The Mississippi Center for Public Policy has appointed Hunter Estes as the Director of Communications. In his new role, Estes will oversee and coordinate all marketing and outreach efforts for the organization including social media output, press relations, video production, and more.
Regarding the appointment, Estes stated, “I am incredibly excited to take on this new role. It has become increasingly important to elevate a rejuvenated and vigorous defense of the freedoms that bind us as Mississippians. In order to successfully push for liberty-minded policies that advance prosperity for our state, we must win the battle of ideas and that all starts with effective communications strategies.”
MCPP President Douglas Carswell noted, “Hunter understands how communication has changed and is brilliant at getting our message out to a mass audience. We are honored to have him leading our outreach efforts.”
Carswell continued, “For our organization, outreach means having a hearts and minds strategy. To move the dial in Mississippi, we need to reach out and make the moral case for free markets and limited government to the rising generation. With Hunter in this role, we will.”
Estes has served as the development manager for the organization since January of 2019. In this role, he coordinated all fundraising efforts by communicating with donors, working with foundation partners, and developing a range of new programs including the expansion of digital donation opportunities and the launch of the 1798 Society, our major donors club.
Estes also serves as a community leader on the board of the Jackson chapter of America’s Future (previously America’s Future Foundation), a networking organization for liberty-minded young professionals. Furthermore, Estes joined the Mississippi Army National Guard in October of 2020.
Before moving to Mississippi, Estes worked as an intern under former Speaker Paul Ryan, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senator Ted Cruz, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
He holds his Bachelor of Science in International Relations from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
For comments or questions about the appointment, please reach out to Hunter Estes at [email protected].
The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is very excited to announce that Douglas Carswell has been appointed as its new President and CEO.
Carswell was a Member of Parliament in Britain for 12 years. He was re-elected every time he stood for election, and in 2014 he achieved one of the largest swings in any election in British history.
He co-founded Vote Leave, the official campaign that won the Brexit referendum. He was instrumental in helping to ensure that a Brexit vote was held and then won. He switched parties and forced a by-election to help put the issue at the top of the political agenda.
Carswell has also served as an advisor to the United Kingdom government on trade as a non-executive director at the Department of International Trade. He believes that free trade helps drive human progress.
He was personally inspired by Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and Milton Friedman when growing up, and Carswell is knowledgeable and passionate about free-markets and individual liberty. He is the author of four books, as well as numerous papers and articles for leading free market think tanks.
A Fellow at the John Locke Institute, Carswell sits on the Advisory Council of one of Britain’s leading think tanks, the Institute of Economic Affairs, which has published works by no less than twelve Nobel Prize laureates.
Carswell received a degree in history at the University of East Anglia, before reading for his Masters’ degree at King’s College, University of London.
Regarding his desire to move to America, Carswell noted, “I believe in American exceptionalism. Americans flourish when they are free. The US is the greatest republic the world has ever known because she is the most successful experiment in freedom that there has ever been.
It is because I was not born American that I appreciate what sets this great country apart. America has been sustained by a set of ideals enshrined in the Constitution; liberty, respect for private property, the rule of law, and equality before the law.
During the press conference, Interim CEO Lesley Davis stated that, “[t]he appointment of Douglas as the new CEO is an incredible win not only for the Center, but for Mississippi as a whole. Douglas is an international leader in the fight for freedom and a generational talent with a tremendous vision for both our organization and the state.”
In his announcement, Carswell noted the importance of MCPP and Mississippi’s leadership on public policy issues, “[t]he best way to win the fight for freedom again is to take the initiative here in states like Mississippi, not to look to what is happening in Washington DC.
The great genius of the American system that the Founding Fathers created is that it is decentralized, with different states free to trial various policy approaches. Good ideas come from where ordinary Americans are, not inside the Washington ‘beltway’ where politicians happen to congregate.
By advancing the ideas of liberty at the state level, led in our state by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, we can win this fight for 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, Flowood, 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.
Jones County Junior College has agreed to revise their free speech policies on campus after a lawsuit was filed by a former student.
Michael Brown, who is now a student at the University of Southern Mississippi, was stopped twice by campus police for trying to inform students about the political club he was involved with, Young Americans for Liberty, without prior authorization from the school’s administration, Along with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, he filed suit in October 2019 challenging the policies.
Brown was stopped by campus officials over an inflatable beach ball, known as a “free speech ball,” upon which students could write messages of their choice and again in the spring for polling students about marijuana legalization.
An administrator told YAL that they weren’t permitted on campus since they hadn’t sought permission from the college.
According to Brown, he and another student held up a sign polling students on marijuana. Campus police took him and another student to their office after telling a friend, who wasn’t a student, to leave. Campus officers later escorted the friend off campus.
