Administrative Office of Courts
Domestic abuse study group to meet August 12 The Commission for Study of Domestic Abuse Proceedings will meet on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 11 a.m. at the new Gartin Justice Building at 450 High Street in Jackson. The meeting will be held in the fourth floor large conference room. Visitors must check in at the security desk on the first floor of the Gartin Justice Building. The public entrance to the Gartin Building is accessible from George Street. Visitor parking is available off George Street on the north side of the Gartin Building and north of the Sillers Parking Garage, as well as on the ground floor of the Sillers Parking Garage. The garage entrance is on President Street. The Mississippi Supreme Court, acting on a request from the Mississippi Attorney General, created the Commission for Study of Domestic Abuse Proceedings in an order signed May 21. The Commission is expected to submit a report to the Court by Dec. 1. The Supreme Court said that the Commission report’s findings and recommendations should consider victim safety, equal access to the courts by victims and accused parties, due process, and offender accountability. Supreme Court Justice Ann H. Lamar of Senatobia and Special Assistant Attorney General Heather Wagner of Jackson are co-chairs of the 23-member Commission. Other Commission members include: University of Mississippi School of Law Professor Deborah Bell; Mississippi College School of Law Professor Shirley Kennedy; Court of Appeals Judge Virginia Carlton of Columbia; Chancery Judges Margaret Alfonso of Gulfport, Jaye Bradley of Lucedale, and Cynthia Brewer of Madison County; Circuit Judges Margaret Carey-McCray of Greenville, Vernon Cotten of Carthage, and Kenneth Thomas of Cleveland; Justice Court Judge Deborah Gambrell of Hattiesburg; Municipal Judge John Shirley of Pearl; Gulfport Assistant City Prosecutor Martha Carson; Assistant District Attorney Kassie Ann Coleman of Hattiesburg; Hinds County Public Defender William LaBarre; Hinds County Assistant Public Defender Lynn Watkins; Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Director Ken Winter of Oxford; Jackson attorney Brandi Brown of Catholic Charities; Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence Executive Director Anna Walker Crump of Jackson; Sen. Gray Tollison of Oxford; Rep. Kimberly Campbell of Jackson; and Mississippi Judicial College Director Cynthia Davis of Oxford. #### |
