Dickie Scruggs wants to keep his license

As the Clarion Ledger reported yesterday, Dickie Scruggs of movie and lawyering fame and now infamy is fighting the suspension of his bar license after his pleading guilty to attempting to bribe a judge. On the cover this seems to be crazy in that he pled guilty to a felony but I actually agree with Scruggs on this one.

Scruggs beef is that he actually hasn't been convicted yet, and until the plea is accepted and he is actually convicted then let him keep the license. This is further confused by the fact that some of the parties in this bribery scandal have voluntarily turned in their licenses.

If I was to guess this is a move by Scruggs that is two-fold. It is first an attempt to try and squeeze a little more money out of his law practice before it gets shuttered. On this I can't blame him because he has already been destroyed publicly, why not try and squeeze out a little more green. Second I can see Scruggs doing this because the plea hasn't been accepted and if the judge wants a different deal then loosing his license would take one less bargaining chip away from Scruggs.

Also in a less likely scenario I think Scruggs might do this just for the fact that he wants to stick it to the bar which he probably feels like turned on him and he doesn't want to play nice with anyone. I'm not saying this is the plausible idea but it is possible.

The Mississippi general elections are now set

After run-off victories by Gregg Harper in the GOP 3rd District race and Travis Childer (D) and Greg Davis (R) in the 1st District race the election ballot has been finalized for the fall, except for that pesky Presidential race.

House of Representatives:
1st: Travis Childers (D) v. Greg Davis (R)
2nd: Bennie Thompson (D) - i v. Richard Cook (R)
3rd: Joel Gill (D) v. Gregg Harper (R)
4th: Gene Taylor (D) - i v. John McCay III (R)

Senate: Thad Cochran (R) - i v. Erik Fleming (D)

In my opinion all 3 of the incumbents have an easy path to victory and Gregg Harper in District 3 will probably have an easy time. The race I find most interesting is Childers v. Davis in the First. While the 1st district is a fairly Republican stronghold both party's races went into a run-off showing that all the Republicans are not on the same page and depending on the Presidential race a strong Democratic showing might be enough to squeak out this race for the Democrats in a seat that has been held by a Democrat for over 120 years (until Wicker's victory in 1995). However, DeSoto County, a Republican stronghold has been over the last decade one of the fastest growing counties in the nation so it might be interesting.

Breaking News - Dickie Scruggs pleads guilty

We've not blogged about Dickie, primarily because so many other places are doing a good job like Folo and Ya'll Politics, but in some of the biggest Mississippi law news of the young year Dickie Scruggs, tobacco litigation magnate has pled guilty attempting to bride a judicial officer which has a maximum term of five years. I recommend checking out folo or Ya'll or this CL article for more.

* It looks like folo is down right now and are working from here.

Mississippi Primary Law

One of the little know Mississippi primary laws is the "no-crossover law" with regards to primaries. While Mississippi is an open primary state, one does not have to be a registered party member to vote in a party primary, that does not mean a person can vote one party's primary election and the another party's primary run-off election.

This idea is built on the idea that if a person is voting in a party primary they are a member of that party registered or not and MS law requires that you "support the nominations made in the primary in which he participates". MS Code 23-15-575.

Where is comes into play now is when people, typically radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh, convince voters to go and vote in the primary opposite of their normal party allegiance for the purpose of tearing down or defeating (hopefully) the person who is the voters actual favorite candidate will face in the general election.

I should also mention that this law, 23-15-575, has been challenged on slightly different grounds and ruled unconstitutional but the federal court in that case said the current rules could remain in place through the summer of 2008 because the DOJ would not have time to approve changes before the elections (which we are currently in between) occurred. See Mississippi Democratic Party v. Barbour from the Northern District of Mississippi in 2007 for more on this case.

Proposed Rule Change to MRCP 60

The Court is currently seeking comments, until March 25, 2008, concerning the adding of the following paragraph to Rule 60.

"Reconsideration of a transfer order. An order transferring a case to another court will become effective ten (10) days following the date of the entry of the order. Any motion for reconsideration of the transfer order must be filed prior to the expiration of the 10-day period, for which no extensions may be granted. If a motion for reconsideration is filed, all proceedings will be stayed until such time as the motion is ruled upon; however, if the transferor court fails to rule on the motion for reconsideration within thirty (30) days of the date of filing, the motion shall be deemed denied."

MS Not the Last in Something, Federal Judicial Inefficiency

I found this article interesting as it talks about the slow pace of cases winding their way through the federal judiciary. The article also reports on some of the slowest of the slow, 2 of which are Mississippi's own, Henry Wingate, Chief Judge of the Mississippi Southern District, and Glen Davidson, Chief Judge of the Northern District of Mississippi. Wingate made the list because of backed up motions and Davidson made the list based on case backlog. I've actually Judge Wingate a couple of times and sat in the audience in his courtroom and he seems like a nice enough guy and he runs a tight courtroom, which I prefer, but he is known for his sloth-like pace in ruling. I've never been before Davidson, if anyone has please let us know your take in the comments.

