Haley Barbour's pardons go before Miss. high court

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether ex-Gov. Haley Barbour legally pardoned 10 current and former inmates...

TheGrio Staff

Feb 9, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether ex-Gov. Haley Barbour legally pardoned 10 current and former inmates.

Among the inmates are four convicted murderers who served as trusties at the Governor’s Mansion while Barbour was in office.

The Supreme Court is not expected to rule Thursday.

Barbour pardoned 198 people in his final days in office. Most were already out of prison, some for years or decades.

State Attorney General Jim Hood is challenging the legality of some of the pardons, saying some people didn’t publish notifications as Hood says is required in Mississippi’s Constitution.

Five of those pardoned are being held in jail on a temporary restraining order while the legal wrangling plays out.