Mississippi Law

Reminder of the Move

2009-08-20T13:14:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to remind anyone who still comes here that I will be blogging occasionally at the Mississippi Municipal Law Blog with my latest post found here.

I feel some compelling need to post this as Google still recognizes this blog kind of high for some search results.

Notice

2009-05-28T09:04:00.002-05:00

I admit I have been a lax blogger with this site but that just makes this blog like many others on some level. I do hope if someone still visits or has us in a feed reader that you will take note that I will be thoughts about Mississippi law and municipal actions over to a new blog started by an attorney friend of mine and I have agreed to chime in from time to time. So, please visit http://msmunilaw.wordpress.com/ if you get a chance, hopefully we can make that a successful blog. Additionally, I will keep this blog alive and perhaps talk about some non-municipal issues as they arise if I get the opportunity.

Special Parole Provisions Bill

2009-04-06T07:21:00.002-05:00

House Bill #2 has made some news this legislative session as it addresses the creation of a higher standard to be met by sex offenders and murders when considered for parold. Today, Shelia Byrd of the NEM Daily Journal has a good recap of the sitution. The procedural history of the bill can be found on the Legislature's website, here.

In other news

2009-04-03T12:43:00.002-06:00

If you read this blog you've probably noticed we are oddly random about what we cover and what we don't, in the covered part I offer today this link to the story of how a New Orleans attorney, James Perdigao, "stole" approximately $20 Million from his firm Adams and Reese. I mention this here as Adams and Reese also maintains a Jackson office. Based on who Perdigao is having to repay with restitution I can only assume he was working on issues regarding casino gaming as Pennicle Entertainment is the owner of casino's such as Boomtown in metro New Orleans.

MSRCP Rule 45 open for comment

2009-03-31T06:36:00.002-06:00

From time to time the Supreme Court amends the Rules of Civil Procedure and as such they ask for public comment. Currently and amendment to Rule 45 has been proposed and the comment period is now open.

The amendment basically deals with subpoena's in a foreign jurisdiction and how they will be handled by the clerk and how this influence "appereance" before the courts.

Eminent Domain

2009-03-24T09:35:00.002-06:00

The dominating piece of news in Mississippi Law this week is Governor Barbour's statement that he will veto HB 803 which heavily restrict the State's ability to use eminent domain. What is so amazing about this bill is that is passed both the House (119-3) and Senate (51-0) with clear bipartisan support. Will the legislature override the veto? Is Eminent Domain for major private projects a proper use of this tool? Feel free to discuss in the comments.

SCRAM devices in play in Mississippi

2009-03-14T13:57:00.003-06:00

The Supreme Court recently released this press release which described how the Eighth District Drug Court is testing the use of SCRAM alcohol detection devices with offenders. The devices are much like bracelets worn by house arrest sentenced criminals and allow for the testing of alcholoic use through contact with the skin and sweat. The validity of this device is disputed but that is one of the obvious reasons the 8th Circuit Drug Court is testing it before this is used state wide. Here is a general article about the spread of SCRAM device use.

Other places to visit for MS Legal News

2009-03-13T06:54:00.002-06:00

While I don't want to lose any of our readers I do want to refer you to other places on the web that can bring you some good info, and that includes blogs. Three different legislators have blogs though the Clarion Ledger and you might want to keep up with them, 1. to find out what is happening in your Capitol, and 2. to gain a better understanding of some of the thoughts of those who make decisions that effect laws every day (well at least when in session).

Greg Snowden's Blog
John Mayo's Blog
Lydia Chassaniol's Blog

Stimulus Package 2009

2009-03-09T09:57:00.002-06:00

Many people are quite opiniated about the Stimulus package that recently passed, with some on both sides of the fence. I wanted to pass along a pdf doc that was put together by the Clarion Ledger that talks about the stimulus allocations designated for Mississippi. Interesting to say the least.

Judicial Elections Gone Bad ?

2009-02-17T11:37:00.000-06:00

USAToday has an article out today that discusses how a corporate CEO heavily backed (through a intermediary) a candidate for the West Virginia Supreme Court only to have that same judge be the deciding vote on a multi-million dollar case three years later. The story is quite interesting and the decision regarding the propriety of this action has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court and if found improper could very well impact beyond this single case and influence judicial election law and selection across the country (including Mississippi).

Voter I.D.

2009-02-09T09:45:00.002-06:00

One of the things that has been near and dear to my heart in the policital process and definitely falls under Mississippi Law is Voter Identification during elections. House Bill 1520 directly addresses this and is co-authored by 57 (I believe) Representatives. However, passage of this bill may not be a reality as the Mississippi House of Representatives is fairly staunchly divided along party (and other) lines and most, if not all, of these authors are Republican.

I additionally direct your attention to a blog post from Rep. Greg Snowden, one of the bills co-authors for his take on the matter. It is partisan but an interesting look into a legislators thougts.

Here, again, Snowden talks about HB 1520 in a post today.

Phil Bryant

2009-02-05T10:21:00.001-06:00

I wanted to pass along a nice little editorial from the Daily Journal about Phil Bryant, Mississippi's current Lt. Governor and well rumored to be the front runner for the Republican nod in next elections Governor's race.

Days that will live in infamy.

2009-02-02T07:32:00.003-06:00

Today is the beginning of days that could live in infamy for the city of Jackson (see the CL for todays story and a deep archive that goes back the 2 years since the original event). Many are tired of hearing of the exploits of Frank Melton (as am I) but today jury selection begins for his federal trial on charges of violating the rights of a citizen. The trial has stayed in the obscure (which I don't want to discuss here) and nothing with Melton seems as simple as it should be. However, one thing is certain, the largest city in the state and the state capital has its mayor facing indictment and stiff charges which could lead to his ouster. For better or worse this is an event that will live in Mississippi history.

