In Legal Terms

Mississippi had its Municipal Primary elections last Tuesday. It got us to thinking about our two main political parties; so we invited them to come on the show and tell us what they want us to know and give our listeners a chance to ask what they want to know. Today, we’ve got Representative Cheikh Taylor, Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. We're also joined by Mikel Bolden, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Party. (We're scheduled to speak with the chair of the Mississippi Republican Party on May 20th, 2025.)Governor Tate Reeves announced that he has set a special election to fill the vacancy in Senate District 18 (Leake, Neshoba, and Winston Counties). The vacancy is due to the resignation of the Honorable Jenifer B. Branning upon her election to the Mississippi Supreme Court effective January, 6 2025. The special election will be held on April 15, 2025.Some of our primary races had so many candidates that there might need to be a runoff. April 12th – Saturday - Runoff Absentee Voting begins: Municipal Clerks’ Offices must be open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.April 22nd is the PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION DAY: Polling places must be open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.Do you want to know where you can get more information about Mississippi Democrats? Their website: MississippiDemocrats.orgYou can learn about voting, the party, volunteering and upcoming events like the Community Conversation: April 24: 6-8pm at the Tougaloo College Auditorium.MISSISSIPPI DEMOCRATIC PARTYP.O. Box 1583Jackson, MS 39215811 E. River Pl. Ste 102Jackson MS 39202Telephone: (601) 969-2913Fax: (601) 354- 1599info@mississippidemocrats.org

It’s Alcohol Awareness Month. Our guests from the Mississippi Department of Revue, their Director of Public Relations and Communications, Tina Richardson and Riley Nelson, Chief of Enforcement Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control. We're talking about liquor sales, laws, taxes, and vendor questions. Oh and it’s primary election day!!I love a good website and DOR has one. dor.mo.gov from there you can click on ABC, titles and tags, cannabis – whatever you want answers about.Are you ready to vote today? If not, I’ve got some assistance for you. Yallvote.ms is the short cut to get tons of election information. They’ve got a “My Election Day” button to click to see where you vote, see a sample ballot, and see who your current office holders are. If you aren’t registered to vote . . . get yourself registered before May 5th so you CAN vote in the General Municipal Election, June 1st.Can alcoholic beverages be sold on election day? According to the FAQ page of the Department of Revenue’s ABC section: Sales of alcoholic beverages are not limited or restricted on election days. Local governments cannot restrict the sale of alcoholic beverages by package stores or on-premises ABC permittees on election days. Beer sales on election days may be restricted by a local ordinance.Office of Consumer Services can provide information about services offered by DMH and DMH certified community service providers. Information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling the DMH Helpline at 1-877-210-8513. Receive information about mental health, IDD, and substance abuse services available in your area.

Mississippi has great weather and great topography for riding a bicycle. But whether YOU are on the bike or YOU are in the car, we all need to know the rules of the road and everyone’s rights. Attorney Baskin Jones is here to help us learn.Does this talk make you want to take a bike ride? Visit Mississippi dot org has an information page to help you plan a ride in various parts of the state over various terrains.In addition to Visit Mississippi, M-DOT has some advice for folks on bikes. M-DOT shares a 2019 report card for Mississippi from the League of American Bicyclist, where our state gets pretty bad grades. The good news is Go Gulfport has received a grant to help enhance cycling infrastructure and active transportation. You can read about the good, the bad, and the helpful from M-DOT’s website.Next Tuesday is an important day – no foolin’. Next Tuesday, April 1st is election day! Polls will be open 7am to 7pm for municipal primary elections. We’ll have the link for the My Election Day website so you can type in your address and see the sample Republican and Democratic ballot for you

Our guest today is Mississippi attorney Francis Springer. We touched on the importance of no conflicts of interest in client / lawyer relationshipIf you need some answers after the recent storms in Mississippi : MS Legal Services dot org is a guide to free civil legal services for low-income persons and seniors in Mississippi. Their disaster relief webpage has information about Federal Agencies that provide disaster assistance, Locating and applying for disaster assistance, and suggestions for settling insurance claims after a disaster.MDOT says: If a traffic light is flashing yellow, it’s important to remember that there is no need to come to a stop, but motorists should stay alert for other drivers entering the highway and proceed with caution. When approaching a flashing red traffic light, drivers must come to a complete stop. An intersection with flashing red lights in all directions should be treated as a four-way stop. In the event of a power outage, treat dark traffic lights as a stop sign and intersections as a four-way stop.                             .Money Talks, one of our MPB local shows heard at 9am just before In Legal Terms on Tuesday, is also a podcast. You can find their: Money Talks: Prepare for Emergencies podcast with tips on Preparing Before the Storm. That “storm” might be weather, economic, or family issues.Our listeners came together to offer advice to caller "Ann" on getting a copy of her birth certificate. How to Request a Copy of a Panama Canal Zone Record Listener "Bob" suggested the hospital Ann was born in was in fact in the canal zone. If the person was born in the Canal Zone, he or she acquired U.S. citizenship at birth if born between February 26, 1904 and October 1, 1979, and one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person’s birth. USCIS The Canal Zone ceased to exist on October 1, 1979. See the so-called Torrijos–Carter Treaties (September 7, 1977). If the person was born in the Republic of Panama, but not in the Canal Zone, one parent must have been a U.S. citizen parent employed by the U.S. Government, or by the Panama Railroad Company, at the time of the person’s birth.Also was the suggestion to contact their congressman.

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 TrekLiz's thoughts about items left on the moon: Salvage OneAdam remembered The Expanse (tv show and book series)

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.