Mississippi was the first state in the nation to enact prohibitionist policies in 1908 and was also the last state to formally end them.
In 1966, after a raid on a Mardi Gras party led to the arrest of multiple prominent citizens, the state legislature acted to allow counties to decide for themselves whether they wanted to allow the possession and sale of alcohol. However, Mississippi remained a “dry” state, even as the slight policy change ultimately undermined attempts to enforce continued prohibition.
Today, all but 29 counties have voted to become “wet” and thus allow the possession and sale of alcohol, yet a variety of policies on the state and local level live on as enduring relics of the past, continuing to discourage alcohol sale and consumption and undermining local businesses and entrepreneurs around the state.
Two new pieces of legislation take major steps to further Mississippi’s advancement of more alcohol-friendly policy.
Senate Bill 2545, authored by Sen. Chad McMahan and House Bill 1087, authored by Rep. Trey Lamar both offer substantive reforms that will soon be enacted into official legislative change.
House Bill 1087 is a massive win for Mississippi. The bill officially makes Mississippi a “wet” state for possession, meaning that all citizens can have beer, light spirits, and light wine, no matter the county they live in. After well over 100 years, the long legacy of prohibition in our state is coming to a close. Now, HB 1087 while making the entire state wet for possession, will still necessitate a vote to make new counties wet to the sale of alcohol. This bill also takes the important step of easing restrictions related to the transportation of alcoholic beverages. The bill will take effect January 1, 2021.
Senate Bill 2545 allows for the expanded ability for on-premises consumption of wine, as well as offering access to wine manufacturers to offer samples at “festivals” and similarly designated public events. The bill also expands the overall ability for retailers to offer samples of wine.
As we outlined in High Road to Freedom, the legislature needs to continue the work of expanding alcohol freedom in Mississippi. With each bill that slowly advances the cause of alcohol freedom in Mississippi, the legislature further chips away at the edifice of prohibition, and in so doing further expands the consumer liberties of Mississippi citizens. While many other good bills related to the sale, purchase, and distribution of alcohol died this year, these pieces of legislation are good policy and offer hope for further change in coming years.
This year’s Independence Day feels different. A population of societal disintegrationists, who are increasing in either volume or size or both, are attacking America’s foundational concepts.
In their retro-judgment of historical actors and damning of every American foundational concept and document that was ever touched by even a single figure who did not comply one hundred percent with modern social justice norms, they miss the key point: the ideas that gave rise to our nation’s founding were radical and revolutionary at the time, and they remain radical and revolutionary today.
On July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was issued, no government had declared that God created all men equal with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The very people they damn were the first to do so – very woke for 1776.
The Founders provided a Constitutional framework that has permitted our nation’s growth into the most free, prosperous, and powerful nation in history. It has not been without scars, but this is not surprising. People are imperfect beings, and the fight for freedom has never been easy – not in any place across time and not in any place in the world.
That is true here.
Freedom has always required struggle, and it will require struggle to maintain it (see Hong Kong today). The good news is that through starts and stops, steps forward and backward, the arc of our nation has pointed towards more liberty, not less. This is an affirmation that our basic Constitutional architecture is sound, and it is critical to recognize this. We are here today, having the discussions we are having about fulfilling the promise of liberty, because of our Constitutional framework and not in spite of it.
Very importantly, the disintegrationists also miss that the Founder’s Declaration remains radical and revolutionary today, and one wonders if they would issue the same foundational framework to government – respecting the God-given right of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – if their seeming goal of some type of new order was achieved. They topple statues of Washington, Jefferson, Grant, a Priest and Saint, a former slave, Cervantes, and this week in Portland an Elk (as in the animal).
It is difficult to identify a consistent theme or purpose to the vandalism other than destruction for the sake of it, and all of it is done with the perfect lens and judgment of 2020 Wokeness. It is as if the disintegrationists believe they are the only good people who have ever existed, in this time and place, and if you had dropped them in 1825 America, England, or even Prussia or Russia, they would still be thinking exactly as they do now, marching the streets and stumping for today’s constantly evolving ideas about social justice.