One thing that is for sure by this attorney is that from here (the cheap seats with no inside information) is that Melton appears to be in trouble. The law is pretty clear, one of his 2 body guards has flipped on him, and sympathy for Melton is going to be harder to garner from the whole Southern District than it was for his local (state) trial on his previous run in.

Moving the MS School for the Arts

2009-01-30T08:45:00.002-06:00

Sid Salter has a nice editoral in the Clarion Ledger discussing HB 1555 and how it has two major supporters in Democratic committee chairmen who advocate moving the Mississippi School for the Arts to Mississippi University for Women and combining this school for youngsters with talent the Mississippi School for Math and Science. I am unclear if the two would be merged or if they would just be more centrally located as in being on the same campus but it is interesting none the less.

Legislative Update

2009-01-16T08:54:00.002-06:00

Couple of things I wanted touch on out of the Legislature earlier in this session.

1. The House has already passed a bill, HB 364, that raises the tax on Cigarettes in Mississippi to $1. This CL article discusses the passage and some of the Senate sentiment with the probable outcome being some sort of raise in tax but not the entire $1 in HB 364. I, personally, am a fan of raising the tax and hope this just doesn't become a political football that engenders trading of favors and votes on other issues.

2. The Greenwood Commonwealth has a nice little writeup on a bill that would create a greater Homestead Exemption for seniors and how that would impact counties, specifically Leflore County.

3. The CL also has a discussion of possibly changing the way judges are selected in Mississippi (going from election to another form of selection) and the money that is now in some judicial races. The article clues in on some of the difficulties of making this change and how few think it will actually come about.

MS Governors Race in 2011

2009-01-16T08:10:00.002-06:00

Sid Salter has an editorial out now that I found interesting and thought you readers might also. It discusses Bill Luckett, Jr., a possible Democratic candidate for Mississippi Governor. Luckett is an attorney and investor, and perhaps most notably business partner in several ventures with Morgan Freeman. The article also gives a few sentences to the Republican frontrunner and expected candidate (current Lt. Gov.) Phil Bryant.

A rear ending case makes it to the MS Court of Appeals

2009-01-08T15:41:00.002-06:00

Rear end collision cases happen all the time but this one actually made it all the way to the Mississippi Court of Appeals (where it was affirmed). Nothing in the facts seem especially unique but for some reason it got appealed and then an appeal was heard and opinion rendered. Just thought I would note Prewitt v. Vance.

MS Supreme Court looking for comments

2008-12-01T07:44:00.002-06:00

The Court when it changes or adds rules seeks comment from the bar and the public. They have open up for comment 2 different things currently:

1. New Municipal Court Rules - nothing looks to odd in here to me but it is a good primer of sorts of what can and cannot happen in a courtroom

2. an amendment to how cases are assigned - nothing out of the ordinary here either, criminal cases have been added in to the rules which previously just dealt with civil cases and a outdated portion of the comments has been removed.

Mississippi DUI article

2008-11-26T09:26:00.003-06:00

The Clarion Ledger had an interesting article today I wanted to pass along about DUI offenders and how Mississippi does a poor job of using interlocks as a method of dealing with DUI sentencing.

Election Revisited

2008-11-17T08:01:00.001-06:00

In addition to the state judicial elections what may be next most important regarding the election for readers of this blog are presidential appointments. The Clarion Ledger printed a story this morning that has a good recap of some of the impact a President Obama will have on appointments in Mississippi regarding federal judges and federal district attorneys.

Changes in Chancery Court

2008-10-31T08:53:00.004-06:00

The MS Supreme Court is currently seeking comment, until November 10, 2008, on a change to Rules 8.05 of the Uniform Chancery Rules.

This change would effect the ability to redact certain items on the written statement of income or to have the items not redacted but the statement placed under seal. This seems like a pretty mundane move to protect people's privacy while still obtaining what is legally needed. Additionally, I think this is how things are done anyway and they are just now putting it officially in the rules

Orders now available online for the MS Supreme Court and Court of Appeals

2008-10-27T13:58:00.002-06:00

A note shared with the MS Bar through e-Newsletter I thought I would share:

Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Orders Are On Internet

Orders of the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals filed on or after Sept. 25, 2008, can be viewed via the Internet. Access to copies of court orders is available from the General Docket page on the Court's web site. Go to http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/appellate_courts/generaldocket.html.

Cases are searchable by cause number, party name or attorney name. Point-and-click access to court orders will not be available directly from the weekly hand down lists of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Gaining access to the full text of orders will require one to pull up the docket sheet for the individual case from the General Docket, then click on the link for the order. Orders will be available via the Internet on the day after they are filed. The web site is updated each evening. Appellate court orders filed from Sept. 25, 2008, forward, will be available as digital images. The Court does not plan to link to orders entered before that date.

Wicker v. Musgrove

2008-10-18T22:04:00.001-05:00

In what appears to be a fairly close election between Roger Wicker (R) and Ronnie Musgrove (D) the CL reports the Wicker has more than doubled Musgrove's fundraising.

Chip Pickering

2008-10-15T08:29:00.002-05:00

As Chip Pickering, U.S. House of Representatives member for the 3rd District wraps up his stint in Congress the CL give a nice historic wrap up of most of his time and accomplishments while in the House. A good read for those who would like to know more about him.

Additionally, for the less sunny side one can see the comments to the article where some Chip bashing occurs.

The Bailout Vote

2008-10-02T08:55:00.002-05:00

For those interested in the Mississippi delegations vote on the Bailout last night Senators Cochran and Wicker both voted against the Senate version of the bailout.

This on the heels of Monday's vote where Reps. Thompson, Childers, and Taylor voted against the bill and Rep. Pickering voted for it.

