Jackson Jambalaya

I thought this was going to be about Madison county porches.

Useful comparison. It would help to know how many attorneys work for each D. A.

Is that our problem in HindsCo?

Not enough staff?

Even though our county has steadily been losing population since 1985?

Even though Hinds County is now smaller than Madison and Rankin counties combined?

More importantly, how many judges are there in Birmingham? Do they have to hear both civil and criminal cases? How many trial weeks are assigned for criminal cases?

If you want to analyze the Hinds County situation, use these questions as well as looking at prosecutor case-loads.

Jefferson County has 10 felony trial judges that hear criminal cases only; they have an additional 5 judges to take felony guilty pleas.

No comparison. In Hinds County, 4 judges hear both civil and criminal cases, so we have the equivalent of 2 felony criminal judges. The problem can be best remedied by increasing the number of judges and by having enough assistant district attorneys so that at least two can be available to each judge at any time.

This is important information and I am glad to see it. We need more charts and comparisons.

I think there should be a limit to the number of continuances issued per case. I also think court should not be based on availability of attorneys. If they take a case and they are assigned a date, be there, experts, witnesses and the whole circus that is needed.

9:01 with enough judges scheduling and continuances would be manageable. You won't come up with many problems that a sufficient number of judges wouldn't solve.

You won't see more judges in Hinds County, however. You see, it would take more money to pay them and the support staff, the additional adas that would be necessary, not to mention courtrooms for the judges to have trials and pleas in.

If you are truly concerned, call your senator and legislator and tell them you want more judges and the staff and facilities for them to function. Then hold your breath until you see any action. You will turn very blue...

Do they turn the pineapples upside down on Madison County porches? Anything to fight the boredom of living in Pleasantville.

How sad it is that you cannot differentiate between anti-black and anti-asshole. Would it make you feel better if I said that, among many others, I come from native blood, but that I hate these assholes just as much for staining our collective heritage, of whatever colour?

While I appreciate the amusement value of your constant diatribes, you really need to get a grip. For example, while my gf was born in mainland China during the Mao years (we are both aulds) and was hard brainwashed during her "upbringing", she has been a Canadian for a long time now and understands the difference between racism and calling out a fucked-up society.

Calling out bullshit aspects of a society does not equate to criticising a society's general skin colour, and to go down that road is equal to cowardice in the face of truth. There are aspects of white society that are unpleasant, but unlike other societies, white folks generally seek to fix them rather than blame others or make excuses.

And if you're looking for the source of my anger towards black assholes in particular, consider the fact that in Canada there were virtually no deaths or woundings by gunfire, and no real civil unrest, before the opening-up of our immigration system to blacks. To be clear, I was informed early on (i.e., early 80s) by a very good friend and co-worker from Jamaica (himself a 50+yo Rasta) that there was a very important difference between Rastas and Rude Boys, which was that Rastas will share their weed with you and treat you like a brother, whatever your colour, but that Rude Boys carried guns and would shoot you for your wallet.

In Canada, no-one has to wonder even for a second who did the shooting downtown, in spite of blacks comprising only 3% of our population, and we are not. fucking. amused. We have assholes from Somalia, etc., who are being dealt with, but we also have home-grown fuckheads like the North Preston Gang, who need to be hunted down and exterminated.

North Preston is a small Nova Scotia community of mostly Underground Railroad descendants which is fairly affluent, with 2/3 of homes being owned, but which produces a ridiculously large percentage of crime cancer nationally. The cancer is very clear, and the assholes from that community have no excuse similar to that used by similarly-tinted assholes from the States.

It's not about what colour you are, it's about what you, as an individual, stand for.

So, what say you? You seem to have some sort of hard-on for white people. Why?

Talk, man. I will talk with you and try to be fair, but I will be honest, if you're not okay with honesty, then you best sheer off right now.

"Jefferson County has 10 felony trial judges that hear criminal cases only; they have an additional 5 judges to take felony guilty pleas.

No comparison. In Hinds County, 4 judges hear both civil and criminal cases, so we have the equivalent of 2 felony criminal judges. The problem can be best remedied by increasing the number of judges and by having enough assistant district attorneys so that at least two can be available to each judge at any time."
February 7, 2015 at 6:13 PM

Yes, but Jefferson County, Alabama has 659,000 people, while Hinds County, Mississippi has 244,000 people. So, the ratio is about the same.

244,000 and shrinking.

Birmingham's budget is more than twice that of Jackson's.

You also have to look at how the State of Alabama helps in directing state and federal projects to Birmingham. And, look at the how the county and city are structured in terms of responsibilities.

the jail populations are the relevant statistic according to the original post.

the equivalent of 2 full time judges to 15 judges is under no analysis, comparable.

last I heard, which is a while back, Birmingham was bankrupt.

To those above who think that more money is the answer or solution to the many problems prevalent in the Hinds County criminal justice system:

Please see the Feb. 6, 2015 comment posted at 8:51 PM, in response to the Friday, Febrary 6, 2015 "Editorial..." posted by Kingfish.

The problems, of course, are not limited to the District Attorney or his staff. Other solutions might include more court time, even after 5 PM, set aside for non jury matters, setting strict and timely dockets, jurors who are summoned to appear, and who are legally repremanded according to statute if they do not appear and who are excused only for "good cause".

Certainly, I do not pretend to offer limitless solutions to the problems that we as citizens face with those jurors who can't or will not apply the law, given them by the Court, to the facts of the case prsented.

Common sense applied to the facts of a case and the willingness to work together to reach a unanimous, just verdict appears to be beyond our reach.

12:36; Tell me if you've ever heard a judge instructing jurors to 'just use your common sense'.