Republican Congressman Michael Guest is asking voters to judge him on his record as he seeks reelection to Congress this November.

But part of that record involves nearly 25 years leading Rankin County’s now-infamous criminal justice system.

Under Guest’s watch, it functioned as a ruthless conviction factory that prioritized maximum sentences and high conviction rates.

With serious blind spots toward illegal behavior, the system allowed evidence gathered through misconduct to be used to lock citizens away.

During those years, deputies carried out routine abuses while helping prosecutors send people to prison.

Some deputies later became infamous as members of Rankin County’s notorious “Goon Squad.”

They beat suspects, entered homes without warrants, and planted fake evidence.

And the district attorney’s office relied on their investigations to prosecute criminal cases.

Michael Guest led that office as the elected District Attorney for more than a decade and served as the chief assistant district attorney for the eleven years prior.

One case that perfectly captures the systemic rot involved a man named Ronald Shinstock.

In 2016, Guest’s office prosecuted Shinstock for selling just $260 worth of methamphetamine.

Shinstock was handed a staggering 40-year prison sentence.

The key investigator who put him away was Brett McAlpin.

McAlpin was later arrested as a central figure in the national “Goon Squad” disgrace.

Shinstock, who remains behind bars, alleged that McAlpin and his crew entered his home without a warrant, beat him, and threatened him with horrific physical and sexual abuse.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ultimately declined to consider his allegations because Shinstock’s public defender failed to raise the objection during trial.

But the “Goon Squad” scandal exposed a much larger, darker history of abuse.

Former deputy Christian Dedmon’s confession revealed just how routine abuse had become.

Deputies conducted weekly warrantless home invasions as standard practice.

Crucially, Dedmon revealed being explicitly warned in 2022 that local prosecutors had finally noticed the illegal entries.

That warning came after Guest left for Congress.

But the routine misconduct stretched back for nearly two decades, reaching deep into the years when Guest ran the show.

Shinstock’s case is just one example of how Guest’s office relied on investigations conducted by deputies later exposed for grave abuses.

And the legal fallout continues.

In January 2026, the ACLU of Mississippi and the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office.

They are demanding public records to uncover exactly how prosecutors responded to police misconduct and what evidence was buried.

While Michael Guest is not personally named in the lawsuit, the toxic trail of compromised cases leads directly back to his office door.

As the elected District Attorney, Guest held ultimate responsibility for the prosecutions carried out by his office.

But regardless of whether Guest knew, the Goon Squad scandal has cast a permanent shadow over the criminal justice system he spent nearly 25 years helping lead.

We can only hope its dark legacy is soon dragged into the light through this latest litigation.

Michael Guest now asks voters to judge him on his record.

And the fact that he built his entire career atop a criminal justice system that allowed torture and manufactured evidence to help secure convictions is part of the record that voters should judge.