One thing I would like to include is that how the system works in Mississippi might contribute to the Chief Judges being on the list while others are not. I believe the way it works is that all cases and motions are filed and the Chief Judge distributes them to the other judges and keeps some for himself. One thing that might skew theses listings is a judge who holds back extra cases or wants "all the hard one's for himself" which naturally take longer to rule on and to right good, tight opinions. I'm not sure if that is the case here but it might be.

Legislative Round-up

Time to look at a couple of bills that are still alive that are generating interest in this years Mississippi Legislature.

• SB 2622 - a bill to strengthen the penalty on "home invasion" to 10 years from 3 years. What is happening here is they are creating a different standard from simple burglary and what can be considered home invasion. This bill has already passed the Senate and has been sent to the House.
• HB 1013 - a bill to increase the cigarette tax in Mississippi from 18 cents per pack to $1.18 per pack. The bill passed the House 74-42 and has been sent to the Senate
• SB 2468 - voter i.d. bill that would require the presenting of an i.d. at the polling place, This bill has passed the Senate and has been sent to the House.
• HB 609 - a bill to freeze hiring by state agency in this budget restricted year. The bill has passed the House and been submitted to the Senate.
  
• SB 2793 - a bill that will allow utility companies to raise rates before construction actually begins on building certain types of new plants. This bill has passed the Senate 38-11 and there is a companion version working its way through the House, HB 1274.
• HB 1089 - a bill that will allow hunters to hunt deer over bait. This bill has passed the House and been submitted to the Senate
  
• HB 342 - a bill to allow municipalities to seize drug houses is still alive but has not passed either chamber as of yet.
  
• HB 1148 - was an interesting bill that died in committee last week. The bill would have expanded the authority of the A.G. to ask a judge to approve a wire-tap in cases beyond just drug cases (which is the current law). Hood is alleging partisanship as the reason this bill has been killed.
  

Mississippi Lottery ???

Some mornings I listen to local talk radio as I drive into Jackson in the mornings (that is until I get mad at the over generalizations and rhetoric). Today's topic, however, was interesting to me as it concerned the yearly talk about Mississippi considering a lottery.

For those looking for historical context Mississippi is squarely in the bible belt politically and, in general, seems to pride itself on abstaining from "sinfulness" with regards to things like alcohol (which wasn't repealed in Mississippi until the late 50's I believe), gaming (which passed in a very contentious manner in the mid-90's but the gambling houses had to be on the water and then there was another big fight after Hurricane Katrina when some of the establishments wanted off of the water and onto dry land) and sex toys (which are banned from sale and it has repeatedly been taken to court).

I love to hear the arguments between the "tax on the poor" people and the "it would save education" people as there points don't really go against each other in philosophy but they definitely differ on passage of the bill. I'll keep my opinions on this too myself unless someone wants to hear them in the comments.

The bill in question in HB 1043 which is reportedly going to die in Committee according to Chairman of the Gaming Committee Bobby Moak. The bill was offered by Reps. Clarke, Mayo, Thomas, and Hines. For the status of HB 1043 see here. There is also a lottery bill in the Senate, SB 2029, offered by Senator Butler. For the status of SB 2029 see here.

Hood's Statement

As most people who read this blog probably know Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has had close ties with several attorneys who have recently been indicted / disbarred / accused of judicial (and executive) bribery. Yesterday Hood sat down with the Clarion Ledger, Mississippi's largest paper, and made the statement: "It would be like prosecuting relatives" if he were to bring charges against the attorney's in question. When I read the statement from A.G. Hood yesterday my first thought was, "Wow, I bet he wishes he could take that back and say it differently."

There is a system in place Hood is relying on, namely local state D.A. prosecutors, to cover the state crimes and quite honestly he is probably doing exactly what he should be but he certainly didn't help himself with this latest interview as all the details are buried at the tail of the story just like any newspaper would do. It is statements like this that get people run out of office, not that I can advocating that, but historically Hood will never be viewed in the same light as before he made the family comment.

Mississippi Congressmen and their earmarks

I am ashamed as a Mississippian that our representation in D.C. has not only the worst earmarking Senator in Thad Cochran but also had the worst earmarking Representative in Roger Wicker.

Cochran collected $837 million in earmarks this number was almost double any other Senator
while Wicker led the House with $178 million, many shared with Cochran
Here is the link to the OMB earmark page if you want to do further research

Also, if you have forgotten Wicker is now Mississippi's interim Senator following Trent Lott's resignation and is in the special election to be held in November.

I understand that it might be considered by some good to bring money back to your state but I am opposed to sticking "earmarks" into bills after they have been voted on. If Mississippi is to get money then it should be voted, as should ever other state's chance to get money from the Feds. Maybe I should try and strengthen my Republican ties because they obviously know the folks who get government contracts.

Watch the Mississippi Legislature Online

Courtesy of Mississippi Public Broadcasting online