Dickie Scruggs Indictment

There is a lot of talk on the Dickie Scruggs indictment and other places have covered the background well. There are a couple of points I haven't seen mentioned though that might be of interest. - a copy of the indictment

1. It seems, taking the indictment as true, that many of the players in this ordeal, Scruggs, Balducci, even the judge should be disbarred for ex parte communications. This isn't the sending you to jail kind of things like the indictment for bribery is but no one is mentioning that these lawyers violated one of the most major requirements of practicing law. There are special "ex parte days" on every docket and that's not what we are talking about here. Something to keep in consideration.

2. Balducci had/has a firm with former Auditor Steven Patterson who is not an attorney (at least he is not on the bar membership roll or known to be an attorney). Very specific steps have to be taken to form a business relationship between an attorney and a non-attorney and fee sharing is highly prohibited. This could also bring in Balducci and Patterson for unauthorized practice of law related state offenses. - ht to Thomas for this one.

One other tidbit to throw out there, some, such as this Slate article propose that perhaps Trent Lott's resignation is related to his brother-in-law's (Dickie Scruggs) indictment. I've seen nothing to suggest it but new information is coming out all the time on this event.

Trent Lott to Resign * Update 2:00 p.m.

** Update - According to Gov. Barbour the election for filling Sen. Trent Lott's seat will be in November of 2008 along with the general election. A close look at MS Code Sec 23-15-855 shows reveals that if the vacancy occurs in 2008 the election should be held with the general election. This being said even if Sen. Lott resigns effectively today Gov. Barbour can call for an election within 10 days but does not have to fill the position until after January 1. As long as the spot is vacant this first day of January (is gets interesting with gaveling in and out but we will go with the 1st) then Barbour is within his rights, I believe, to have the Senate seat election with the general. I also recommend a Washington Post blog which is also following this story for further information.

Big news breaking out of Jackson this morning is that Trent Lott, Senator from Mississippi is resigning at the end of 2007. This is just a year into his 6 year term that he was elected to last November.

The legal part of this is controlled by the 17th amendment, I believe, which states: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Mississippi Code Sec. 23-15-855 states:

(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held in the state to elect a Senator to fill such unexpired term as may remain, provided the unexpired term is more than twelve (12) months and the election shall be held within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.

(2) In case of a vacancy in the office of United States Senator, the Governor may appoint a Senator to fill such vacancy temporarily, and if the United States Senate be in session at the time the vacancy occurs the Governor shall appoint a Senator within ten (10) days after receiving official notice thereof, and the Senator so appointed shall serve until his successor is elected and commissioned as provided for in subsection (1) of this section, provided that such unexpired term as he may be appointed to fill shall be for a longer time than one (1) year, but if for a shorter time than one (1) year he shall serve for the full time of the unexpired term and no special election shall be called by the Governor but his successor shall be elected at the regular election.

These means that Governor Barbour will appoint someone to fill the seat in the interim and since 2008 is a general election year the spot will be elected at that point in time. This assumes Sen. Lott doesn't retire before the end of 2007. If Sen. Lott does retire before the end of the year I think we go with the 100 days election cycle of 10 days of notice and 90 days until election and Governor Barbour's appointee has a shorter term (assuming he is not the elected candidate).

To somewhat cloudy the waters Sec. 23-15-853 was amended this past year to have a different time frame and process and mentions members of Congress which I believe implies House of Representatives but I have to dig deeper to find out what exactly member Congress is in the MS Code to make sure it doesn't include Senators. - 2:00 Update It appears that Governor Barbour says only 23-15-855 matters, and that does make sense since 855 specifically talks about the Senate but the language is slightly confusing.

On to the possible candidates for the office, please feel free to chime in with your recommendations:

• Chip Pickering (R) - US House of Representatives, Miss Dist. 3
• Roger Wicker (R) - US House of Representatives, Miss Dist. 1
• Mike Moore (D) - Former MS Attorney General who has long been rumored to be seeking a Senate seat
  
• Amy Tuck (R) - former MS Lt. Governor (term-limited out this past election), originally a Democrat who turned Republican before her second term
• Charlie Ross (R) - former state Senator, lost in the GOP Lt. Governor's Primary this past year but is a favorite of Governor Barbour
• Ronnie Musgrove (D) - former Mississippi Governor, lost to Haley Barbour in 2003
  
• Mike Espy (D) - former member of the House of Representatives and former Secretary of Agriculture under President Clinton
  
• Mark Baker (R) - State Representative from Rankin County, dark horse candidate for this role but he has friends in high places within the Republican party, probably not enough name recognition to easily win the seat in November 2008 but an interesting candidate

Mississippi Appellate Court Video Archive

I want to give a plug to a project I've been working on for Mississippi College School of Law. The Mississippi Appellate Court Video Archive is a database, free for all, that archives and plays oral arguments before the Mississippi Supreme Court and Mississippi Court of Appeals. You can search the archive by party name, attorney, docket number and even keyword as about 1/4 (and growing) of the arguments have synopses to help you follow along with the video. I think this is an excellent resource for the legal community and those who are just interested in education and law.

Feel free to link to the archive at: http://law.mc.edu/court/

Time to Vote

Today is the big day for Mississippi elections - all Statewide offices, Senate and House seats and many county and local elections will be decided today. This blog implores you to do some research and go vote today for the candidates you think will do the best job and will best represent you. These individuals are responsible for our laws and our law enforcement for the next 4 years so do your part in electing them.