Mississippi High Court OKs Haley Barbour Pardons

Looks like Haley Barbour is in the clear: The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the controversial pardons the Republican former governor made before leaving office, the AP reports. The state's Democratic attorney general had challenged some of the 198 pardons, saying they fell short of a state requirement: Those pursuing pardons must notify the public in a newspaper for 30 days. But "we are compelled to hold that—in each of the cases before us—it fell to the governor alone to decide whether the Constitution's publication requirement was met," said the court in a 6-3 decision. (More Mississippi stories.)