Latest Mississippi Headlines

All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Mississippi Supreme Court Upholds Funeral Policy Restriction

Nov 19 2012 // The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled the there was nothing improper about pre-need funeral services contracts written by Waller Funeral Home that forbid their transfer to another provider. Coleman Funeral Home had...

Mississippi Kmart Flooding Case Set for Trial

Nov 16 2012 // The Mississippi city of Corinth and the Kroger Co. have asked a federal judge to dismiss them as defendants in a lawsuit over 2010 flooding at the Kmart in Corinth. Kmart Corp. is seeking compensation for flood damage at...

Court Invalidates Sex Harassment Award to Southern Mississippi Coaches

Nov 9 2012 // The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled against three former University of Southern Mississippi soccer coaches who claimed sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. The Hattiesburg American reported that the ruling...

Faulkner Estate in Mississippi Files Copyright Suit Over Quotes in Movie, Ad

Oct 31 2012 // William Faulkner wrote that the past is never dead. His heirs say their copyright to that phrase is very much alive. The author’s literary estate is suing Sony Pictures Classics for using a paraphrase of the line in...

Mississippi Jury Rules Helmet Maker Not Liable for High Schooler’s Injury

Oct 26 2012 // A Mississippi jury has decided that helmet-manufacturer Riddell is not responsible for the injury of a George County High School football player in 2006. Court documents said that the plaintiff, who was a minor at the time...

Miss. Motorist Sentenced for Fraudulently Filing Duplicate Claims

Oct 25 2012 // Authorities in Mississippi announced this week that a local motorist will spend 12 months in jail for committing insurance fraud. Motorist Johnnetta White was sentenced to three years in the custody of the Mississippi...

Federal Agency Joins Mississippi Hotel Fire Probe

Oct 23 2012 // Federal investigators have joined the investigation into last Wednesday’s fire at a Howard Johnson Inn on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The fire burned through the roof of the three-story hotel, doing an estimated $4...

Midwest Farmers Planted Most of Land Flooded in 2011

Oct 22 2012 // Farmers this spring were able to plant all but a few thousand acres of the land deluged by last year’s flooding along on the Missouri River and the intentional breaching of a Mississippi River levee in southeast...

Federal Court Seeks New Briefs in Challenge to Mississippi Damages Cap

Oct 22 2012 // A federal appeals court has asked parties involved in a personal injury lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of Mississippi’s $1 million cap on non-economic damages to re-brief the issue. The 5th Circuit...

Mississippi High Court to Hear Texaco Appeal Over Gas Tank Fumes

Oct 19 2012 // The Mississippi Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Dec. 3 in Texaco’s appeal of a $19 million verdict for five women who alleged the oil company was responsible for their children born with...

Federal Court Seeks Rebriefing on Mississippi Damages Cap

Oct 15 2012 // A federal appeals court has asked parties involved in a personal injury lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of Mississippi’s $1 million cap on non-economic damages to re-brief the issue. The 5th Circuit...

Gulf States Pressure Obama Over BP Spill Settlement Funds

Oct 8 2012 // Senators from the U.S. Gulf Coast urged President Barack Obama on Friday to ensure that any legal settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill does not undermine a recently passed law that would funnel billions of...

Mississippi Case Challenges Death Certificate As Evidence in Accident

Oct 8 2012 // Prosecutors have asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction of Jeffrey Dale Beecham, who won a new trial because the state failed to offer testimony to authenticate a death certificate in a fatal DUI...

Ratings Recap: Nacional Re, Barents Re, PMG, MS Frontier Re

Oct 4 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of “a-” to Spain’s Nacional de Reaseguros, S.A., both with...

Mississippi Ending 11-Year Old Insurance Fraud Case Involving Frankel

Oct 1 2012 // Mississippi officials are dropping the remnants of an 11-year-old lawsuit after collecting as much money as they think they can get in reparations for insurance fraud by a convicted financier who claimed Vatican...

Mississippi Offers Smartphone App for Driver’s Test

Sep 28 2012 // The Mississippi Department of Public Safety has partnered with Mississippi Interactive LLC to offer a driver’s practice test application for residents with the proper phones or other hand-held computing devices. The...

Workers’ Comp Changes Go Into Effect in Mississippi

Sep 24 2012 // Insurers and employers in Mississippi now have greater latitude to conduct alcohol and drug tests on employees following a workplace accident and to reduce benefits for workers with pre-existing conditions. Under new...

Mississippi Insurance Losses from Isaac Under $25 Million

Sep 21 2012 // Private insurers expect to pay more than $24.3 million in claims in Mississippi as a result of Hurricane Isaac, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said. Chaney said that as of Sept. 19, Mississippi’s 21 largest...

Lawsuit Over NFL Concussions Filed in Mississippi

Sep 21 2012 // A federal lawsuit filed in Mississippi on behalf of more than 50 former NFL players claims the league conspired to hide the dangers of concussions and brain trauma associated with professional football. The lawsuit was...

Mississippi Court Hears Challenge to Death Certificate As Evidence in Accident

Sep 20 2012 // Prosecutors have asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction of Jeffrey Dale Beecham, who won a new trial because the state failed to offer testimony to authenticate a death certificate in a fatal DUI...