This week in Mississippi, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed a lawsuit filed by attorney Carlos Moore against Gov. Phil Bryant over the state flag.
• Reeves ruled that Moore didn’t produce evidence that the Confederate battle flag emblem that is part of the state flag caused any legal injury. Moore alleged that the Mississippi flag violates his 13th and 14th constitutional amendment rights.
But in his opinion, Reeves cited Mississippi’s Declaration of Session in 1861 to show that the state joined the Confederacy to protect slavery. Reeves also said, “While the battle flag never flew as the official pennant for the Confederacy, it nevertheless is the most recognized symbol of the Confederacy.”
• Gov. Bryant cut the budget for all but four state agencies to cover a $56.8 million accounting error. Agencies that won’t see their budgets trimmed are Mississippi Adequate Education Program, Institutes of Higher Learning Financial Aid, the Military Department and Veterans Affairs Board.
• Already a month into the school year, many districts in the state don’t know whether they will get federal money for after-school programs. Last month, state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright said there would be approximately $10 million to work with after the discovery of what Wright’s department called an accounting error.
Wright told Mississippi Today that the department is still looking at July and August reimbursement requests from schools and districts that will affect the final amount available for this school year. She expects to have a plan laid out by the end of next week.