The Bailout Vote

2008-09-30T12:29:00.002-05:00

As many of you may know by this point 3 of the 4 Representatives from Mississippi voted against the bailout yesterday. Of comments I have seen Rep. Childers from D-1 stated: "Hard-working families are struggling in the face of job losses and home foreclosures resulting from overall economic instability. They are justifiably angry about a bailout that would require them to dig deeper into their pockets to rescue Wall Street from it's own recklessness."

"Earlier this year, I voted against a budget that would raise the federal debt to an unprecedented level. Today, I was again compelled to vote my conscience against a massive debt increase."

The quote punctuation is a little iffy in the original from WJTV but it sounds like a quote to me.

Additionally, Gene Taylor from D-4 stated: "If there was a button that said 'Hell, no,' I'd push it," said Taylor. "I hate to use a cliché, but this falls into the category of throwing money at a problem and hope it works." according to the Sun-Herald.

Wicker / Musgrove Ballot Placement Debate

2008-09-21T10:51:00.003-05:00

In a move that will remain in Mississippi political lore for years to come the Governor has released a statement regarding the Mississippi Supreme Court's decision to move the Musgrove / Wicker election to the top of the ballot as opposed to the bottom of the ballot.

"The Supreme Court has spoken; so be it."

That is it, that is the entire release by the governor. I will let you come to your own conclusions about it.

Dickie Scruggs wants to keep his license

2008-04-02T07:01:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-02T06:45:00.002-06:00

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

2008-03-14T11:43:00.002-06:00

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

2008-03-14T07:21:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-04T08:04:00.004-06:00

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

2008-02-25T11:45:00.003-06:00

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

2008-02-25T10:33:00.002-06:00

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 ???

2008-02-19T08:37:00.003-06:00

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

2008-02-19T08:29:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-16T19:59:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-15T19:16:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of Mississippi Public Broadcasting online

Columbia Training School to close

2008-02-14T18:52:00.002-06:00

The much discussed Columbia Training School in Marion County, Mississippi is finally going to be closed after years of law suits and troubles dealing with administrating the once welcomed center. The idea behind Columbia was to provide a place for troubled female juveniles to have a program to go to when their parents feel they could no longer control the child and needed help. This was the alternative to some purely juvenile jail or constant run-ins with the law with a boot camp type idea. Unfortunately, the Department of Human Services (DHS), run by Col. Don Taylor, couldn't keep the employee's of the school from acting inappropriately and according to reports regarding a 2003 Federal Department of Justice lawsuit against the state of Mississippi regarding conditions at Columbia and the male school (Oakley). This suit ended up with an extensive consent decree in which the State agreed to fix conditions and the treatment of the juveniles to avoid money damages or the pulling of federal funding for related programs. (I'm fairly sure no federal money actually went directly to these two schools.) Unfortunately the State continued to have issues including a claim of sexual abuse by one of the employees that was investigated and dismissed but the accusation still stands. Additionally, there have been other more recent reports of shackling of juveniles and denial of mental health treatment. All of this had led to to the closing of Columbia, something that has been called for for years, one example here.

Lawmaker Pay Raises passes in the House

2008-02-14T15:48:00.003-06:00

In a closer than expected vote, at least to me, House Bill 859 passed in the House 61 to 60 to support giving legislators a pay raise. It is now on the to state Senate and I'm interested to see if the same bill will be passed seeing as how the Senate is more of a Republican controlled body and I can only assume the 61 - 60 vote fell along the same lines as the McCoy - Smith Speakers race. For the record this bill in its original form was offered by Rep. Coleman from Mound Bayou.

It's Official: Senate Special Election will be in November

2008-02-07T12:15:00.000-06:00

In a decision that was of little surprise to most the MS Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Governor Barbour's interpretation of Miss Code Sec. 23-15-855 was more correct than the interpretation of A.G. Hood. We had a bit of discussion of the events leading up to this decision here, here and here.

Looking at this politically I really don't know if this would have been the best overall outcome for the Governor as if Obama wins the Democratic nomination for President and if McCain is the Republican nominee you may see a great push in democrats, mainly thinking minorities, while a great apathy of Republicans can be projected in Mississippi. I'm not willing to say a state that voted 60 - 40 for the Republican candidate in 2004 will go Blue but I think an election with those 2 candidates would be much, much closer than the last Presidential election, and if it is close the Dem candidate, most likely Musgrove might have a chance against Roger Wicker.

State Farm v. Jim Hood comes to a quick conclusion

2008-02-07T12:11:00.000-06:00

Just a day after the Mississippi Attorney General, Jim Hood, took the stand to testify to his office's role in what may best be described as overlapping criminal and civil suits against State Farm with regards to Hurricane Katrina suits the case is over. See here for a fairly good recap of the events by the Clarion Ledger. Apparently a decision was reached last night and no one is really talking about what the settlement contains. I have a feeling both parties just want this to go away at this point and that is probably what will happen.

Fun bit of Scruggs related trivia

2008-01-28T14:15:00.000-06:00

Absolutely baseless rumors have spun to "Where would Dickie Scruggs go if he wanted to flee?" Below are the countries without extradition (per google answers):

"Countries which do not have extradition treaties but do maintain diplomatic relations with the US are Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bophuthatswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China (People's Republic of China), Ciskei, The Comors, Cote d' Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Jordan, Korea (South), Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Maldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Philippines, Principe and San Tome, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Samoa,
Yemen, Zaire, and Zimbabwe.

Countries which have neither diplomatic relations nor extradition treaties with the US are Andorra, Angola, Bantu Homelands, Bhutan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Ciskei, Cuba, Iran, Korea (North), Libya, Maldives, Serbia, Somalia, Taiwan, Transkei, Vanuatu, and Vietnam."

