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{{Info box person

{{Infobox person

|name=Horace Lavelle "Sonny" Merideth, Jr.

|name=Horace Lavelle "Sonny" Merideth, Jr.

|birth_date=December 30, 1930

|birth_date=December 30, 1930

}}

}}

'''Horace Lavelle Merideth, Jr.''', known as '''Sonny Merideth'' (December 7, 1930 – September 5, 2017), was a [[lawyer]] from Greenville, [[Mississippi]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1960 to 1992. He helped to bring casino [[gambling]] to his state.

'''Horace Lavelle Merideth, Jr.''', known as '''Sonny Merideth'' (December 7, 1930 – September 5, 2017), was a [[lawyer]] from Greenville, [[Mississippi]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1960 to 1992. Active in my legislative fields, he worked to bring casino [[gambling]] to his state.

==Background==

==Background==

==Political career==

==Political career==

At the age of twenty-eight in 1959, Merideth defeated an incumbent legislator in [[primary]] race to represent Washington County in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Re-elected seven times, he remained in the House until his retirement in 1992. In 1962, he raised a point of order which brought forth a walkout by a small group of legislators who protested House Speaker Walter Sillers' invitation to [[United States Army]] [[General]] [[Edwin Walker]], a staunch segregationist, to speak on the state House floor.<ref name=findagrave/>

At the age of twenty-eight in 1959, Merideth defeated an incumbent legislator in [[primary]] race to represent Washington County in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Re-elected seven times, he remained in the House until his retirement in 1992. In 1962, he raised a point of order which brought forth a walkout by a small group of legislators who protested House Speaker Walter Sillers' invitation to [[United States Army]] [[General]] Edwin Anderson Walker, a staunch segregationist, to speak on the state House floor.<ref name=findagrave/>

In 1990, lawmakers filed a bill to legalize gambling on boats cruising the [[Mississippi River]]. As a subcommittee chairman, Merideth removed a few words from the proposed legislation to allow gambling on docked riverboats. Democratic state Senator Bob Dearing of Natchez, one of the sponsors of the riverboat bill recalled that the wording was altered because a district attorney in [[Arkansas]] threatened to arrest people on board the riverboats for illegal gambling once the boats sailed into Arkansas waters. In time dockside gambling developed in the 1990s into a tourist attraction along the river and the Gulf Coast, first in riverboats and later in [[hotel]]s. Former state Representative Danny Guice, Jr., of Ocean Springs, a Democrat-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]], recalled the "dire times. We needed some kind of spark to re-ignite the tourism down here, and that's exactly what happened."<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Ex-lawmaker-who-helped-usher-in-Mississippi-12180040.php|title=Ex-lawmaker who helped usher in Mississippi casinos dies|publisher=''Laredo (Texas) Morning Times''|date=September 7, 2017|accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref>

In 1990, lawmakers filed a bill to legalize gambling on boats cruising the [[Mississippi River]]. As a subcommittee chairman, Merideth removed a few words from the proposed legislation to allow gambling on docked riverboats. Democratic state Senator Bob Dearing of Natchez, one of the sponsors of the riverboat bill recalled that the wording was altered because a district attorney in [[Arkansas]] threatened to arrest people on board the riverboats for illegal gambling once the boats sailed into Arkansas waters. In time dockside gambling developed in the 1990s into a tourist attraction along the river and the Gulf Coast, first in riverboats and later in [[hotel]]s. Former state Representative Danny Guice, Jr., of Ocean Springs, a Democrat-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]], recalled the "dire times. We needed some kind of spark to re-ignite the tourism down here, and that's exactly what happened."<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Ex-lawmaker-who-helped-usher-in-Mississippi-12180040.php|title=Ex-lawmaker who helped usher in Mississippi casinos dies|publisher=''Laredo (Texas) Morning Times''|date=September 7, 2017|accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref>

[[Category:Methodists]]

[[Category:Methodists]]

[[Category:United States Air Force]]

[[Category:United States Air Force]]