Jennifer Kirby-McLemore, Author at Rethink Mississippi

Jennifer Kirby-McLemore

Jennifer Kirby-McLemore is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Mississippi School of Law. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University in 2007 and her Master of Arts in Social Sciences with a concentration in Human Rights and Genocide Studies from the University of Chicago in 2009. After moving to Mississippi in 2009, she taught for three years in public schools and entered law school in 2012. This year she will be working with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation as a legal intern to research issues related to race and justice.

Reducing racial disparities in our prisons: What can Mississippi learn from other states?

The bipartisan sentencing reform bill moving through the Legislature does not address racial disparities. That's a serious omission.

Racial disparities in incarceration are getting worse. It’s time Mississippi took notice.

African Americans account for 61 percent of Mississippi's prisoners, but only 37 percent of its population. Mississippi should join a national movement to reexamine the racial impact of its sentencing laws.