MS Bar Statement on Unauthorized Practice of Law

2008-01-28T14:08:00.001-06:00

With the recent publicity of the Scruggs, et al. indictments a big issue in the legal community arose concerning the unauthorized practice of law, below is the statement they released which has some good details concerning the Scruggs/Balducci/Patterson fiasco:

To: Members of The Mississippi Bar

Re: Balducci-Patterson Unauthorized Practice of Law

Date: January 23, 2008

In light of the recent indictments, guilty pleas, and the involvement of a non-lawyer who has also pled guilty, The Mississippi Bar leadership feels that it is appropriate to provide details regarding the Bar's actions. Specifically, there have been questions raised as to whether the Bar was aware of Steve Patterson being involved in the judicial bribery cases and whether the Bar did anything about it. In addition, there have been questions as to whether the Bar knew about allegations of Mr. Patterson engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and whether the Bar took any action.

First, The Mississippi Bar had no information from any source regarding Mr. Patterson's involvement in an attempt to bribe a member of the judiciary. These matters came to the Bar's attention in the same fashion as the general public.

On April 26, 2007, the Bar was made aware of Mr. Patterson possibly engaging in the unauthorized practice of law by a member of the Union County Bar Association speaking with then Bar President York Craig and then President-Elect Bobby Bailess. At that time the concern expressed was related to the law firm name of "Patterson Balducci" containing a non-lawyer name in violation of the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC). General Counsel Adam Kilgore was made aware that allegation. What follows is a detailed timeline of events related to the Bar's actions in this matter by way of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and the Committee on Professional Responsibility.

May 3, 2007- Bar General Counsel sends Mr. Balducci a letter inquiring about the firm name having a non-lawyer's name included in the title.

May 7, 2007 - General Counsel receives a letter from Mr. Balducci stating the belief that the name is not in violation of the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC).

May 8, 2007 - General Counsel has a telephone conversation with Mr. Balducci regarding the name.

May 9, 2007 - Mr. Balducci sends General Counsel an email with a draft of his proposed letterhead changes.

May 14, 2007 - General Counsel sends Mr. Balducci correspondence expressing the opinion that the name "Patterson Balducci" is in violation of Rules 7.1 and 7.7(a), MRPC.

May 14, 2007 - Mr. Balducci, after having received an email with attached correspondence of letter from General Counsel, sends an email response stating that he will change the firm name and letterhead to insure compliance with the MRPC.

May 30, 2007 - Mr. Balducci sends General Counsel an email advising that the firm name, letterhead, business cards and internet web page have all been changed in light of the MRPC and also inquiring about some proposed signage changes in the event that Mr. Patterson's son is admitted to the Bar and begins work at the firm.

May 30, 2007 - General Counsel responds to email regarding proposed changes.

As of May 30, 2007, the matter related to Mr. Balducci and Mr. Patterson's name seemed to be settled. At some point Mr. Balducci advised the Bar that he had made all the name changes to comply with the MRPC, except for changing the Yellow Pages advertisement containing the name "Patterson Balducci." The deadline for changes in the Yellow Pages had passed before the Bar was made aware of the name concerns.

On July 11, 2007, the Bar received new information, again from a member of the Union County Bar, alleging that Mr. Patterson was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law by appearing in Municipal Court asserting that he was a lawyer working for the Balducci firm.

July 19, 2007 - General Counsel received additional information from another Union County Bar member providing a copy of the yellow pages with the name "Patterson Balducci."

July 25, 2007 - Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee member assigned to investigate the allegations of unauthorized practice of law.

July 26, 2007 - General Counsel received additional information from a Union County Bar member with copies of local advertisements attached.

July 30, 2007 - Mr. Patterson is advised by letter that allegations of the unauthorized practice of law have been made against him and that a response is requested as part of the investigation.

August 14, 2007 - Mr. Patterson and Mr. Balducci submit a response to the UPL allegations, stating, among other things, that Mr. Patterson had not held himself out to be an attorney.

September 19, 2007 - UPL Committee meets and considers detailed investigative report from the assigned UPL Committee member. This report outlines the history of the firm and the changes that were supposedly made by Mr. Balducci to bring him into compliance with the MRPC. The report concludes with the UPL Committee member asserting the belief that Mr. Patterson has engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by asserting that he is a member of Mr. Balducci's "legal staff" constituting violations of Rules 5.5, 5.4 and 5.3, MRPC, by Mr. Balducci.

September 24, 2007 - The UPL Committee reports to General Counsel regarding Mr. Balducci's possible violations of Rules 5.5, 5.4 and 5.3, MPRC, in accordance with the reporting requirement set forth in Rule 8.3, MRPC.

As is the policy of the Bar's General Counsel, once the Rule 8.3 letter was submitted, an "information and belief" memorandum was generated and provided to the Committee on Professional Responsibility for its consideration and direction on filing a Bar Complaint. The matter was voted upon at the next scheduled meeting of the Committee on Professional Responsibility which occurred on December 7, 2007. The Committee directed General Counsel to file a Bar Complaint, which was so filed on December 17, 2007. The Office of General Counsel sent the Bar Complaint to Mr. Balducci on December 17, 2007, and demanded a response by January 2, 2008.

Rule 15 of the Mississippi Rules of Discipline (MRD) requires General Counsel to keep all disciplinary matters confidential until public discipline is imposed or a Formal Complaint with the Supreme Court is filed. Because the UPL Committee's investigation eventually led to General Counsel filing a Bar Complaint, the Bar's General Counsel was prohibited from advising anyone of the results of the UPL investigation or the filing of the Bar Complaint.

Mr. Balducci has since submitted an irrevocable resignation admitting the allegations in the underlying judicial bribery criminal case, as well as the associated violations of the MRPC. In addition, he has also admitted to the allegations related to the unauthorized practice of law. The submission of an irrevocable resignation was in response to the Bar's Rule 6, MRD, Formal Complaint filed with the Supreme Court. It is the filing of the Formal Complaint that enables the Bar under Rule 15, MRD, to provide this information.

