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3 weeks ago | 
mississippitoday.org | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi
The lawyer for Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey defended the sheriff’s use of trusties on his family’s chicken farm, saying it was part of an inmate work program authorized by statute. But four trusties who said they worked at the farm were released from the Rankin County Detention Center before 2021, when the only statute governing a work program for jail inmates was passed.
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3 weeks ago | 
mississippitoday.org | Mukta Joshi |Steph Quinn
Anthony Burt still remembers the day he became a “blue suit.”When Burt was jailed in Rankin County in 2017 on methamphetamine possession charges, he said he had never heard of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department’s lauded work program for trusted inmates, or “trusties.” But when an acquaintance in the program told Burt it could make his life in jail easier, he became determined to work his way to the top tier of male trusties, who wear blue uniforms and enjoy additional privileges in the jail.
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3 weeks ago | 
rawstory.com | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi
State Auditor to Investigate Sheriff Who Used Inmate Labor on Family FarmReporters for Mississippi Today worked in partnership with The New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship. The Mississippi State Auditor’s office on Friday said it had launched an investigation into allegations that Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey had staffed his mother’s commercial chicken farm with jail inmates who were in his custody.
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3 weeks ago | 
mississippitoday.org | Mukta Joshi |Steph Quinn
This story was done in partnership with The New York Times Local Investigations FellowshipState Auditor Shad White has initiated an investigation into allegations that Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey used jail inmates to work on his family’s chicken farm south of Puckett, a representative of the auditor’s office confirmed Friday.
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4 weeks ago | 
nytimes.com | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi |Jerry Mitchell
In Mississippi, incarcerated trusties cleaned chicken houses, fixed cars and installed flooring for the benefit of a local sheriff and his associates, a new investigation found. McLain Farms in Puckett, Miss., is owned by Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey's family. Credit...
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1 month ago | 
djournal.com | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi
Sheldon Bray of Blue Springs said he took his wife and two sons to the “March to Save America” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, because he wanted to show his boys the importance of making their voices heard. “I don’t like people that complain about what’s going on, but you don’t participate and let your representative know,” Bray told Mississippi Today. Instead of “sending somebody up there to read your mind,” Bray said, people should “get involved.”kAmw6 D2:5 E92E :?
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1 month ago | 
rawstory.com | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi
by Steph Quinn and Mukta Joshi, Mississippi TodaySheldon Bray of Blue Springs said he took his wife and two sons to the “March to Save America” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, because he wanted to show his boys the importance of making their voices heard. “I don’t like people that complain about what’s going on, but you don’t participate and let your representative know,” Bray told Mississippi Today.
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1 month ago | 
mississippitoday.org | Steph Quinn |Mukta Joshi
Sheldon Bray of Blue Springs said he took his wife and two sons to the “March to Save America” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, because he wanted to show his boys the importance of making their voices heard. “I don’t like people that complain about what’s going on, but you don’t participate and let your representative know,” Bray told Mississippi Today. Instead of “sending somebody up there to read your mind,” Bray said, people should “get involved.”He said that in months before Jan.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
mississippitoday.org | Mukta Joshi |Steph Quinn
A “listening session” organized by the Rankin County chapter of the NAACP along with the Department of Justice changed course after attorneys who represent the sheriff’s department and the county sat in, and were asked to leave to prevent victims from feeling intimidated. The NAACP had organized the session on Thursday, Oct. 25, in association with the Justice Department to provide for a safe space for victims of police excesses by Rankin County law enforcement to speak up.
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Oct 24, 2024 | 
grenadastar.com | Steph Quinn
As October 2024 marks one year of unprecedented bloodshed in the Middle East, some Mississippians have been persistently organizing for a ceasefire in Gaza and a free Palestine, while the state government reaffirmed its support for Israel.
