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An email from Mississippi Press Association executive director Layne Bruce says that “a long list” of Gov. Haley Barbour’s last-minute pardons were not properly advertised in advance, as required by state law.

That’s the crux of the argument Attorney General Jim Hood made Wednesday before Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green in his attempt to gain an injunction to stop the release of some of those pardoned who were still in prison.

In the email. sent Wednesday night, Bruce told members of a MPA listserv that a search by MPA staff members to determine if each of the pardons met the 30-day notice requirement before the pardons were issued “turned up quite a long list of those that didn’t. In more than one case, the public notice for someone requesting a pardon won’t even start publishing until tomorrow (Thursday), two days after the former governor signed the pardon order.”

Green apparently had similar doubts about some of the pardons meeting the advertising requirement, because at Hood’s request she signed an order Wednesday evening halting the release of the still-incarcerated pardons.

What this means in the long run, it’s hard to tell. That the MPA, whose member newspapers in a lot of cases would serve as the advertising medium, has already determined many of Barbour’s pardons were not properly noticed certainly does not bode well for the validity of what the former governor did.

Complicating things is Butler Snow’s announcement Wednesday afternoon that Barbour had joined the firm.

Why would that be troublesome? Butler Snow serves as MPA’s general counsel.

Federal and state law enforcement authorities served search warrants at 27 convenience stores and Hispanic grocery stores this morning, where they seized counterfeit prescription medications.

At a press conference in his office, Attorney General Jim Hood said one arrest was made and counterfeit antibiotics, steroids and birth control was seized, along with other prescription medications. The name of the person arrested and the charge(s) he or she will face was not disclosed.

The 27 locations raided were scattered across the state. They were primarily bodegas, or Hispanic grocery stores, that sold the fake meds.

Counterfeit prescription meds that are smuggled into the U.S. are a growing problem, said Ray Parmer, special agent in charge of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Office in New Orleans.

Since 2008, the number of intellectual theft cases Parmer’s office has investigated has grown by 38 percent. Theft cases have centered on counterfeit medications, counterfeit toothpaste laced with antifreeze, tainted animal food, counterfeit automobile airbags and counterfeit aircraft parts.

“These cases rob Americans of jobs, fuel organized crime and create public safety hazards,” Parmer said.

Hood added that much of the counterfeit trade business is subsidized by the illegal drug trade.

Thursday morning’s searches and arrest were the result of a nine-month investigation that included officials from Hood’s office, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the Food and Drug Administration, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Mississippi State Pharmacy Board.

Parmer said undercover agents made 78 purchases of counterfeit meds at the raided locations over that nine-month period.

“This stuff is dangerous,” Hood said. “None of these are legitimate prescription drugs. You just go in and buy them over the counter.”

The joint task force was funded by a $100,000 federal grant, and Mississippi was the only recipient of the money, Hood said. Another $100,000 grant was just awarded that will fund a website that will assist law enforcement officials and consumers in determining the difference in legitimate and counterfeit prescription medications and other fake goods.

Hood added that he expects more arrests related to the investigation.

Loverboy probably didn’t have the Mississippi Legislature on their minds when the band was performing their ’80s rock anthem, “Working for the Weekend.”

But that’s exactly what lawmakers will spend their weekend doing, now that the House and Senate have agreed to suspend the session until late April. Before that happens, bond bills and other deadline-restricted legislation has to clear, hence the extended work week.

The weekend workout at the Capitol is just one of the two hot political stories that will unfold over the next few days. Gov. Haley Barbour and Attorney General Jim Hood are currently in a stare-down over Barbour’s desire to join the 14 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare reform legislation President Obama signed earlier this week.

Hood told Barbour yesterday that he has to study the issues of the case a little further before he makes a decision about moving forward — or not moving forward — with the litigation. Barbour has plans to hire outside counsel to do it for him if Hood continues to balk. The two  have tied up in the past, and neither are much of a mind to blink, so this could get really good really fast. A lot of conservative Democrats — including Mississippi’s Travis Childers — voted against the healthcare legislation, so it’s not necessarily a slam dunk that Hood will refuse to participate in the lawsuit. On the other hand, Hood could just be stalling in the name of further study while he weighs his options. Throw in the fact that Hood has already said that Barbour is legally barred from filing the complaint on his own, and there’s a political brawl just waiting to happen. It’ll all shake out soon.

Until then, have a rocking weekend.