Update: Paul Quinn has offered a pretty extensive set of notes on his blog (he can’t write about it due to exam pressures). Still no indication what the MC dean said. A huge list of public officials in Prentiss Cty was added, including the full Board of Supervisors.
As noted by Lotus in comments, Patsy Brumfeld has posted a list of letter-writers on the Daily Journal site. She has also posted more quotes from various letters, which is here. She notes that she’s going to post more letters.
Perusing her list I have to wonder why no one (the Clarion Ledger in particular would seem interested) has posted a hint about what the Dean of the Mississippi College Law School had to say in his letter. That’s the most interesting letter I’ve not seen discussed in coverage.
There’s also an editorial on the Sun Herald web page commending the decision to open the letters (thanks to Paul Quinn for the link).
Previously, we’ve linked and quoted the Clarion Ledger story (with its long quote from Travis Childers’s letter). The heading refers to Paul Quinn, who we happen to know reported the story, although the byline is Jerry Mitchell. We also linked a prior story by Patsy Brumfeld. Also, this morning there was a story by Sandra Knispel on Mississippi public radio which we will link when available.
Correction: From Paul Quinn’s notes, it appears that two of letters– one by Childers– notes a willingness to serve the time for Langston. Thus the next sentences are corrected. Finally, we promoted to post a comment by Lydialaw that suggests Chiders’s letter offers to take Langston’s place in jail. It’s pretty clear from subsequent reporting that was a memory slip.
there is crazy weather in Oxford town!
And in case any of y’all are wondering, I’m in a bad mood! Jerry Mitchel or Paul Quinn … or both! My pay check better be double for ALL the work I did with zero credit.
NMC ; Ill post all my notes somewhere soon and let y’all know.
OK. My bad mood has subsided. The paper version as my name on top on the front page (a1). So that’s good.
What’s so “crazy” about wind and rain?
well when I wrote that I was still in bed and had been listening to howling wind and rain for hours. But now that I’m out and about it’s not that crazy. But it is miserable.
You want crazy, dmwriter, drive about 3 hours south.
http://paulquinn.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/here-are-all-my-notes-on-langston-letters/
I could not write a story today because of finals, but this is everything I got. Hope y’all enjoy.
Interesting to note that Frances Lucas at Millsaps repeated Khayat’s mistake and wrote her letter under college letterhead.
Since it’s a private institution, Dragoman, I guess that’s between her and her board. There’s a policy against it at Ole Miss as I understand it.
Point taken, NMC, but I would imagine that as at Ole Miss, a number of Millsaps alums (and perhaps board members) would cast a cold and fishy eye on such a thing. I suppose we’ll see.
Actually, if I were Millsaps connected, I’d probably be casting a cold and fishy eye (depending on what was said… except for the letterhead part)
Is anyone other than me curious about the MC law dean’s letter?!
Count me as curious, NMC.
me curious!
Hey … Hold my beer. I gotta good idea: Let’s start a letter-writing campaign telling Quinn’s professors what a great job he is doing as an apprentice journalist and ask for lenity in grading his exams. I’d give him no less than an A.
As a MCSOL grad, I’m curious. I wrote Dean Rosenblatt today and asked for a copy of his letter.
Ben: Your words mean a lot to me, thank you. Hopefully you’ll arrive at the Jubilee tomorrow and we can have a beer. Luckily I made it through finals OK. I forgot to ask Judge Mills in my motion to open the letters after finals.
On another subject, I just got back from the Fedex office in Tupelo (they had the wrong address and I needed my package) and spoke with a driver from Booneville. Without saying much on my roll as a journalist in the case we talked about Joey Langston at length. He repeated all the good things the letters said. He also said most lawyers in his area are just out to make a quick buck, Langston was always in a law suit to help his client. Before I left the driver said, “If I could I would take Joey’s place in prison, he would do a lot more good for Booneville than I ever would.”
I just though that was very interesting, he said he didn’t write a letter, but should have.
It demonstrates the vagaries of human existence, Paul Quinn. Langston probably went along for many years doing right, then did wrong. Then how do you classify the doing wrong part of him. One way is to put him in jail.