What does Mississippi have to do with getting to the Moon? What are the laws concerning the Moon? We’ll find out with the help of our guest Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Executive Director, Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law and Co-Founder, President & CEO of For All Moonkind 

In 1971, Apollo 14 was the third Moon mission of the U.S. Apollo space program, but the flight was unique in one way: tree seeds were taken on the flight to later germinate “Moon Trees”! When selected for the Apollo 14 mission, Astronaut Stuart Roosa was allowed to carry approximately 500 tree seeds with him into space. The species selected were sycamore, loblolly pine, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir, taken from lots of seeds collected at two U.S.F.S. Institute of Forest Genetics (I.F.G.) stations, the southern station in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the western station in Placerville, California. Mississippi State University proudly displays its Sycamore Moon Tree on campus near the Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, the home playing venue for the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team. A Sycamore was planted at Camp Iti Kana, a Girl Scout camp near Wiggins, Mississippi. There’s is located near the camp flagpole.

A “Moon Tree” was planted on the grounds of Bayou Academy in Cleveland, Mississippi in late May 2024. As a seed, the Sweetgum traveled 270,000 miles around the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft in 2022.

NASA Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi is contributing directly to the agency’s effort to land the first woman, the first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon – for the benefit of all humanity. Work at the nation’s largest – and premier – propulsion test site will help power SLS (Space Launch System) rockets on future Artemis missions to enable long-term lunar exploration and prepare for the next giant leap of sending the first astronauts to Mars.

Michelle's inspiration: Star Trek

Liz's thoughts about items left on the moon: Salvage One

Adam remembered The Expanse (tv show and book series)

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An effort to create a statewide board to study domestic violence deaths, to uncover trends, and guide opportunities for intervention, support and policy unanimously passed both legislative bodies. We’ll learn about domestic violence law and resources for those affected from our guests from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence: Vera Johnson, Program Specialist and Luis Montgomery, Compliance and Public Policy Specialist.

Where can you get more information about our guests? mcadv.org from there you can read past newsletters, learn about their resources, and contact the staff for assistance or more information.

If you want to track a bill going through our legislature, how can you? legislature.ms.gov   From there you can search for a “measure” from either chamber, contact your representative, or watch a live committee meeting.

Some municipal elections have so many primary candidates that there might be a runoff in some races. Those Primary Runoff elections will be April 22nd. If you did not get registered to vote yet, you’ve got 3 weeks to register before any runoff elections.

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The Mississippi Center for Justice has a new President and CEO, Kimberly Jones Merchant. She’s our guest today to remind us of the focus and goals of the center and what we might expect in the future.

What’s going on this and next month at MCJ? They have an event calendar so you can see that there’s a “My Home My Rights” presentation tomorrow, February 26th at Rust College and an Expungement Clinic March 13th in Clarksdale.

Do you believe that “Justice Takes All of Us”? If you agree you might like that on a tote bag! Or a mug, mouse pad, or water bottle. Or could you order any of that or a t-shirt at the MCJ store or just make a donation.

You’ve only got until Monday to do something that will impact your life for years. This week, Municipal Clerks’ offices may remain open from 8am to 7pm, including the noon hour, for voter registration. You have until Monday, March 3rd to get registered to vote in our Primary Election either in person or have your application postmarked by Monday.

You can vote right now by absentee ballot, by mail, if you’ll be away from your home county on April 1st. In-Person Absentee Voting beginning Saturday, March 22nd. Here's the Secretary of State's 2025 Election Calendar.

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Our laws are argued and upheld in our courts by Officers of the Court. Is there a standard of behavior for them? Maybe “ethical” rules? Let’s find out from our host – Adam Kilgore, former General Council for Mississippi Bar. And guest Cliff Johnson, Director of the MacArthur Justice Center.

Oath for Lawyers Mississippi - Mississippi Code 1972 (2023)

Title 73 - PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS (§§ 73-1-1 — 73-79-1)

Chapter 3 - ATTORNEYS AT LAW (§§ 73-3-1 — 73-3-403)

Article 1 - ADMISSION AND CONDUCT OF ATTORNEYS (§§ 73-3-1 — 73-3-61)

Section 73-3-35 - Oath in each court

THE MISSISSIPPI BAR: A LAWYER'S CREED

MISSISSIPPI RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Today! February 18th

·       18th Absentee Ballots Available in the Municipal Clerk’s Office in the Primary Election.

·       20th Municipal Clerks’ Offices mail absentee ballots to voters on the permanently disabled list.

·       March 3rd is the Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline for the April 1, 2025 Municipal Primary Elections.

https://yallvote.ms/ is a shortcut website to reach the secretary of state’s website to learn about voting.

