National Roundup

Mississippi
State high court upholds 12-year sentence for cellphone in jail
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court’s confirmation of a 12-year prison sentence for an African American man who carried his mobile phone into a county jail cell is being slammed as a brutal example of racial injustice.

Even one of the justices who joined in the unanimous ruling said that while the sentence is legal, the prosecutor and trial judge could have avoided punishing the man entirely.

Justice Leslie King is currently the only African American justice on the nine-member court. He wrote that Willie Nash’s case “seems to demonstrate a failure of our criminal justice system on multiple levels” because it’s not clear whether Nash was properly searched or told not to take his phone into his cell when he was booked on a misdemeanor charge.

Sentencing reform advocates have expressed outrage, and Leonard Pitts, a nationally syndicated Miami Herald columnist, published Gov. Tate Reeves’ phone number, urging readers to tell the newly inaugurated governor to “let my people go.”

Nash, now 39, didn’t seek to overturn his conviction, but argued on appeal that his August 2018 sentence was grossly disproportionate, violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Mississippi justices unanimously rejected his argument.

“Though harsh, Nash’s sentence falls within the statutory range,” Justice James Maxwell wrote for the high court on Jan. 9.

A 2012 Mississippi law sets a sentencing range of three to 15 years for inmates found with deadly weapons, cellphones or components of cellphones in state jails and prisons.

Corrections officials have said for years that contraband cellphones are a problem in the state’s jails and prisons. During an outbreak of violence that left five inmates dead and an undisclosed number of other inmates injured between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3, some inmates used cellphones to take photos and videos that showed, among other things, prisoners sleeping on the floor of a crowded cell and smoke filling a corridor and cells at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

In Nash’s case, court records show he asked an employee at the Newton County jail for “some juice” and then willingly handed over his phone. The employee thought Nash wanted something to drink at first, before realizing that he wanted electricity to power the device.

The jailer gave the phone to a deputy sheriff, who later unlocked it using the pass code Nash provided. The deputy found the phone had photos and messages belonging to Nash.

The trial judge told Nash to “consider yourself fortunate” in getting the 12-year sentence, because Nash had previous burglary convictions and could have been sentenced as a habitual offender to the full 15 years without the possibility of early release. The Supreme Court noted that Nash could get out after serving 25% of his sentence, or three years.

King wrote that Nash’s case is an example of why prosecutors and judges have “wide discretion.”

“Nash served his time for his previous convictions and stayed out of trouble with the law for many years,” King wrote. “He has a wife and three children who rely on him. His crime was victimless, and the facts of the case lend themselves to an interpretation that his crime was accidental and likely caused by a failure in booking procedures.”

“Nash did not do anything nefarious with his phone, and he certainly did not hide his phone from law enforcement,” King added. “Both the prosecutor and the trial court should have taken a more rehabilitative, rather than punitive, stance.”

Washington
Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins to retire
Olympia, Wash. (AP) — Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins announced Thursday he will retire at the end of March.

Wiggins, 72, was first elected to the court in 2010. In a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, he wrote that it had been “a tremendous honor” to serve on the court but that he wanted to spend more time with his wife, Nancy, and their family.

“Thus, the time has come for me to step down, opening the way for a new justice,” he wrote.

Wiggins’ announcement comes shortly after the retirement of former Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, who retired this week to focus on her health as she fights a third bout of cancer. The court’s newest justice, Raquel Montoya-Lewis, was sworn in Jan. 6. She is the first Native American justice to serve on the state’s highest court.

Wiggins, a former appeals lawyer, won his seat nearly a decade ago after beating three-term Justice Richard Sanders by 13,000 votes out of nearly 2 million cast.

While serving on the Supreme Court, he also sat as a pro tem judge on the on Division Two of the Washington Court of Appeals and on the Jefferson Co. Superior Court bench. He also served as a pro tem judge in King County and as a pro tem district court judge in Kitsap judge while he was in private practice from 1996 until he was elected to the Supreme Court.

He also served as a judge on the Court of Appeals briefly in 1995.

Inslee, a Democrat, will appoint a new justice who must run in the November election, and then again in 2022, when Wiggins’ term would have ended.

The other members of the court are: Chief Justice Debra Stephens, Justices Barbara Madsen, Charles Johnson, Susan Owens, Steven Gonzalez, Sheryl Gordon McCloud, and Mary Yu.

North Carolina
Man charged with beating driver of school bus full of kids
LAURINBURG, N.C. (AP) —  A  bus driver in North Carolina was transporting kids to school when her ex-boyfriend boarded the vehicle and began beating the woman, who managed to keep her foot on the brake even after being knocked to the floor, police said.

The Scotland County Schools driver had stopped to pick up students along her morning route Tuesday in Laurinburg when 46-year-old Kenneth Latrel Revels boarded unexpectedly, the Laurinburg Police Department said in a statement.

Revels is accused of punching her repeatedly and stomping her head after knocking her to the floor. As many as 20 children were on board, watching while she struggled to keep her foot on the brake to prevent the bus from “moving uncontrollably.”

Revels eventually hopped out of the bus and ran away.

The district said no students on the bus were injured.

Revels is wanted on charges of violating a domestic violence protection order, assault on a female, assault on a school employee, disorderly conduct on a school bus, entering a school bus unlawfully, breaking or entering a motor vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault with a deadly weapon in the presence of minors. Police said Revels used his hands and feet as potentially deadly weapons.