No word yet on the Senate Special Election

2008-01-28T13:53:00.001-06:00

Still no word out from the Mississippi Supreme Court on how to properly read 23-15-855 of the Mississippi Code. For those who have been out of the loop Governor Barbour called for a special election to coincide with the General Election in November while Attorney General Jim Hood reads the law to state the election should be set for within 90 days after the resigning of Trent Lott.

If you are reading this you probably know the implications but I will rehash them anyway. Governor Barbour's selection to fill the seat temporary is Roger Wicker, former 1st District Representative, and the thought is that he stands a better chance of holding onto the seat over a Democratic challenger when the Presidential elections are held as Mississippi has voted overwhelming Republican in Presidential elections for the last 25 or so years.

Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, seemingly could want the election in the shorter time frame to negate the "Presidential bump" that will assuredly come in a November election, to make the election more of a free-for-all which could benefit a less monied candidate such as all the Democrats in the race, it means the Democrats might be able to create a special push to the polls while Republican voters might be lazy, perhaps it's because Hood and Barbour have been sparring for years and it's just another stick in the eye to Barbour, or perhaps that is just what AG Hood thinks the law is and he is fighting for it.

We expect a ruling from the Court any day now (many thought that would be last Thursday or Friday) and I look for it this Thursday.

Couple of MS Legal Trivia Notes

2008-01-15T07:52:00.000-06:00

In the 2008 MS Legislative Session there are 39 lawyers serving, 9 in the Senate (17%) and 30 in the House (25%)
Did you know Mississippi currently pays trial judges $104,000 per year, Court of Appeals judges $105,000 per year, and Supreme Court Justices $113,000 per year. This while the average income of a sole practitioner in MS $150,637 and the average for a Partner/Shareholder is $227,110 per the Mississippi Bar's 2006 Economic and Technology Survey
There are currently6,780 active members of the Mississippi Bar with over 3,000 of those practicing in Jackson metro area

Statement from the Mississippi Bar on Recent Pleas and Indictments

2008-01-14T17:33:00.000-06:00

All of the below is a quote from the statement released to members of the bar:

Commenting on the recent guilty pleas and indictments, Bobby Bailess of Vicksburg, President of The Mississippi Bar, stated, "These admissions and allegations of attempts to improperly influence judges undermine our system of justice."

"Our legal system is based on the principle that fair and impartial judges will, without any undue influence, interpret and apply the laws that govern us. An independent and honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. Public confidence in an impartial court system is absolutely necessary."

Bailess went on to say, "The legal profession demands the utmost honesty and integrity from its members. When even one lawyer fails to uphold these high standards, Mississippi lawyers are both saddened and angered. Improper efforts to influence judges and the outcome of cases call into question the integrity of our legal system. This outrageous conduct cannot and will not be tolerated."

Bailess continued, "The actions of these few lawyers are not reflective of the more than 6,700 lawyers in Mississippi who serve their clients and communities with honesty and integrity."

Bailess concluded by saying, "While The Mississippi Bar is not directly involved in criminal proceedings, the Bar will swiftly deal with those who have pled guilty. With regard to those accused of wrongdoing, the Bar will follow normal disciplinary procedures while allowing the criminal justice system to work."

The Mississippi Bar's General Counsel, Adam Kilgore, added, "The Mississippi Bar takes very seriously its roll as a designated disciplinary agency of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. The attorney discipline process is regulated by the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, as set forth by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. Under Rule 15 of those rules, the Bar's Office of General Counsel is prohibited from discussing specific cases until such time as they become public record by way of the attorney discipline process."

Senator Lott retires

2007-12-19T15:08:00.000-06:00

Late Tuesday night, December 18, 2007, Trent Lott officially retired from the Senate. This puts into play his Senate seat which has 5 years left on the term. For previous discussions on his retirement please see our post on November 26th. According to Governor Barbour the election will be held a the same time as the general Presidential election and his interim appointee will be named shortly. The leading candidate seems to be Roger Wicker with Chip Pickering and Mike Moore being the other 2 names most heard. This is despite the fact Moore says he will not run.

Additionally, and almost expectedly, MS Attorney General Jim Hood disputes Governor Barbour's reading of the timing of the election (whether to have a special election or not) as reported in the Clarion Ledger. I personally read it more like the Governor on this one but it is open to interpretation and I think Gov. Barbour with Sec. of State Eric Clark will win on this one, especially with the very conservative Supreme Court in Mississippi. For those of you who didn't know Mississippi has a State Board of Election Commissioners which consist of the Governor, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, per MS Code 23-15-211.

Dickie Scruggs Indictment

2007-11-29T12:46:00.001-06:00

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.

2007-11-26T14:07:00.000-06:00

** 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

2007-11-16T14:12:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-06T07:57:00.001-06:00

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.

New Resource for Attorneys and Pro Se Appellants/ees

2007-10-28T20:08:00.000-06:00

Mississippi College School of Law Library with the hard work of yours truly now has the Mississippi Appellate Court Brief Archive. This archive started a couple of weeks ago and already has briefs for 41 different appeals. Our law school gets the briefs from the Clerk of the Supreme Court, just like Westlaw and Lexis do, but we are providing these public records for no charge in our effort for digital preservation of Mississippi legal resources. I hope these can be of use to many different groups including pro se's, attorneys, the press and the court.

Interesting little note

2007-10-28T20:00:00.000-06:00

I read this earlier in the week on Behind the News, a Mississippi man has asked for a Stay of Mandate from the US Supreme Court regarding an alienation of affection claim. Just fun ready if you want a soap opera spin on the law. Behind the News also has a pdf of the writ.

I have to say I like the question of the case per the appellant: "This question involves the question of whether and under what circumstances as state may punish exercise of the right of intimate association."

Mississippi Innocence Project

2007-10-28T19:21:00.001-06:00

Mississippi, starting this month now has an Innocence Project office/branch/division (not sure what it is technically called). Previously all Innocence Project cases for Mississippi were run out of the New Orleans office but now Mississippi is kind of on its own. This project while already having good seed money and having a home at the Ole Miss Law to cut on overhead had a big fundraiser last week with keynote speakers of John Grisham and Scott Turow (both very famous legal authors of fiction and non-fiction).