If you want to know more about our laws as they are being debated and passed – MPB’s @Issue is the show for you. Listen on MPB Think Radio at 6:30pm on Fridays or go to the @Issue page of the News Department on mpbonline.org for links to videos with addition interviews.

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Are you registered to vote? We’ve got municipal elections coming up and you’ve got less than 2 weeks to get registered for those primaries. Our guest is attorney Leah Wong from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and she’ll help us learn about bolstering voter participation, the challenges facing voters in the state.

NAACP Legal Defense Fund: about, history, staff, careers, how to get on their mailing list, and how to make a donation.

From NPR: On Jan. 3, the day the new Republican-led Congress was sworn in, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, reintroduced legislation aimed at stopping noncitizens from voting in federal elections — something that is already illegal and which research has universally shown rarely happens.

From Newsweek: The SAVE Act lists several types of documentation that would be accepted, including a form of identification issued consistent with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005, a valid United States passport, valid military ID, forms of Tribal identification, and proof of naturalization. Many of these forms of ID, other than a passport, either include a birth certificate or must be presented alongside a birth certificate.

For our listeners who are interested The Memorial Service for Professor Richard Gershon will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. in the Weems Auditorium (Room 1078) of the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford. A reception will follow in the atrium.

If you are an eligible Mississippi voter and need transportation assistance, we will provide a FREE ride to your Circuit Clerk's Office to get a Mississippi Voter ID Card.

Just call our FREE Voter ID hotline at 1-844-MSVOTER (1-844-678-6837) and tell us where you live. We will give you the names of local transportation providers to contact to make travel arrangements to fit your needs. A transportation provider will pick you up, take you to the Circuit Clerk's Office and bring you home. There is NO charge to you for the ride. It is EASY and FREE.

• Feb 18th Absentee Ballots Available: Municipal Clerk’s
• 24th – 28th  Voter Registration: Municipal Clerks’ Offices may remain open from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., including the noon hour.
• March 1st  Voter Registration: Municipal Clerks’ Offices MUST be open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. for voter registration.
• March 3rd Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline: Applicants who register in-person in the Municipal Clerk’s office or Circuit Clerk’s office today and those who mail registration applications post-marked no later than today are eligible to vote in the April 1, 2025 Municipal Primary Elections.

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Mississippians pride themselves on being patriotic. What what’s more patriotic than serving your country in the military? We’ll learn about military and veterans’ legal rights with today’s guests Ira Rushing from Tully Rinckey.

In 2020, Black Soldiers comprised approximately 21% of the active-duty Army, 15% of the Army National Guard and 21% of the Army Reserve. Black Americans serve in the Army at a rate that is higher than their representation in the U.S. population. The active-duty percentage of Black Soldiers has remained higher than the representation of Black Americans in the U.S. population since 2002, with peaks in 2002 and 2014. In 2022, 146,793 veterans lived in Mississippi. 39,900 or 27% were Black or African American only. I am thankful for our Mississippians who have chosen to serve our country.

https://usafacts.org/topics/veterans/state/mississippi/ https://www.army.mil/blackamericans/index.html

If you’re interested in learning about the law and your rights in Mississippi, tune in to @Issue, MPB News’ Legislative Issues program heard here on MPB Think Radio at 6:30pm each Friday during the session or go to mpbonline.org and click on News to find video interviews from this session and previous broadcasts.

What’s our timeline having to do with elections in Mississippi?

• Absentee Ballot Applications are now available in your Municipal Clerk’s Office.
• Beginning the 15th: Municipal Clerks’ Offices will send absentee ballots for the first and second Primary Elections to UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens) voters who requested an absentee ballot this calendar year, i.e., since Jan. 1,2025.
• 18th Absentee Ballots Available in the Municipal Clerk’s Office in the Primary Election.
• 20th Municipal Clerks’ Offices mail absentee ballots to voters on the permanently disabled list.
• March 3rd is the Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline for the April 1, 2025 Municipal Primary Elections.
• March 22nd To be eligible to vote in the upcoming Primary Elections, Circuit Clerks or Municipal Clerks’ Offices must be in actual receipt of a completed FPCA  - federal post card application - from a UOCAVA voter.

I’ll have link to the Federal Voting Assistance Program and our Secretary of State’s websites that talk about voting while serving overseas.  

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I’m calling this episode “Real ID for-real this time”. We’ve been thrilled to have Department of Public Safety General Council Eric Brown join us a few times on In Legal Terms. We’ve discussed Real IDs but the requirements for those IDs have been postponed many years many times. We’ll find out what’s up now. And we’re grateful that Treasure Tyson, Director of Driver Service Bureau will be here also to answer questions about driver's licenses.

