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Lonnie Cain’s childhood home in Detroit was just two miles from the Wayne State ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ campus. Though he was physically close to higher education, the idea of actually pursuing it always felt much further away.

“I truly didn't think I could ever graduate from college,” he said. “I grew up with a single mother who understood the importance of education but couldn't really tell me how to get an education, and I just never thought I was smart enough to graduate from college.”

In May, Cain will become one of just three people ever to earn his Juris Doctor and Master of Laws simultaneously from the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ of Mississippi.

But his life nearly took another path. Growing up in the 1980s and '90s, Cain set his sights on a different career – criminal justice.

“When I was a little kid, I was heavily influenced by 'Miami Vice' and 'New York Undercover' and all the cop shows, and I wanted to be a police officer as a child and join the SWAT team, all of that interesting stuff,” he said.

After high school, Cain attended community college for a semester before switching gears. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1998.

“I didn't want to look back on my life and say, ‘I wish I were a Marine,’ which why I enlisted,” he said. “At 18, I thought ‘I needed to do this, because now is the opportunity. I'm proud to be a United States Marine.”

For his first year of deployment, he was stationed at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he and his fellow Marines were security forces for the naval base. His next few years were spent stationed in the Western Pacific region. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his final year of active duty in Australia when his battalion was quickly deployed to the Persian Gulf.

The Marines rotated out of Afghanistan in February 2002, and shortly after, Cain, who completed his active duty as a sergeant, transitioned to the Army Reserves, where he served for 16 years, including a one-year tour in Iraq in 2009.

Despite his military career, Cain still had his childhood goal of becoming a police officer. And thanks in part to education benefits for veterans, he had the opportunity to achieve it.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Leo ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ in Florida in 2011 at age 30.

“I would say one of my prouder moments of all I have done was earning my undergraduate degree, because I did not believe I was smart enough to earn a college degree,” he said.

Now that higher education was no longer out of reach, he kept going. Cain earned a master’s in criminal justice from SLU and a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ in Virginia.

His childhood aspirations finally became reality when he joined the Virginia Beach Police Department in 2007.

Though Cain considered law school before working on his doctorate, it was his work in the field that ultimately drove him to pursue a legal education.

“I have my own personal experience with the criminal justice system, and I found it to be unfair at times,” he said. “One person going against a team of the government, meaning the police department, the district attorney's office – it’s difficult.

“People need competent, motivated and empathetic legal representation. It is incredibly difficult to fight the government with legal representation who may be overworked, exhausted and unable to take time to ‘care’ because they cannot settle in to even learn the client’s name.”

In 2021, he began studying for the LSAT and applying to schools. The UM popped up as an option.

“I've been around the world twice, but I’d never been to Mississippi,” he said. “I don't even think I've flown over Mississippi.”

But after several other schools treated him "like a number," Southern hospitality drew him in.

“Ole Miss actually reached out to me through email and invited me to a couple of Zooms," Cain said. "I finally went onto a Zoom call, and the admissions staff treated me like I was the only applicant, even though I wasn't.

"I was at a point in my life where I wanted to be around good people, and I chose Ole Miss. I paid my seat deposit before I visited the university.”

While looking at everything Ole Miss had to offer, Cain also looked into the , the country’s only program of its kind. When he started the J.D. program in summer 2022, he knew that was something he wanted to pursue.

“I am very interested in technology and aviation and things like that, and this looked like a really good program,” he said. “When I came here and spoke with the program’s leadership, I decided that I wanted to specialize in drones and air mobility.”

The Federal Aviation Administration controls drone use, and its rules and regulations depend on usage. As drones become more common, the need for legal research and interpretation grows.

“I found that there was a space for me when it comes to regulating drones and electric vehicles,” Cain said. “I am just really intrigued by it, and I think there is great work to be done there in privacy, transportation, logistics, general use, use by law enforcement agencies, medical transport — there's a lot of work to be done in that field.”

As part of his research for his LL.M., which will be published in the law school’s ’s upcoming issue, he focused on law enforcement’s use of electromagnetic-pulse systems and how that can disrupt the electronics of target locations — something that exists at the military level, but not yet at the local or private level.

“It is an absolute honor and privilege to have a student like Lonnie in my classroom,” said Michelle Hanlon, executive director for the Center for Air and Space Law and professor of practice. “He brings a wealth of experience and unique perspective into discussions and his contributions are always thoughtful.”

To earn two degrees simultaneously while conducting research and working part-time has required years of hard work, focus, long hours, extra courses and a lot of sacrifice. 

“I credit my law journey to God walking with me every step of the way,” Cain said. “Bold prayers, faith and perseverance are what got me here. Without God walking with me, I would have never made it.”

Besides pursuing his own education, he’s also made it a mission to encourage others to do the same in his role as a student and a recruiter.

“Lonnie has poured his heart and soul into our law school and our air and space law program, sharing his passion for both with every prospective student he meets, even convincing a few to join us,” said Allison Lewis, the air and space law program manager.

“Despite his incredible achievements, he never brags, always taking time to connect with students, faculty, staff and newcomers with respect and humility.”

After earning his fourth and fifth college degrees, Cain will have just one more hurdle this summer: the bar exam. He plans to take the Uniform Bar Exam and move to Texas to pursue opportunities in the aviation legal field, as many aerospace companies are located there.

With a handful of degrees and decades of life experience, Cain said he is done pursuing education for now but will forever be grateful for his time at Ole Miss.

“I love Ole Miss law,” he said. “I couldn't imagine going to law school anywhere else. The faculty and staff are fantastic, you get a great education here, you will have fun and you will meet friends who you will have for the rest of your life.”

Top: Marine Corps veteran Lonnie Cain is one of just three students in UM history to simultaneously earn a Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degree. The Detroit native and former police officer is building a second career in aviation law, blending his passions for public service, technology and justice reform. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services