Here is a pretty good Jackson Free Press article talking about the new Mississippi Innocence Project.

Newest 5th Circuit Judge is Leslie Southwick from Mississippi

2007-10-28T19:02:00.000-06:00

former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge Leslie Southwick was confirmed by the Senate last week to become the newest 5th Circuit Judge from Mississippi. We had previously blogged about Judge Southwicks nomination here and here and here. Even with a little commentary left in the comments by Congressman Al Green from Houston, Texas.

I think most of the editors of this blog are happy about the confirmation as we know Judge Southwick through his being an adjunct professor as the school 2 of us work at.

Phil Bryant rolls out anti-crime proposals

2007-10-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

This was the title of a CL article today and while I am a Jamie Franks supporter I read it hoping that Bryant had some good ideas if he is the winner. Below are the ideas and how crazy I think some of them are and how I think some of them are valid.

Automatic life-sentences for second offense convictions of crack and crystal meth manufacturers and dealers. Why are we targeting these 2 drugs over other substances like cocaine or heroin? The thought process leaps to the fact these are the drug of choice for the poor and minorities more so than other drugs and those people aren't usually Republicans anyway. I'm not saying be soft of drugs (here at least) but seems to be demographic targeted. I also think the automatic life sentence thing is crazy (here is where you think I'm soft of crime). Drug offenders often are repeat offenders but a life sentence, get real, do you want to see a way to bust the budget have thousands of offenders with life sentences in 2050 who haven't had a drug in 40 years. Way to be a forward thinker Phil.

Doubling the penalties for those who commit crimes against children and the elderly. Now here is a group I want to target for stiffer penalties, doubling the penalties sounds good but I'd like to actually see what the penalties are now.

Adjudicating juvenile sex offenders as adults. I think this is an absolutely stupid rule. Juvenile sex offenders are a vast majority of the time no different than any other juvenile offender. They make stupid mistakes with their juvenile minds and they shouldn't be penalized more harshly because of the offense is called a sex offense. Also many of these cases are upset daddies wanting that damned kid put in jail for doing something to his daughter that she may or may not have wanted. I'm just saying that we don't need to take the discretion away from the judge, that is precisely why we have judges to make the call here to try as a juvenile or as an adult. The judge can move him up if he wants/deserves to.

A ban on the sale of drug paraphernalia in stores. Is this not already a law? If not a good idea. I need to look up what is called paraphernalia to learn more about this.

Integrating local law enforcement's fingerprint and identification systems. Another good idea except that I wish the local agencies would/could do this without prompting/requirement from the state level. I need to brush up on separation of powers in the Mississippi constitution.

Expanding the sex offender registry to include criminals already convicted of any crime against children or the elderly. What? Then it wouldn't be the sex-offender registry, it would be the sex-offender and some others registry at that point. Now if he wants a registry to keep up with these people then propose that. I am not saying a registry like this for new offenders would be constitutional, I'm not sold that the sex-offender registry is constitutional but don't mix the two, that is just dumb. What is even worse is that there is no way it is constitutional to impose this criminal penalty on those "already convicted" of these crimes. They have been sentenced, it's done, you can't up the sentence after the fact because a new law gets passed, it's called ex post facto Phil, c'mon.

Fully-funding the state crime lab. I hope this happens no matter who wins, no excuse for not having this.

Bootlegging under scrutiny in MS

2007-10-08T21:50:00.000-05:00

Revenue agents are on the look out for bootleggers.

No, this isn't a line from the 50's or Smokey and the Bandit, it is from this week. Tennessee revenue agents are cracking down on those who come buy cigarettes and beer in Mississippi and bring them back to Tennessee. This is done because the wide discrepancy in sales/excise taxes on these "sin" items. Tennessee has a 44 cent higher tax on cigarettes which is apparently driving Tennessee residents south to Mississippi to buy their smokes in locations such as Olive Branch, Southaven and Corinth. Perhaps having a lower cigarette and alcohol tax does help entice out of state purchases and therefore more tax money for the state.

Mississippi's Newest Federal Judge

2007-10-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

Sharion Aycock's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi was approved yesterday fulfilling the active seat created when Glen Davidson moved to senior status last year.

For the best coverage I have found I recommend Behind the News, a blog from one of the journalist a the Daily Journal in Tupelo, MS. Focus in on October 4th as I have just like the blog due to the numerous posts on the subject there. Here is a link to her DOJ released resume.

Judge Aycock is a personal favorite of mine as she and I may be the only 2 graduates of Tremont High School in Tremont, MS who actually went on to become lawyers, not to mention she is a nice lady and from what I have heard a fair jurist.

Governor's Debate Tonight

2007-09-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

Stay informed. Check it out on MPB as it starts at 7 or you can even go if you are in the south Mississippi area to the Saenger Theatre in Biloxi with door opening at 6. I believe you can also listen online at the below web address.

http://www.mpbonline.org/radio/ListenLive/ListenOnline.htm

Mississippi Federal Judge News

2007-09-13T20:21:00.000-05:00

Last week candidate for a Federal District Judgeship, Sharion Aycock, was recommended out of the judiciary committee and to the full senate. Often if a judge is to be held up in the nomination process it is in this committee and not by the full Senate.

A piece of advice

2007-09-05T16:15:00.000-05:00

If your client is styled an a/k/a by the appeals court you are probably going to lose the appeal. Some recent (and in my opinion sometimes humorous) examples:

Mississippi's Pro Bono Requirement (or Suggestion)

2007-08-31T10:54:00.000-05:00

All Attorney's in Mississippi have gotten in the past weeks or in the near future their re-enrollment form on which it asks how many pro bono hours did you work this last year.