They have separated the persons they critique from their historical contexts – as if history and place doesn’t matter – and they themselves would think the same as they do in 2020 regardless of whether and where they lived in 1312, 1515, 1776, or 2020. It doesn’t work that way. We are all a product of our historical era. The journey of our nation is about progress, not perfection.
This year has brought a discernible shift in in our societal conversation from a focus on the individual to a focus on groups. In other words, identity politics. This groups gets this, that group gets that. This shift has been occurring for quite some time, but seems to have accelerated of recent. There are consequences to this type of shift and reframing of focal point from individual to group.
The Founders focused on the individual because it is ultimately the best way to protect everyone, regardless of group membership. They tethered rights to the individual, and importantly, recognized these rights are granted by God (because if rights are granted by God, your fellow man can never do anything to take them away).
The problem with a shift to a focus on groups is that it inevitably leads to the tug-of-war of interests between groups, and in the process the canceling of the very individual rights it nominally seeks to protect. It is important to note that it is not that data on how policies affect particular demographics are not helpful. That data can be. It’s that problems start to occur when everything is framed as group struggle.
We need to replace the focus on the individual, and in so doing we can best address grievances of individuals within groups. There is no better way.
The irony of the claim by disintegrationists that America is inherently evil is that it is our very capacity for self-assessment and introspection that has permitted our progress towards more liberty, not less, over time. As they shout from the mountaintops about how inherently evil our institutions are, we undertake in earnest a conversation about our shortcomings and how we can best fulfill the promises of the Declaration of Independence going forward.
In the words of Peggy Noonan, “We’ve overcome a great deal. We see this best when we don’t deny our history but tell the whole messy, complicated, embarrassing, ennobling tale.” The Great Conversation has always occurred here. Other nations are not taking their personal inventories like we constantly are. Let’s keep it that way.
Have a great Independence Day, and be thankful for our freedom.
Mississippi has some of the most consumer friendly laws in the country when it comes to buying and using fireworks.
You have probably noticed temporary firework stands set up near your house in the past couple weeks and that is because Mississippi has a defined selling period. Retailers can sell fireworks during the two busiest seasons; from June 15 through July 5 and from December 5 through January 2. And what retailers can sell and you can purchase is largely wide open.
But while state law provides for much freedom, many municipalities limit the use of fireworks in their city limits. Though not exhaustive, here is the rundown of whether fireworks are legal or illegal in Mississippi cities.
Fireworks are legal in the following cities:
Bay St. Louis, Horn Lake, Jackson (as of 2011), Natchez, Nettleton, Waveland.
The use of fireworks are banned in the following cities:
Aberdeen, Amory, Biloxi, Columbus, Corinth, D’Iberville, Diamondhead, Fulton, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Laurel, Long Beach, Meridian, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Olive Branch, Oxford, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Petal, Poplarville, Ridgeland, Southaven, Starkville, Tupelo, Vicksburg, West Point.
Disclosure: These regulations are based on recent news stories. Check with local authorities for most updated ordinance.
The default appears to be illegal, while it is largely legal in unincorporated portions of the counties.
One of the most common refrains from limiting fireworks is safety concerns and injuries caused by fireworks. But a 2017 report from the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission says “there is not a statistically significant trend in estimated emergency department-treated, fireworks-related injuries from 2002 to 2017.”
Rest assured, you are more likely to get injured from children’s toys then from fireworks-related injuries.
Noise is the other big complaint concerning fireworks, particularly after a certain time. Of course, municipal noise ordinances can and already do police that issue.
So as you celebrate the day which marks our freedom from the tyranny and oppression of another country, make sure you don’t run afoul with our own government regulators that have taken it upon themselves to limit your freedoms.
Gov. Tate Reeves signed The Life Equality Act (HB 1295) today, joining a growing number of states standing against eugenics and discriminatory abortions. Rep. Carolyn Crawford sponsored The Life Equality Act, with a companion bill filed by Sen. Jenifer Branning.
“Women should not be pressured to have an abortion because their child is different: of a different ability, of a different race, of a different sex,” stated Dr. Jameson Taylor, vice president for policy with the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. “Mississippi has an obligation to repudiate and reject its dark past that includes the forced sterilization of African-American women and the handicapped.”
