Barbour pardoned a lot of people - 208, many criminals of the worst sort - and caught red Mississippi by surprise. One thing you generally count on Republican governors for is keeping murderers behind bars.
One snag, though: Part of the Mississippi Constitution specifies that all pardons must follow a 30 day period of notice, for public complaint and comment. Mississippi's AG says he can find no such notice, so the pardons are void, at least for now.
Mississippi Circuit Judge Tomie Green has temporarily blocked the release of 21 inmates who'd been given pardons or medical release by Republican Haley Barbour in one of his final acts as governor.