For those of you unfamiliar with what pro bono is see here.

In MS pro bono hours are NOT required, but they are highly suggested and if you don't work them the Supreme Court even suggests an amount that you can pay to not feel guilty about not working them. I find this quite interesting and just wanted to bring the blog readers abreast of what the standard actually is. Below is Rule 6.1 of the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct (which concerns pro bono hours) here is a link to the SC page with the rules.

Couple of other links to pass along:
Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project
Mission First Legal Aid Office - through the MC School of Law

RULE 6.1 VOLUNTARY PRO BONO PUBLIC SERVICE

(a) Professional Responsibility. Each member of the Mississippi Bar in good standing and not exempt hereunder, as part of the member’s professional responsibility, should (1) render pro bono legal services to the poor and (2) participate, to the extent possible, in other pro bono service activities that directly relate to the legal needs of the poor.

(b) Discharge of the Professional Responsibility to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to the Poor. The professional responsibility to provide pro bono legal services to the poor may be discharged by:

(1) annually providing at least 20 hours of pro bono legal services to the poor, or

(2) annually providing at least 20 hours of pro bono legal services to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental or educational organizations for the purpose of providing legal counsel and representation to the poor, or

(3) making an annual contribution of at least $200 to the Mississippi Bar, which will be used by the Bar to provide legal services to the poor through legal aid organizations.

(c) Collective Discharge of the Professional Responsibility to Provide Pro Bono Legal Service to the Poor. Each member of the bar should strive to individually satisfy the member’s professional responsibility to provide pro bono legal service to the poor. Collective satisfaction of this professional responsibility is permitted by law firms only under a collective satisfaction plan that has been previously approved by The Mississippi Bar and only when providing pro bono legal services to the poor

(1) in a major case or matter involving a substantial expenditure of time and resources; or

(2) through a full-time community or public service staff, or

(3) in any other manner that has been approved by The Mississippi Bar.

(d) Exemptions. Those exempt from the provisions of this rule are:

(1) those lawyers who are restricted from practicing law outside their specific employment,

(2) members of the judiciary and their staff,

(3) other government lawyers who are prohibited from performing legal services by constitutional, statutory, rule, other regulatory prohibitions, or by employment policies,

(4) attorneys employed in established Legal Services Programs, and

(5)members of the bar who have acquired inactive or active exempt status or who are suspended.

Nevertheless, exempt attorneys are encouraged to assist in meeting the needs of the poor for legal services to the extent that they can, whether by monetary contributions or otherwise.

(e) Reporting Requirement. Each member of the bar shall annually certify whether the member has satisfied the member’s professional responsibility to provide pro bono legal services to the poor. Each member shall certify this information through a form that is made a part of the member’s annual membership fees statement which shall require the member to report the following information:

(1) the number of hours the attorney dedicated to pro bono legal services,

(2) whether the attorney satisfied the obligation through a collective plan, the name or nature of that plan, and

(3) if the attorney has satisfied the obligation by contribution, the amount of that contribution.

If the attorney has not provided pro bono legal services to the poor in the current year, the form shall so state, and the reason for non-compliance shall be stated. If the attorney is exempt from the obligation to provide pro bono services to the poor, the report shall so state and indicate the nature of the exemption.

(f) Compliance.

The provisions of Rule 6.1(b) are aspirational goals and an affirmation of professional responsibility, but are not mandatory and do not constitute a basis for discipline under the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi Bar.

The reporting requirements of Rule 6.1(e) are mandatory and the failure to report this information shall be treated in the same manner as failure to pay dues or comply with mandatory Continuing Legal Education.

The Bar shall from time to time, but at least annually, provide the Supreme Court with statistical data regarding compliance, providing such information in such form as the Chief Justice shall direct.

(g) Credit Toward Professional Responsibility in Future Years. In the event that more than 20 hours of pro bono legal service to the poor are provided and reported in any 1 year, the hours in excess of 20 may be carried forward and reported as such for up to 2 succeeding years.

Barbour and the Blind Trust Issue

2007-08-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

Wanted to pass along an article from Bloomberg.com as Gov. Haley Barbour's blind trust dealings and his past as a CEO/partner of a lobbying firm who bid on contracts with the state of Mississippi seems to be making waves outside of the state.

Of interest I find the continued statements by Barbour that he has nothing to do with Barbour Griffith and Rogers except for a meager retirement check. Will this turn into something later, I doubt it but with his name still on the firm we know on some level he has something to do with the lobby firm still. Using the MS Rules of Ethics for attorneys this seems to be improper as the firm name implies Barbour is still a partner. Rule 7.5 in MS could easily call this a "deceptive or misleading communication".

Rule 7.5 Link
Rule 7.5 provides that a lawyer shall not use a firm name, letterhead or other professional designation which contains a false, deceptive or misleading communication about the lawyer or lawyer's services. Specifically, a lawyer in private practice shall not practice under a trade name or a name that is misleading as to the identity of that lawyer or lawyers practicing under such name. Here, the Committee is of the opinion that the proposed name is potentially misleading as there is no reference to firm name or the other lawyers practicing under the proposed name. Although Rule 7.2(d) requires that an advertisement include the name of at least one lawyer responsible for its content, this does not override the strong policy of the Bar that lawyer advertising should not contain statements that possibly could deceive or mislead the public. A communication may be misleading if it omits a fact necessary to make the statement not materially misleading. Under the facts presented, the Committee is of the opinion that the public would be potentially mislead as to the correct identity of the lawyers practicing under the proposed name.

Mississippi's Unit 32 - the Death House before the Death House

2007-08-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a working post because I want to do more research into the history of Unit 32 at Parchman, Mississippi's version of a Super-Max prison, but I want to make sure and pass along the story that came out this week about Inmate Jessie Wilson stabbing death of death-row inmate Earnest Lee Hargon. The story that has been released is that Wilson escaped his cell in some manner and stabbed Hargon, who was cleaning a tier of cells, to death. For more on this story see articles from the Clarion-Ledger and WAPT.

