Mississippi’s state crime lab autopsy delays persist – National & International News – MON 23Oct2023

Mississippi’s state crime lab autopsy delays persist despite “tough-on-crime” politics.

UAW adds Ram truck plan to strike, nearing 7 weeks.

NATIONAL NEWS

Mississippi’s state crime lab autopsy delays persist

Back in April 2022, the Associated Press published an article highlighting the abysmal backlog for autopsies in the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s office. Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, appointed in 2020 by Gov. Tate Reeves, vowed to get it under control. By August, Tindell announced his office had completed a “decade-old autopsy backlog in record time.” But, with the Nov. 7 election fast approaching and current state leadership touting their tough on crime credentials, delays of more than 90 days and much longer in some cases persist, and systemic issues remain that are yet to be addressed.

Not only does the backlog create a stumbling block for prosecutors looking to bring killers to justice, delays in an official assessment of unnatural deaths creates misery for families who have to wait longer to know what happened to their loved ones and to settle their affairs. 

Tindall instituted a policy that all autopsies should be completed in 90 days. Tindall has had some success in this regard, largely by contracting the work to out-of-state labs. As of April last year, the office has also hired two new pathologists and started a university recruiting program. But the state’s two facilities remain chronically underfunded and understaffed. A rise in violent crime, with Mississippi’s homicide death rate being the highest in the country, has created additional headaches.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens says autopsies for cases in his district still routinely take more than 90 days. “We are nowhere near 90 days,” say Owens. “We have autopsies that have still been pending, sometimes for years.”

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UAW adds Ram truck plan to strike, nearing 7 weeks

This morning, United Auto workers called the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan out on strike. The plant is one of Chrysler parent company Stellantis’ biggest money makers, producing Ram brand trucks and other popular makes. With 6,8oo Sterling Heights workers walking out today, there are now 40,000 UAW workers out on strike across all the Detroit Three firms, Stellantis, General Motors and Ford.

UAW President Shawn Fain said the Sterling Heights plant was called to strike because Stellantis had the worst offer on the table of any of the Detroit Three. None of the offers from any of the three companies comes close to meeting the UAW’s demand for 40% wage increases, to mirror the 40% increases in the wages of the companies’ CEOs over the past 5 years. All three are also very far apart from the union on demands to restore traditional pensions for retirees. Stellantis’ current offer lags behind the others in pay for temporary workers as well as conversion time for these workers to full-time status. 

With many workers living on $500/week strike pay for over a month, some of the membership have called for Fain to bring a tentative agreement for members to vote on. However, the majority seem determined to fight on and strike even more plants to make up ground they’ve lost in every contract since 2008.

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