Supreme Court Grills Attorneys In Initiative Wording Hearing

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi Supreme Court justices are asking tough questions about how voters can tell the difference between two school funding proposals on the ballot this November.

Justices heard arguments Tuesday in a dispute about ballot titles. Those are descriptions, with no more than 20 words, of what a proposed constitutional amendment would do.

More than 100,000 people signed petitions to put Initiative 42 on the ballot. Its ballot title says 42 would require “an adequate and efficient system of free public schools.” People could sue if education funding falls short.

The Republican-controlled Legislature put Initiative 42-A on the ballot as an alternative. The original ballot title for 42-A, written by Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood, said lawmakers must fund “effective free public schools.”

The court didn’t say when it would rule.