The Life Equality Act prohibits the use of abortion as a tool of genetic manipulation, conforming Mississippi’s abortion policies to state and federal civil rights protections. Multiple states have passed similar laws in recent years, with Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri providing protection against discrimination on the basis of sex, race and genetic condition. Other states have passed laws covering at least one of these categories. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated a desire to see additional federal courts examine the constitutionality of such protections.
A May 2019 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court (Box v. Planned Parenthood) urged states to consider that “abortion is an act rife with the potential for eugenic manipulation” and that “from the beginning, birth control and abortion were promoted as means of effectuating eugenics.” In addition, the December 2019 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down Mississippi’s 15-week abortion law cautions that the “history of abortion advocacy” is infected with the “taint of racism” because abortion “has proved to be a disturbingly effective tool for implementing the discriminatory preferences that undergird eugenics.”
“The Life Equality Act sends a clear message that abortion should not be used to discriminate against women and children, regardless of race, sex or genetic condition,” stated Dr. Taylor. “Mississippi lawmakers are taking a cue from both the U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit, which have indicated it is time for states to consider how abortion can easily become a deadly tool of discrimination.”
The Box decision observed that the abortion rate for babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in utero is 67 percent in the United States and that the abortion rate “among black women is nearly 3.5 times the ratio for white women.” Likewise, a recent study from the Institute for Family Studies finds that U.S. sex ratios at birth suggest a growing trend of sex-selective abortions aimed at baby girls.
Rather quietly, the state legislature unanimously passed a bill this year that will break down barriers to work for military families in Mississippi.
The Military Family Freedom Act, or Senate Bill 2117, will allow military members and their families to receive occupational licenses in Mississippi based on their education and training they received in another state, rather than having to jump through new government hoops again. SB 2117 was sponsored by Sen. Chuck Younger and included a number of other champions including Sen. Mike Seymour and Reps. Bubba Carpenter and Steve Hopkins.
Today, about one in five need a license to work, a strong contrast from the 1950s when just five percent of the population needed permission from the government to earn a living. The impact on military families is even more pronounced than the public as a whole. Data from over the past year – before governments shut down the economy because of the coronavirus pandemic – showed military spouses had unemployment rates that ranged from 20 to 25 percent.
Why do we see this? One of the reasons is the obvious. The average military family moves every two to three years, meaning new town, new schools, new lives, and, if the spouse is working, a new job for him or her.
But obtaining an occupational license from another state, which includes new classes and testing, doesn’t make finding a new job easy, and it certainly doesn’t make it quick. By the time the paperwork and testing are completed, and you receive a license and then find a new job, you will likely be moving before too long. This process then repeats itself with every move. Eventually it gets to the point that it isn’t worth it. And we see absurdly high unemployment rates for military spouses.
With the new law, applicants are eligible to receive a license if they have held a license in good standing for at least one year and they completed testing or training requirements in the initiating state. Boards no longer have to attempt to compare education or training across the 50 states, and an applicant is able to continue with the work they were already trained for and successfully doing prior to the move to Mississippi.
If an individual comes from a state that does not require a license, they would have a clear pathway to licensure in Mississippi if they have worked for at least three years in that field.
Moreover, boards are required to issue a temporary license if an application may take longer than two weeks to process. Considering that some boards may meet just monthly, or even quarterly, this will help an individual start working sooner.
Military families do not forget how to practice their trade upon relocating to another state. This bill recognizes that, but it is true of everyone who moves to Mississippi with an occupational license from another state.
Last year, Arizona became the first state in the nation to pass universal recognition, meaning Arizona will recognize your occupational license even if that state doesn’t recognize a license from Arizona. Since that time, over 1,000 individuals who would probably still be working on obtaining a license if this law didn’t pass have applied for and been granted a license to work in a variety of fields in Arizona. Six states – Montana, Pennsylvania, Utah, Idaho, Iowa, and Missouri – have since followed.
At a time when so many are out of work, and we don’t yet have a firm grasp of what the economy will look like in the near future, freeing everyone to work should be a priority. That is especially true of a state like Mississippi that has been on the wrong side of domestic migration for several years.