The Department of Justice even became involved with what is known as a statement of interest.
The DOJ statement compared the school’s regulations regarding public speech from their handbook to the tyrannical state of Oceania in George Orwell’s “1984.” The statement also says the college has an obligation to comply with the First Amendment.
Previously, the regulations required at least three days’ notice to administrators before “gathering for any purpose.” The student handbook also puts even more restrictions on college-connected student organizations, which must schedule their events through the vice president of student affairs. The school administration also reserved the right, according to the handbook, to not schedule a speaker or an activity.
The statement says that these restrictions operate as a prior restraint on student speech and contain no exception for individuals or small groups, and grant school officials unbridled discretion to determine about what students may speak.
As part of the settlement, JCJC has reversed course and agreed to implement a policy allowing students to express themselves without permission. The policy also adopts language from the “Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression” at the University of Chicago (better known as the “Chicago Statement”). The college also agreed to pay $40,000 for attorneys’ fees and damages.
Last year, the legislature debated the FORUM Act, which would expressly permit all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, speeches and guest speakers, distribution of literature, carrying signs, and circulating petitions.
Schools would not be able to create specific “free speech zones” and they may not deny a religious, political, or ideological student organization any benefit or privilege available to any other student organization, or otherwise discriminate against such an organization, based on the expression of the organization.
House Bill 1200 passed the House, but died in the Senate.
Perhaps if the law was on the books, JCJC could have saved $40,000.
One year after the Mississippi Justice Institute filed a lawsuit against the city of Jackson, the city council has repealed their buffer zone ordinance that restricted free speech around abortion clinics.
Last October, MJI and members of Sidewalk Advocates for Life – Jackson, Mississippi launched a constitutional challenge to Jackson’s prohibition on pro-life counseling and other free speech outside the state’s only abortion facility.
"We are pleased that the city of Jackson has decided to do the right thing and end this unconstitutional restriction on free expression," said Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. "This is a major victory for free speech for Jackson and the state of Mississippi.
The old ordinance banned individuals who are near health facilities from approaching within eight feet of any person without consent, for the purpose of engaging in various forms of speech such as counseling, education, or distributing leaflets; bans people from congregating or demonstrating within 15 feet of the abortion facility, and bans any amplified sound. Violations of the ordinance could have result in fines of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail.
"Sometimes, the law ends up being what it should be, and this is such a time," said Andy Taggart, a founding partner in Taggart, Rimes & Graham who served as pro bono co-counsel. "The city of Jackson has rescinded an ordinance that should have never been the law to begin with, and, at least for now, things are set right."
Mississippians, like all Americans, are buying more guns now than ever before. There was a sharp increase at the beginning of the pandemic and if trends are any indication, those numbers will only go up with a new Democratic administration.
According to NICS data, more than 32 million background checks have been conducted this year. The year prior, there were about 28 million background checks – which was a record at the time. But it would only last a year.
In Mississippi, there were 27,815 checks in October. A year ago, that number stood at 19,167. Going back to the beginning of the pandemic in March, there were 33,000 background checks completed in Mississippi compared to about 23,000 in 2019.
And a large chunk of this is first time buyers.
"Retailers reported an increased number of first-time gun buyers, estimating that 40 percent of their sales were to this group," the National Shooting Sports Foundation announced in early June. "This is an increase of 67 percent over the annual average of 24-percent first-time gun buyers that retailers have reported in the past."
A year ago, Michael Bloomberg, one of the most infamous (and wealthiest) gun control advocates in the country, said that members of a church should not carry guns and defend other members as happened last year. Rather, we should wait for law enforcement.
That comment didn’t age well.
That is why we saw uncommon spikes this summer in the midst of riots and looting across the country. In June there were 3.9 million background checks nationwide. An increase from 2.3 million the year prior. If law enforcement is unable – or in some cases unwilling – to protect your property, residents are doing it. As they should.
Because regardless of who the president is or if a city council that wants to ban gun shows, Americans will continue to own guns and purchase new guns when they feel it is necessary.
“It was a fairly slow Friday afternoon. I was just beginning to dive into my lengthy ‘to-do’ list, when the painful sensation in my chest reminded me that I needed to pump. I don’t ever have to add that on my ‘to-do’ list, as my body never fails to remind me.
“So like millions of working moms, I attached the Medela pump and continued checking off my tasks alone at my desk in my office and maskless. Being an owner of a small business, this routine has become quite normal.
“Suddenly, one of my employees runs into my office and informs me that two officers from the Columbus Police Department have entered the store and are writing my husband a citation. As any concerned wife, especially one who has never had to add ‘police’ to her ‘worry-list’ (clearly I have a thing for lists), I was shocked and scared and so I jumped up as quickly as possible to see why my husband was being ticketed.
