POLITICAL BUZZ

Last week was big for State of the fill-in-the-blank speeches -- State of the State, State of the Union and State of Jackson County.

President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union, said, “The basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college and put away a little for retirement. The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.”

Gov. Phil Bryant, in his State of the State, outlined initiatives that included expanding charter schools in Mississippi, pushing “dual enrollment” so high schoolers at risk for dropping out can learn a trade, and promoting offshore drilling for gas in Mississippi waters.

Jackson County Board of Supervisors President John McKay, in his State of the County, said the county’s finances are sound and debt is low, but noted that this year the county is set to borrow $33 million to build a new jail.

Pardongate update

A judge last week postponed until Friday a decision on whether to void some of the 198 pardons of criminals granted by former Gov. Haley Barbour as he left office, after Attorney General Jim Hood said he needed more time to prepare his challenge to the pardons.

Hood claims many of the people Barbour pardoned did not meet a constitutional requirement to publish prior notice in newspapers for 30 days. Barbour says Hood’s challenge is politically motivated, and notes that 90 percent of the people to whom he granted pardons or other clemecy had already been out of jail for years.

A judge granted Hood’s request to temporarily halt the release of some inmates who had been pardoned but remained in jail, and to require others released to report to authorities daily until the issue is resolved. One still being held, Azikiwe Kambule, is claiming in a lawsuit that he has been wrongfully detained since Barbour pardoned him Jan. 10.

Kambule in 1997 was sentenced to 60 years for armed carjacking and accessory to murder.

Last week, the Associated Press reported pardon files for convicted killers who worked at the Governor’s Mansion and others appear to be missing or do not exist.

Attorneys for Barbour in court records said Mansion trusties don’t have pardon files, but they have “living files” because the governor and Marsha Barbour and others observed them every day before they were granted clemency.

Welfare restrictions

Several bills pending in the state Legislature, including one by Sen. Michael Watson, R-Pascagoula, would require drug testing for public assistance recipients; another would require all able-bodied assistance recipients to perform 20 hours a week of community service.