Because if we wait until we’re the last state to make this change, we will see little of the positive benefit we would see from being a leading state.
This column appeared in the Starkville Daily News on July 1, 2020.
Legislation to expand the sales cap for cottage food operators and remove the prohibition on advertising online has been signed by Gov. Tate Reeves.
House Bill 326 will raise the sales cap from $20,000, which was among the lowest in the country, to $35,000. Specific language has also been added to the law that will allow cottage food operators to advertise on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Previously, the Department of Health had sent cease and desist letters to individuals who posted pictures of their food online.
The bill, authored by Rep. Casey Eure, passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
Cottage food operators are still prohibited from selling products online, by mail, or at retail.
The city of Jackson will now issue tickets to individuals who don't wear masks in public and to businesses that don't require masks before entering their establishment.
Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said this was necessary to "protect our residents" in response to the rise of positive coronavirus cases in the state.
Individuals who don't wear masks could face citations from police officers, while businesses could face stiff penalties, according to Lumumba.
“We could shut you down if you’re not adhering to this,” he said.
While there has not been a statewide order, several cities have mask requirements, including Tupelo, Oxford, and Starkville.
A few months ago, I wrote with great hope and optimism that 2020 very well could be the “year for alcohol freedom.”
Unfortunately, even before the coronavirus pandemic forced adjustments to the legislative session, legislators were already casting their votes against many widely popular bills that would have expanded the freedom of Mississippians and strengthened entrepreneurs. Or just never considering such bills.
Sunday sale of alcohol. Grocery stores allowed to sell wine. Direct shipment of wine. Expansion of liquor licenses. Privatization of distribution. Craft brewery freedom. Regulatory reform. A range of bills were introduced this session that would have dramatically empowered both consumers and entrepreneurs. Almost every single one of these bills died.
In voting against alcohol freedom, legislators are not only consistently voting against the will of Mississippians but are also crushing potential economic growth of a potentially major industry.
In a survey conducted earlier this year, an overwhelming 75 percent of Mississippians said that they would be in favor of legislation that allows grocery stores to sell wine in addition to beer. Furthermore, 48 percent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a legislator who had supported such legislation, while only 17 percent said they would be less likely to vote for said candidate.
The survey also found that among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, levels of support were above 70 percent. How often today are individuals across political parties able to so strongly agree on an issue? The present support should have been enough to drive change.
House Bill 981, sponsored by Rep. Brent Powell (R-Flowood) and Senate Bill 2531 sponsored by Sen. Walter Michel (R-Ridgeland) would have changed state policy and allowed for the widely supported sale of wine in grocery stores. Unfortunately, neither bill even made it out of committee, and thus was never given a chance for a floor vote in the House or Senate.
Ironically, many Mississippians shop at stores such as Costco, Whole Foods, Sam’s Club, and others throughout the state who have their own liquor store directly attached to the actual store. However, current law does not allow these stores to be connected internally, so one is forced to walk out the door and then right back in. These types of rules fail to pass even a basic test for common sense.
Mississippi had the opportunity to become the 44th state in the nation to give individuals the freedom to purchase wine and have it shipped directly to their homes through Senate Bill 2534, also authored by Michel. When this bill came to the floor, it was defeated by a vote of 32-13.
At the present moment, it seems that the only bill set to pass would allow for shipment of alcohol to a local liquor store. This allows a customer to avoid the hassle of going through the ABC warehouse process to order a specific bottle of wine or liquor, but is far from embracing the widely supported direct shipment of alcohol to one’s home.
In rejecting many good bills, legislators have chosen to not only restrict freedoms that are widely supported by Mississippians, but also to further hinder the alcohol industry in the state.
Moving forward it seems likely that pandemic has changed the state of the game for many burdensome rules and regulations. Many rules have been dismissed, including ones that blocked the sale of to-go bottles of wine or mixed drinks, as well as the delivery of alcohol curbside. While a pandemic has raged across the nation, many of the rules which we were previously told were enacted for our safety, were quickly thrown out in order to promote actual health and safety via social distancing techniques.
