"Worst Mayor in America" kicked off Dem Primary ballot

Recently I've been following the trials (literally) and tribulations of the man Reason Magazine called The Worst Mayor in America, Jackson, Mississippi's Frank Melton.

Melton and his bodyguard will be retried in May on charges of violating the civil rights of a Jackson man whose home was raided by a sledgehammer wielding mob. The mayor says he thought the home was a crack house--there was no search warrant. The jury in the first trial was not able to reach a unanimous verdict.

The pair and a third man were acquitted in a state criminal trial last year.

Obviously Melton's strong suit is not details, which is why the Jackson Democratic Municipal Executive Committee tossed Melton off the May Democratic Primary ballot. (Melton has a busy May planned.) The committee unanimously ruled on Tuesday that Melton does not meet the city's residency requirement.

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger has more:

Melton also owns a home with his wife, Ellen, in Tyler, Texas. Tax statements from Texas show Melton has filed for homestead exemption there.

Melton said neither he nor his wife filed for homestead exemption in Texas. He said he did file in Jackson in 2008.

The homestead exemption, filed as a part of federal taxes, has a strong precedent for determining where a candidates lives, but it is not conclusive, according to a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling.

Melton said it is "unfair" to claim he does not live in Jackson.

He says he will appeal the ruling.

That's not the only Melton news this evening. Although his retrial will take place in Jackson, the jurors will come from Mississippi's gulf coast region. The judge presiding over the trial, concerned about heavy media coverage of Melton and his two previous trials in Jackson, wants fresh ears and eyes for the next round.

But check this out:

But Melton, who is black, said the coast is majority white and the lack of possible black jurors won't allow him to judged by a jury of his peers.

Leaving race out of it, Melton might have a point. It was the morons of Jackson who elected a fellow moron to be their mayor.

Related posts:

Mistrial declared in trial of "The Worst Mayor in America"

Jury deliberates in trial of "The Worst Mayor in America," Frank Melton

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