Judge: Metal law to stand

The Clarion-Ledger, 8/15/8

A federal judge is upholding a law intended to reduce metal theft in Mississippi, but opinions still vary as to whether it will work.

U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied a request by Metal Management Mississippi Inc. to do away with a part of the law that requires recyclers to tag and hold certain metals, including copper, for three days before mailing checks or making electronic transactions for the metals.

Wingate had agreed to postpone the law’s effective date while he considered whether it hurt hundreds of metal recyclers estimated to be doing business in the state. The law went into effect Wednesday before he sided with the state later that night.