“I rounded the corner, with only two out of my six buttons buttoned, when I made eye contact with the policemen, issuing a citation to my husband. ‘You’ll be getting one too,’ the officer said. ‘No mask!’
“I was pumping. Alone. In my office. My employee ran in to tell me that they were here writing tickets. I had to turn off the machine, detach the pump from my breast, snap my bra in place, and run to the front of the store while buttoning my shirt.
“I could either have either put on a shirt or put on a mask.
“It was sad I even had to choose.
“My husband, my employee and myself all got ticketed today for violating the mask mandate.
“Being ticketed for not wearing a mask while alone and in my office...I added that one to my ‘bull-sh*t list.’”
Corie Walters
The Bride and Groom
Columbus, Mississippi
Closed businesses. Record unemployment. We have all seen the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, government may be exacerbating that devastation with ordinances which haven’t kept up with technology by restricting your ability to run a business from your home.
Thanks to the internet, smartphones, and social media, it is easier than ever to start and thrive in a home-based business. That’s why it’s becoming more and more popular. Today, there are some 38 million home-based businesses in America. An increase from 27 million less than a decade ago. About half of all small businesses are home-based, according to the Small Business Administration.
And for many, home-based entrepreneurship is a great opportunity. Yes, with hard work you are able to earn a very good living, but with this you are also able to set your own schedule, follow your passions, and spend more time with your children and your family.
Unfortunately, before you get started, you may face a myriad of regulations, restrictions, and fees from local governments. Some, such as restrictions on excessive parking, signage, or noise, are understable. But that can be and usually is handled by general zoning ordinances that have nothing to do with home-based businesses. Instead, we have ordinances limiting who can work in your house and how much square footage your business can use. And you probably have to pay a governmental fee for permission to work
In Southaven, no more than 25 percent of your house can be used to conduct your business. In Biloxi, it’s only 20 percent. In Jackson, you have to be a family member residing in the house to work. Meaning, you can’t grow your business and hire one or two employees. Similar restrictions also apply in Southaven and Biloxi.
Here is what this means: You can have two friends over, and they can be at your home all day. They can park in your driveway. But the moment you go from talking to one another to talking to a client on the phone, it becomes illegal. Even though nothing inside or outside the home has changed. Each city also has a vague prohibition on equipment that isn’t used in the normal operations of a home.
In what world does this make sense?
These local restrictions are part of a national problem. An Arizona woman who ran a medical billing company from her home had to shut her business down after running afoul with the local government. A local government in Georgia shut down a videogame blogger whose primary business was uploading YouTube videos from his house. Nashville sent a cease-and-desist letter to a record producer who had a recording studio in his garage. Similar stories abound.
These restrictions do nothing to protect the integrity of a neighborhood. They don’t have anything to do with “health and safety.” All they do is wreak havoc on your ability to earn a living at home. And their impact is felt all the more during the pandemic.
To protect home-based businesses, the state has the ability and obligation to provide clarity for entrepreneurs. A “no impact” home-businesses is one that doesn’t cause a disruption, and which wouldn’t otherwise be distinguishable from a home without a business. Such a business should be exempt from onerous regulatory requirements, such as a “bookkeeping fee.” It should not be restricted from having employees or forced to calculate what percent of the home is used for business.
We don’t know what the economy will look like in 10 years. We don’t even know what it will really look like in a year or two. But we do know we shouldn’t turn honest, hardworking individuals into criminals. Instead, the government should get out of the way and allow, and even encourage, entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, to start a home-business, and to grow and flourish, not only for their own betterment but that of their community.
This column appeared in the Commercial Dispatch on September 27, 2020.
“Our farm is Heaven’s Blessings Family Farm.
“We raise sheep, goats, and our food. We have started raising mini Jersey and Dexters over the last six years. We bought standard Jersey again this year and also added Lowline Aberdeen. We also have chickens and Hereford hogs and Duroc. We sell calves from our cows once they are weaned, halter trained, and will lead. We have sold eggs and hatched eggs to sell chicks, but we no longer do at this time.
“We have had several people ask us to purchase raw milk, but we aren’t allowed to do that in Mississippi.
“We put a lot of money into our animals for feed, hay, vets, minerals, vitamins, plus meds when needed. If we could sell our milk, butter and other things we grow or make it could help with these costs.
“Our farm would actually support itself and we wouldn’t have to take our earned money off our jobs if our farm could supplement our income.”
Johnny and Carrie Beal
Heaven’s Blessings Family Farm
Richton, Mississippi