Founded in 1938, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety currently has over 1,400 employees throughout the state. Those employees perform a variety of tasks, including issuing driver’s licenses and firearm permits, patrolling our roads and highways, keeping drugs off the streets, providing training and certification to law enforcement agencies, conducting forensic analysis and investigations, and much more.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) will kick off its 2025 National Educating America Tour with a free Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Educational Conference for Mississippi residents on Wednesday, February 19 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm CT at the Hilton Jackson Hotel (1001 East County Line Road, Jackson). The free conference is open to everyone and will allow participants to learn from experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, caregiving, and legal and long-term care planning. Register by visiting //www.alzfdn.org/tour. Advance registration is highly recommended. Our friend Richard Courtney will be the legal representative speaking.

What’s up with our Mississippi legislature? Find out! The next season of the MPB News program @Issue has started. It’s heard on Fridays, at 6:30pm on MPB Think Radio. There will be additional content on the Mississippi Public Broadcasting YouTube channel. Republican Austin Barbour and Democrat Brandon Jones will participate in the weekly recaps and roundtable discussions about current issues.

January 31st is the Qualifying Deadline at 5:00 p.m. for Party primary and independent candidates for municipal office.

March 3rd  Primary Election Voter Registration Deadline for mail registration applications post-marked no later than March 3rd are eligible to vote in the April 1, 2025 Municipal Primary Elections.

https://www.sos.ms.gov/content/documents/elections/2025/2025%20Website%20Calendar%20-%20Municipal%20Elections.pdf        

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Attorney Francis Springer has a unique point of view – he’s an attorney but he’s also been a deputy sheriff. We’ll learn about your rights when interacting with police; how you could or shouldn’t handle a stop.

You can find a complete list of traffic laws in Mississippi in Title 63 “Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations” of the Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated

https://mdot.ms.gov/safetyeducation/teens/mississippi-traffic-safety/

HB 349 was passed and signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves during the last legislative session. It’s a ban on “squatted vehicles,” which prohibits modifications to motor vehicles which raise front fender a certain height above the rear fender.

Auto Correct discussed this on their suspension broadcast on May 2nd 2024.

https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2024/pdf/history/HB/HB0349.xml http://autocorrect.mpbonline.org/episodes/auto-correct-suspension

ACLU Mississippi has a webpage that provides tips for interacting with police and understanding your rights.

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In the SEC, the SWAC, The Sun Belt Conference, and all over America we’re celebrating college football and its student athletes. They work so hard for the enjoyment of the fans of their schools and lately they and other student athletes are being compensated for their Name, Image and Likeness. Our guest, attorney Andrew Coffman from Phelps Dunbar will tell us a bit about the laws and rights associated with NIL.

If you’re curious about NIL I’ve got a 10-minute podcast for you. MPB’s 10 Minute Time Out recently had a NIL episode. Here’s the link to own award-winning broadcaster Lacey Alexander’s show.

Next Monday (01/20/2025) is MLK Day and it’s also Inauguration Day. MPB Think Radio will broadcast the audio from a 1973 special MPB TV interview with Coretta Scott King on the anniversary of Dr. King’s actual birthday - tomorrow, Jan. 15th That’s at 6:30pm. On Monday the 20th our special programing of President’s Trump’s Inauguration from 10am to noon.(and yes, it the NCAA Men’s Football National Championship). He's MPB Think Radio's Schedule.

Surprise! It’s election season. It’s always election season. Gov. Tate Reeves has scheduled six special elections in Mississippi this year: two for the Mississippi House of Representatives, three for trial courts and one for a district attorney position.

1.     The residents of Calhoun, Lafayette, Pontotoc and Webster Counties will choose a representative for Mississippi House District 23 on March 25.

2.     Lauderdale County residents in the district will vote for a House District 82 representative on March 25 to fill a vacancy.          

3.     Clarke and Lauderdale counties will vote for their choice for the 12th Chancery District, Place 1 Judge seat on Feb. 3.

4.     Pearl River County voters will vote for their choice of Pearl River County Court Judge in a Nov. 4 special election.

5.     Forrest and Perry counties will vote for circuit court judge on Nov. 4.

The qualifying deadline for the House of Representatives, county, circuit and chancery judge special elections is on Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

6.     The 1st Circuit Court District includes residents in Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Pontotoc, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties; they will vote for their choice for district attorney on Nov. 4. The qualifying deadline for the district attorney special election is on Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.

(Mississippi Free Press)

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Snippet

A Radio. Public Affairs Program

MPB’s In Legal Terms 2024

Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s In Legal Terms heard weekly Tuesdays at 10am on MPB Think Radio. Hosted by attorney Adam Kilgore and MPB Think Radio Producer Liz Gill. The show all about you and your rights. 

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