Ask President Barack Obama about his religious affiliation, and he's a Christian. Ask Mississippi or Alabama voters, and you
might find a different answer.
In the midst of tight GOP primaries in both states, Public Policy Polling
(PPP) has released information showing that a majority of likely GOP
primary voters in the Deep South do not see Obama as a Christian. PPP's Alabama
survey
of 600 likely GOP primary voters found that only 14 percent consider Obama a
Christian, while 45 percent said he is a Muslim and 41 percent answered that
they were not sure.
A similar picture surfaced in Mississippi. Of 656 likely GOP primary voters
surveyed, 12 percent said Obama was a Christian, 52 percent classified him as a
Muslim, and 36 percent fell in the "not sure" category.
The survey emerges on the heels of a recent stream of public
questioning regarding Obama's religion. Back on Feb. 18, Rick Santorum took aim at the president's beliefs, charging
that his White House decisions are driven by a "different theology."
JACKSON, Miss. – A man
accused of killing a Roman Catholic priest and setting off in the victim's car
for a family vacation to Walt Disney World was found dead in his prison cell
Thursday in an apparent suicide, corrections officials and his attorney
said.
Jeremy Wayne Manieri, 33, was charged with shooting
the Rev. Ed Everitt of Hammond, La., in July 2011 at a beach house in Waveland,
Miss.
Corrections officials said Manieri was found dead in
his cell at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.
Details of his death were not released. Manieri's attorney, Brian Alexander,
confirmed the death.
SALLIS, MS (WLBT) – A small Attala County town is questioning whether a weekend
chase and fatal shooting should be investigated as a Hate Crime. Sheriff’s
department officials met with residents are asking for justice in the murder of
Cedric Sharkey. More than 125 people crowded into New St. James Church of Christ
to find out more about Saturday’s investigation in Sallis where 24 year old
Cedric Sharkey was found shot in the woods following a chase on Attala Road
4106. "They had no business, no business, none chasing behind somebody taking
the law into your own hands," said one woman sitting in the audience. Attala
County’s Sheriff William Lee and Investigator Zeile Shaw answered questions from
those in attendance. Law officers said 52 year old Frankie Barber and 42 year
old Barry Ware of Sallis are charged with the fatal shooting. One weapon is
being processed by the State Crime Lab. The two told investigators Sharkey fired
at them first, but no other weapon has been found. "It is revealed up to this
point in time we do not believe he had a weapon," said Investigator Shaw when
asked if Sharkey had a gun. Residents voiced concerns about witnesses seeing
four people in the truck chasing the shooting victim while only two were
charged. Relatives said Barber accused Sharkey of stealing iron from his
property then later chased his car
causing it to crash. "Frankie his son, his son-in-law and his daughter they
pulled up. The son jumped out and said ‘Yall been the ones taking our stuff."
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he's "very comfortable"
with his final-days decisions to grant pardons or other clemency to more than
200 people, including convicted killers — decisions that outraged victims'
families and dismayed even some of his most devoted supporters.
Barbour, a Republican who had considered but decided against running for
president this year, said that 189 of the people who got pardons or other
reprieves had already been released from prison before his actions. Only 10, he
said, have been or will be fully released from prison, while several with
expensive, chronic conditions are receiving medical leave.
"I am fully confident the pardons and other clemency I have given are all
valid," Barbour told reporters at a news conference, his first on the subject,
at the Jackson-area law firm where he now works.
Barbour granted pardons and other reprieves in his final days before leaving
office after two terms Tuesday. Five inmates who had worked as trusties at the
Governor's Mansion — four of them, convicted of murder — were released last
weekend. One of the freed men had fatally shot his estranged wife as she held
their baby in 1993 and then shot her male friend in the head; the friend
survived.
Barbour initially declined to comment on the pardons or to provide detailed
information about how many of those receiving them were still in prison. He then
issued a statement after leaving office, after the pardons had generated a
firestorm of criticism.
By the time state corrections officials said Wednesday that 21 on the list
were still in custody, state Attorney General Jim Hood was calling the pardons
"shameful" and questioning whether Barbour had violated the state constitution
by not ensuring inmates gave enough public notice about their possible
release.
Hood, the only statewide Democratic officeholder in Mississippi, also
persuaded a state judge to temporarily block release of the 21 still in custody.
State corrections officials said Friday they would start to release 13 of the 21
inmates because the 13 were given medical discharges and weren't bound by the
same public notice requirements before release.
Barbour on Friday reiterated that it's a tradition in Mississippi for
governors to free trusties who worked at the Governor's Mansion. And the former
governor said he's not concerned that the freed trusties might harm anyone.
"I have absolute confidence, so much confidence, that I let my grandchildren
play with these five men," Barbour, 64, said of the trusties freed this
week.
He said the Mississippi Department of Corrections picks inmates who work at
the Governor's Mansion. Typically, they are men who committed crimes of passion.
Corrections officials assign them, he said, because they are not likely to
commit another violent crime and make good workers.
Records show Barbour gave "full, complete and unconditional" pardons to 203
people, including 17 convicted of murder, 10 convicted of manslaughter, eight
convicted of aggravated assault and five convicted of drunken-driving incidents
that caused deaths.
He granted some sort of reprieve to 26 inmates who were in custody — 10 full
pardons; 13 medical releases; one suspension of sentence; one conditional,
indefinite suspension of sentence; and one conditional clemency.
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