Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s prosecution of state laws has come under scrutiny.
Months ago Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann filed a complaint with the Attorney General alleging campaign finance violations by his opponent Sen. Chris McDaniel. It wasn’t until recently that Fitch said her office would investigate.
Mississippi Today reported, “She has faced criticism this election cycle over lack of action on allegations of campaign finance violations, particularly in the lieutenant governor’s race.” Only the Attorney General has authority to prosecute campaign finance violations.
Weeks ago Secretary of State Michael Watson complained that Fitch was failing to enforce tidelands leases.
“I write once again to express my concerns about matters in which we have requested assistance from your office to no avail,” Watson said in a letter to Fitch. “I have included a chronology below outlining our multiple attempts to obtain assistance from your office, as the state’s ‘law firm’ and its failure to act on behalf of my office to protect the state’s interest.”
He added, “In a desperate attempt to spark some activity from your office, you will recall I emailed you specifically on March 24, 2023, to request a meeting on these matters so that we can move forward and ensure the interests of the state are preserved.”
The Attorney General’s lack of a strong defense of Mississippi’s K-12 compulsory vaccination law in federal court also raised eyebrows.
In ordering the Mississippi Department of Health to implement a religious exemption to the law, U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden cited the Attorney General. “The Attorney General acknowledges that, standing alone, the Compulsory Vaccination Law cannot withstand strict scrutiny,” he wrote.
The State Board of Health would have preferred a vigorous defense rather than capitulation. General Fitch also ignored the 1979 Mississippi Supreme Court decision that supported no religious exemption:
“The protection of the great body of school children attending the public schools in Mississippi against the horrors of crippling and death resulting from poliomyelitis or smallpox or from one of the other diseases against which means of immunization are known and have long been practiced successfully, demand that children who have not been immunized should be excluded from the school community until immunization has been accomplished,” the court wrote in the Brown v. Stone. The court also cited several federal and states cases that supported its decision.
The Legislature has had ample opportunity over the years, including this year, to allow a religious exemption but chose not to, putting children’s health at the forefront.
It appears the Attorney General may not support all state laws with vigor.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.