News & Commentary

Monday, March 30th was the deadline for conference reports to be filed or the bills will die. The conference report must be adopted by April 2nd. The Governor may sign bills into law or veto them throughout the week. The 2015 Legislative Session adjourns on April 5th. 

Tuesday, March 3rd was the deadline for bills to pass out of committee from the opposite chamber. Senate bills had to pass out of House committees and House bills had to pass out of Senate committees. 

Senate Bill 2780, the Mississippi Medical Emergency Good Samaritan Act, is a bill to provide immunity from arrest or prosecution for certain drug violations by a person seeking treatment for a drug overdose. We support SB2780 because we want to encourage people to seek medical care on behalf of themselves and others, in any emergency situation. SB2780 passed the Senate and now moves to the House.

House Bill 932 will require registrars to mail a voter registration card to the mailing address provided on an applicant’s voter registration form. This law places another unnecessary obstacle between citizens and their right to vote. This legislation passed the House and has been referred to the County Affairs and Elections Committees.

Two pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 2543 and House Bill 1305, amend a statute in Mississippi to prevent disclosure of the suppliers of drugs used in executions. These execution secrecy bills cannot be allowed to move forward. SB 2543 passed the Senate committee and now moves the Senate floor. HB 1305 has already passed the House floor and moves to the Senate committee.

By Keia Johnson, ACLU of Mississippi Legislative Strategist

A bill called the "Drone Prohibition Act" (HB 347) was introduced to prohibit the use of drones with certain exceptions and has been referred to the House Judiciary B Committee. We oppose the bill as written because it fails to place any restrictions on law enforcement use, retention, and disclosure of captured images from drones.

Once again, the Mississippi Legislature has proposed a bill to require drug testing for public benefit recipients in the form of House Bill 383. The ACLU of Mississippi opposes HB 383 and any effort to mandate any type of drug testing of public benefit applicants and recipients as an intrusion upon an individual’s right to privacy and an unreasonable search by the government. In addition to constitutional issues, drug testing is a misguided policy, based on the false premise that poor people are more likely to be drug users than other members of our society.  By targeting recipients of public benefits, these proposals disproportionately impact communities of color.

UPDATE: Rep. Bob Evans has agreed to pull this bill in a statement online.