As soon as I heard about this decision in favor of Mississippi Gov. Barbour I headed over to CNN to read their take on it.   CNN in general, and Anderson Cooper specifically, had made this a big issue in and effort to draw a narrative of GOP diminishment.   Barbour wins the day.
(CNN) — Mississippi’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the controversial pardons of more than 200 convicts that former Gov. Haley Barbour granted on his way out of office, rejecting a challenge by the state’s attorney general.

In a 77-page, 6-3 ruling Thursday afternoon, the court found the pardons “may not be set aside or voided by the judicial branch.”
Attorney General Jim Hood had argued that no proper notice had been posted in newspapers where the inmates’ crimes had been committed, but the court found the final decision rested “solely with the governor.”
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Michael Randolph called the decision “a stunning victory for some lawless convicted felons, and an immeasurable loss for the law-abiding citizens of our state.”
Among the 214 inmates Barbour pardoned before he left office in January were four convicted murderers who had worked as “trusties” at the governor’s mansion. Critics argued that the governor failed to consider the families of their victims before freeing them.
All four have remained free while the issue worked their way through the courts, with their whereabouts monitored daily since January. They are now free under Thursday’s decision, and five other inmates who had remained behind bars awaiting a ruling will be released soon.
Tiffany Brewer, whose sister, Tammy, was shot and killed by her husband, David Gatlin, as she held their 6-week-old baby, said the decision was “so unfair.”
“Obviously all the laws in the Constitution don’t have to be followed,” she told CNN, as she fought through her tears.
“I feel like my sister was let down. I think Barbour just wanted to show he had the power to do this. He didn’t care about my family or any of the other families. He wanted everyone to know he was the big man, and he proved it,” Brewer said.
Gatlin was among the pardoned trusties.
Barbour has defended his pardons and said the former inmates had been rehabilitated.
During a February Supreme Court hearing, Barbour’s lawyers argued that previous state court rulings had found the 30-day notice rule was “an unconstitutional encroachment” on the governor’s power.
In addition, the notice would have made no difference in Barbour’s decision, they argued. (article)