Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: The Mississippi Ethics Commission declared that the State Legislature is NOT a public body and is NOT subject to the Open Meetings Act.

But the Mississippi Free Press and @justice4ms are going to court to fight that determination. @nickjudin reports:
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

“The public and the press have a right to know, and there is no reason the Legislature should be held to a lesser standard than every city council and board of supervisors throughout the state," says @MSFreePress Editor and CEO Donna Ladd.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

"Any notion that a Legislature full of elected officials is not a public body is a strike against public transparency,” @DonnerKay said in today's statement after the Mississippi Ethics Commission finalized its determination that #MSLeg isn't a public body.mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

“While we will appeal this decision, we also call on the Legislature to amend the Act so it is clear that it is subject to all of the transparency required of all other public bodies in Mississippi,” @DonnerKay said in today's statement.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

The decision to declare that the Legislature is NOT a public body, finalized today, "allows the House Republican Caucus to gather a full quorum of the Mississippi House of Representatives and deliberate on legislation in secret," @nickjudin notes.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

Attorney Rob McDuff of @justice4ms: “We are appealing because we believe the Ethics Commission got it wrong, but the legislature could easily fix this by requiring itself to live up to the standards it requires of other public bodies,” he wrote today.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

Read the story and follow reporter @nickjudin, who began this saga when he attempted to attend and was kicked out of a GOP House Caucus meeting, challenging Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn's rule barring the public from those decisionmaking meetings.
mississippifreepress.org/29702/mississi…

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