Thus, the question is begged as to what other rules ought to be dismissed to further protect health and safety. Ordering alcohol online via one of the many food delivery apps would surely help to lower the number of physical interactions at stores. The direct shipment of wine to one’s home would also go a long way to improve social distancing methods. As the fear of a Fall Covid-19 return looms, should we not quickly take action to promote and encourage safe actions in any way possible?
Support for change in alcohol policy is not a political issue, but a freedom issue. The question at hand is whether state officials trust their constituents to make decisions related to personal responsibility for themselves.
While this may not have been the year for alcohol freedom, continued growth in support for new policies demands a coming change to the status quo.
This column appeared in the Daily Journal on June 23, 2020.
A flag is a symbol meant to unite a broad diversity of individuals under a common bond. It has become inarguable that the state flag of Mississippi, adopted by the legislature in 1894, no longer does so, and that is why we are in favor of replacing our current flag.
We do not discount the heartfelt meaning, often out of respect for their ancestors, that the current flag holds for many Mississippians who have known no other. However, we must not discount that particularly for many of our state’s black citizens it as a symbol of oppression and reflective of a time when their ancestors were denied the rights promised to all by America’s founding ideals.
Unlike what we see in cities across America, Mississippians are not looting, rioting, or destroying property, private or public. There are no rage-filled authoritarian mobs toppling statues and desecrating buildings. Instead, church leaders, business owners, elected officials, and private citizens have peacefully marched together and are deeply engaged in thoughtful and productive debate/conversation. It’s a model the nation should copy. If we love and empathize with our fellow man, we lend an ear to his perspective, even in disagreement, and we don’t assume evil motives. If we have to scream or demean to engage, it is likely that our argument is lacking in merit and in empathy.
It should be noted that we don’t come to this view because of the economic pressures applied by corporations, sports conferences, and celebrities. In fact, we believe denying economic benefits to athletes, local communities, entrepreneurs, and workers in order to achieve a political victory is counter to representative government and a dangerous way to make law. The citizens of Mississippi did not elect sports commissioners or corporate CEOs, but we did elect 52 Senators and 122 Representatives in a state of only three million people who are charged to represent us and who are authorized to act now in a bold and meaningful way, while still including the citizens of Mississippi in the process.
Our state legislature is empowered to take the first step now; to take down the current flag and then allow the citizens of Mississippi to engage in a process to determine exactly what should replace it. We could go without a state flag until that process is completed or we could simply replace the symbol of the Confederate Battle flag with the state’s official seal and motto as an interim step.
There has been a significant swing in public sentiment in Mississippi on this issue, too. It’s not just Jackson’s elite, university leaders, and the economic development leaders who favor removing the current flag. A public opinion poll, conducted by the Tarrance Group last week, found 55 percent of voters favored changing the flag, which is a significant change from the results in 2019 when 54 percent of voters favored keeping the current flag. When asked about changing to a flag that includes the state seal and the motto, support for the change jumped to 72 percent. Of note, the survey showed support from a majority of both black and white Mississippians.
Although Mississippi, like other states, has a dark history of unequal treatment of some of its citizens, it’s also a place that has made remarkable progress over the last half century. The contributions of black and white Mississippians to music, literature, sports, politics, and visual arts are legendary. Our place as America’s most religious state, and one of its most generous, is well-earned.
From Ocean Springs to Tupelo, from Oxford to Laurel, and from Starkville to Natchez, Mississippi often defines what it is to be Southern and what it is to be American. James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Jimmy Buffett, Elvis Presley, Leontyne Price, Bo Diddly, Oprah Winfrey, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, John Grisham, Donna Tartt, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Brett Favre, and Archie Manning are just some of the gifts Mississippi has given to the nation.
There is much to be proud of in Mississippi, America’s “Hospitality State.” We can honor that name by removing a flag that doesn’t represent all of our citizens. We won’t do so because powerful outsiders tell us to. We will do it because we love our neighbors enough to give up a symbol that stirs the hearts of some for one that doesn’t pain the hearts of others. We’re not suggesting we destroy the symbols or monuments of our shared history.
Rather, let’s honor all of our ancestors by leaning together into a future that delivers on the promise of one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All of America could benefit from such a show of unity.