can join the other states who value federalism and respect the rights of patients and licensed doctors to decide what is best.

For liberty-minded conservatives, this should be an easy decision.

This column appeared in the Clarion Ledger on August 6, 2018. 

The Trump administration has expanded options for families struggling to find affordable health coverage.

The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury issued a new rule allowing individuals or families to utilize short-term, limited duration plans of up to 12 months, with potential for extensions up to 36 months. The Obama administration restricted these plans to three months without the option for renewal in 2016.

Short-term, limited-duration insurance is not required to comply with federal market requirements. It is largely used for those who are transitioning between different coverage options, such as those who would otherwise have a lapse in coverage when starting or transitioning to a new job, but can also be used by families without access to subsidized Obamacare plans because they make a little too much to qualify for a subsidy.

But they can’t afford the cost of health insurance.

These plans will be significantly more affordable. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the average monthly premium for an individual with a short-term plan was $124, compared to $393 for an unsubsidized plan in the exchange.

A recent report found that the number of people enrolling in the individual markets without subsidies declined by 20 percent, while premiums rose by 21 percent.

The Affordable Care Act is not working for too many Americans and it is becoming too expensive. This is a step to finding alternative healthcare coverage options for middle class citizens who are caught in the gap between not having employer-provided benefits and not qualifying for ACA subsidies.

Any steps towards a more market-based approach where we start to introduce competition, choice, and price rationale to the healthcare system is welcomed.

In this edition of Freedom In Five Minutes or Less, we talk about medical marijuana and why it is a freedom issue liberty-minded conservatives should support.

Supporters have begun the process of gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Mississippi. Here are five common sense reasons why liberty-minded conservatives (and everyone else) should support medical marijuana:

• We don’t want government telling us what to put in our mouths any more than we want them to tell us what can come out of our mouths.
• Licensed medical doctors, already heavily regulated by the state, should be allowed to recommend solutions to deal with debilitating medical conditions, no matter the derivative of such solutions.
• Medical marijuana is not the same as recreational marijuana and to try to conflate the two is an insult to the citizens of Mississippi and comes at the expense of patients who should be free to choose a legal option to opiate-based painkillers, with the guidance of their doctor.
• Polling demonstrates that citizens are ahead of politicians and legislators across the county on this issue, with anywhere from as low as 65% to as high as 94% of Americans supporting the legalization of medical marijuana. And it spans all ages and party affiliations.
• This not a “crackpot” or “fringe” issue. The American Medical Association, The Institute of Medicine, and the American College of Physicians have all acknowledged the potential benefits of medical marijuana and the New England Journal of Medicine reported 76% of surveyed physicians would recommend it to a patient.

The Family First Initiative Summit, hosted by Governor Phil Bryant, First Lady Deborah Bryant and Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Dawn Beam, was recently held to bring together leaders across the state to work together to address the problems created by multigenerational family breakdown. In welcoming attendees, Gov. Bryant affirmed that Mississippi is already being recognized as a leader among states in reunifying families and helping children in crisis.

Part of the solution is an innovative public-private partnership between the Mississippi Department of Human Services and Families First for Mississippi, a Mississippi-based nonprofit. The aim of the partnership is to provide wraparound services – whether it be job training or family counseling – that helps families get back on their feet. The goal of the summit was to create a network to expand these services and help Mississippi families. As Dr. John Damon, CEO of the Mississippi-based nonprofit Canopy Children’s Solutions put it, “If families get just a little bit of help, they can make it.”

Longtime supporters will know that MCPP has played a significant policy role in helping strengthen Mississippi families, overseeing passage of a gold-standard welfare-to-work reform and, this past session, helping pass a tax credit for donations to nonprofits who work with children in crisis, children with special needs, and low-income families. We are proud to continue to partner with the Governor and the First Lady in creating a Better Mississippi.

In Janus vs. AFSCME, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in favor of Mark Janus, a government worker in Illinois.

In the ruling, the Court restored First Amendment rights for Janus and all public sector workers. No longer will public sector employees be required to fund political agendas they disagree with. You can enjoy freedom of speech and association, even if you work for the government.

In addition, the way government unions will extract fees from members has changed. The union will now need public sector employees to “affirmatively consent,” or opt-in to pay dues, rather than being required to opt-out, something that unions often made very difficult.

The full impact of Janus on unions will be determined in the future. It is almost guaranteed that they will lose members, and therefore dues, because of the ruling. And by extension, political clout. In “closed-shop” states, those that are not right-to-work, the way the system generally worked was unions helped elect friendly politicians and those same politicians would choose to raise taxes or cut other programs before they would suggest cuts to pay or benefits for government workers. Not exactly a model for fiscal responsibility.

Unions have generally put on a positive front after Janus. But the question has long been, what will they do? Will they moderate in an effort to hold on to members who are not liberal Democrats? After all, only half of all teachers voted for Hillary Clinton. If recent conventions from America’s largest teachers’ unions tell us anything, the problem appears to be that the unions are actually not liberal enough.

The National Education Association (NEA), of which the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE) is an affiliate, racked up these accomplishments at their recent convention:

• NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick received the NEA Human and Civil Rights Award. You can view other recipients here.
• Parkland survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg shared the stage with NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia.
• A commitment to promote the Black Lives Matter Week of Action, which includes a mandate that ethnic studies be taught in all grades.
• Support for all teachers to learn how to properly address students by gender; apparently scientific descriptors like “male and female” or “boy and girl” are no longer acceptable.
• Support for removing the names of anyone associated with the Confederacy from schools.
• A call to delay any votes on the pending Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
• Encouraged teachers to assign readings that “describe and deconstruct the systemic proliferation of a White supremacy culture and its constituent elements of White privilege and institutional racism.”
• A pledge to oppose support for any business that “refuse services to same-sex couples and/ or LGBT individuals.” Who does that include? Well, the Southern Poverty Law Center will help them identify such businesses.

All business items are available for viewing here.

As for the nation’s other large teachers union, the American Federation for Teachers, they also got in on the fun of letting anyone to the right of Elizabeth Warren know they are not welcomed. Or at the very least, they do not have a voice.

In fact, Warren spoke at the convention. Along with her fellow senator, Bernie Sanders. The only person who could top Warren and Sanders was Hillary Clinton, and she was there as well. Among the issues AFT is demanding:

• Single-payer healthcare for all. (A new study showed this would cost taxpayers $32 trillion over the next decade.)
• Free college for all.
• Universal, full-day, free child care for all.
• Doubling per-pupil expenditures for low-income K-12 districts (emphasis on districts, not students).
• Taxing the rich…even more.

This is a crucial time for all government unions, including teachers unions. But they have made it perfectly clear what they are all about;and who is welcomed in their camps. Teachers unions may sounds nice because we all know teachers and we have all been impacted by teachers, but there is a world of difference between what teachers are doing in the classroom and what is coming out of the headquarters of AFT or NEA.

Not only do teachers unions stand against every student-centered education reform measure, they are fully aligned with far left ideology, whether it has anything to do with education or not.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has spoken and individuals no longer have to pay for and be part of speech they disagree with as a condition of employment.

In this edition of Freedom In Five Minutes or Less, we talk with Claudia Williamson and Brandon Cline, the Co-Directors of the Institute for Market Studies at Mississippi State University and editors of Promoting Prosperity in Mississippi.

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