Mississippi Gambles

IN February, the House of the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill amending the statute which sets forth the qualifications of competent jurors. The amendment deletes the disqualification of “common gamblers or habitual drunkards.” One legislator explained the bill’s passage this way: “. . . the legalization of casinos in Mississippi makes the gambling requirement unfair. You know now we encourage common gambling.”

Mississippi didn’t always encourage common gambling.