Headlines
Fortune: Research Shows State Corruption Heavy in Mississippi
Recent research conducted by universities in Hong Kong and Indiana suggests that Mississippi has more than just crooked letters – it has a crooked state government, too.
In 2014, Fortune Magazine named Mississippi the most corrupt state in the nation – a title that reportedly costs the state 5.2 percent of its average expenditures per year.
According to the article, the research studied more than 25,000 convictions of public officials for violation of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008. It also studied patterns in state spending to develop a corruption index that estimates the most and least corrupt states in the nation.
Charlie Mitchell
“I have been railing about this ‘study’ since it was first reported,” said Charlie Mitchell, Assistant Dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. “As the story says, the inventory covered the years 1976-2008. That included the peak of Operation Pretense which, as you will recall, landed dozens of people in the dock for alleged bid-rigging on culverts, sweetheart deals on gravel, digging graves in church cemeteries and such.”
Fifty seven of Mississippi’s 410 county supervisors for 26 counties were charged with corruption in the 1980s during the FBI’s ploy code-named Operation Pretense. The case was so notable that an episode of Sixty Minutes spotlighted the sting.
“[Operation Pretense] resulted in a statistical peak,” he said. “Again, any corruption is too much corruption, but perspective matters. This is far from a current inventory, as it ended seven years ago, and, of course, it includes the 1980s when the FBI went on a rampage of sorts.”
Southern states dominated the of the country’s most corrupt states, with Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida joining Mississippi in the top 10. In all of the states but one (South Dakota) state spending was higher than average. Research also found that states with high levels of corruption tend to favor construction, salaries, borrowing, correction, and police protection at the expense of social sectors such as education, health and hospitals.
The article reports that corrupt states tend to have better-paid public servants, including police and correctional officers. Researchers argue that the need for correctional officers is greater because the extent of corruption is higher in states with high numbers of convictions of public officials.
“I don’t doubt that Mississippi officials misbehave on par with those of other states, but context matters,” Mitchell said. “Repeating this ‘we’re the worst’ narrative without realizing the time frame and that remedial laws were passed creates an inaccurate picture.”
Beth Harmon is editor for HottyToddy.com. Email her at beth.harmon@hottytoddy.com
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
Tom Caldwell
September 2, 2015 at 11:29 am
But our legislature has let a bill that would take pensions away from corrupt politicians die in committee the last two years . This is our leadership ,Disgraceful !!
Richard Carlisle
September 2, 2015 at 12:12 pm
I would like to see the actual statistics that support the conclusion that our police and correctional officers are “better paid.” Also it might be that as a state, Mississippi is better at prosecuting corruption on a state level. You do the crime, you do the time. Just saying: “maybe.”
Jessie
February 11, 2016 at 4:39 am
Really…where does life rid this travesties
Hate is soooo ugly
Kevin Curtis
May 3, 2016 at 10:48 pm
I have been reporting mass corruption in northeast, Ms since 2000, publishing a blog on Myspace.com in 2005 that Mississippi was the most corrupt state in the country. I embarked on a 16 year campaign to bring some of the most evil and dark souls to the table of Accountability. Have I paid a price? You better believe it.
I am K C and I approve this message
Spec Ulater
August 12, 2017 at 3:17 am
A foreigner seeking a “ticket to America” came here, conned me, and after 23 years of using me and hiding her cash income, was finally caught red handed in her adulterous and pornographic lifestyle. But her paramour in federal prison for stock fraud and robbing 24 senior. Citizens out of $4.6 million bought the county youth court judge as her attorney, who is a collegue of the presiding judge. They planned it perfectly. Her judge/attorney used DHS/CPS as her personal attack dogs. They denied me access to my net worth and thus legal representation. They gave custody of my daughter to her adulterous mother, even though I had been primary caregiver and had proof of her adultery, tons of pornographic material she had generated (daughter came to me complaining she didn’t like her mother make her take pictures of her in her underwear). I witnessed the mother abusing my daughter and she kidnapped her and fled the home and was on the lam for 20 days. Yet, in court, they demonized me, exonerated her, let her keep all the cash she had stolen and secreted, declared her a loyal wife (she admitted the affairs with the felon and that she was currently sleeping with another woman’s husband, and intended to continue doing so). I was a completely loyal husband for 23 years, yet the judge refused my request to at least prohibit her from whoring around with felons and married men while my impressionable 11-year old daughter was present. He refused. In Mississippi, if you have the money and hire a judge as your attorney, you can skate from any crime and crucify the most innocent person. Period. If you want proof email spec-u-later@lycos.com.