This is the Jessie Wilson's MDOC profile.
Here is the official MDOC press release.

There are lots of different angles to look at this issue: was this a prison gang killing as some of the reporting has alluded to, should we even have Super-Max prisons, should death row inmates ever come in contact with not death row inmates, what to do with mentally ill prisoners, what are and are not acceptable conditions for prisoners, should the State of Mississippi get out of the prison business and farm out our prisoners to private companies, i.e. Hawaii, and how does a criminal in Super-Max get the utilities and escape from his cell to kill another inmate?

Quite honestly I am looking for a little feedback from the readers about what interest you and we will talk about it.

VOTE in the Primary Run-off TODAY

2007-08-28T19:31:00.000-05:00

I know it is a small ballot but it is races like these that literally every vote may make a difference.

the Strange Pete Collins Story

2007-08-28T15:35:00.001-05:00

I was talking to one of the co-editors of this blog and he hadn't heard this story so I thought I would put it up for others to read.

Pete Collins, a former Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper from Tupelo was once a highly decorated officer. More recently however, Collins was convicted of fondling a then 13 year old girl and was sentenced to 15 years with 10 suspended last Friday, the 25th. After he was transported to a Rankin County MDOC facility to begin his sentence he was found Sunday, the 27th dead in his cell from hanging. No note was left by Collins. Our prayers and sympathy goes out to both the young girl and her family and the Collins family.

CL article on this odd story
Daily Journal article on the odd story

James Ford Seale, a conviction long in coming

2007-08-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

Story I wanted to pass along

Seale, reputed Klansman was found guilty and sentenced to 3 life terms this past Friday of conspiracy and 2 counts of kidnapping in the disappearence and death of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore in 1964. I am proud to be part of the "New South" a South that not only frowns upon prejudice but continues to prosecute crimes of the past. When hearing a story like this I always think that I just wish this would go away, if it wasn't brought up then people would think differently of Mississippi. But the past is what it is, it cannot be changed now and all that can be done is the law followed. If people were murdered then the criminal can sought until his own death and I am proud that the law is being enforced even if it helps pick at old memories that many want to forget.

Links to other stories:

Clarion Ledger article about the sentencing

Jackson Free Press on Seale

USAToday article from before the case

NPR entry about Seale case

Associated Content version

Jurist version

Jackson's Crime Problem

2007-08-21T11:34:00.001-05:00

I am slightly reluctant to talk about Jackson because it is a single city in the state but it is the state's largest city and its capital so on some level the crime in Jackson matters to the state as a whole. Today Jackson's major newspaper, and the widest circulated paper in the state, had an editorial entitled "Development: Jackson 'flight' not unexpected" which I feel has some major flaws that I want to address.

The editorial states: "The biggest challenges were perceptions that crime made Jackson an unsafe place to raise a family, that Jacksonians were helplessly watching urban decline pick up, as population bled torrents into the suburbs. Many of those perceptions remain, as do the fears that such new Census figures are sure to spur. But some don't, or shouldn't."

The editorial goes on to talk about the passage of a large school bond issue, how "Despite the figures, downtown redevelopment is going full-speed ahead" and how affordable housing is being created. The Ledger goes on to speculate that "residential development downtown that would reverse the city's declining tax base".

The editorial then closes with: "Once more investment is made in crime fighting, including more jail space and a larger police force, and public confidence follows, that flight will be reversed."

My first beef with this editorial is the phrase "perceptions that crime made Jackson an unsafe place to raise a family", perhaps the more appropriate statement would have been the reality that crime has made Jackson an unsafe place to raise a family. Crime is not a perception. Crime has been bad in the past and it continues to be bad in the City of Jackson. And for those who say it is getting better look at the statistics. The latest stats show increases in auto burglaries, grand larceny's, house burglaries, armed robberies, car jackings and stable if not increasing numbers for Rape and Homicide as compared across past weeks/months and last year. For all of the talk about how Jackson is better the numbers show it is not any better off than in recent history. This from a city that from 2003 stats had triple the national rate of murders and over double the national rate of rape, burglary, car theft and robbery. The people of Jackson and the editorial board of the Clarion Ledger need to face it, Crime is not a perception in Jackson.

My second beef is the proposal that downtown residential projects will reverse the declining tax base. People do need affordable housing to live in but many of the projects that are coming to downtown Jackson are not going to be what is affordable. The Ledger muddles the fact all of this increased square footage is not affordable to a vast majority of the Jackson citizenry. Additionally, the editorial ignores the fact that affordable housing is needed in all areas of the city not just downtown. It is needed out towards Highway 80, it is needed in North Jackson, affordable housing is needed all over the place, not just downtown where the location of being downtown automatically drives many projections right out of being affordable.

My final beef is the closing statement of: "Once more investment is made in crime fighting, including more jail space and a larger police force, and public confidence follows, that flight will be reversed." This is a nice thought but it is really Pollyannish. Jackson has for years been massively understaffed on the police force and has never filled its positions. Jail space has been needed for years and never has the City Council voted for it. A change in leadership happened 2 years ago with "Do Nothing" Harvey Johnson voted out of office in favor of Frank Melton who himself has done nothing to improve the ranks of the PD and to curb the crime problem. At some point you have to be positive and and other points you have to be realistic. This is a time to be realistic not give pat answers of "Oh, it will get better" when the things it takes to make it better don't ever happen. Some times the truth hurts and the Clarion Ledger and this editorial need to quit giving the sugar coating to the city's problems.

Help Me Out Here!

2007-08-13T17:22:00.000-05:00

I have a legal (or is it theory?) question. The President has has asserted executive privilege with regard to staff or cabinet level advisers. This has been presented with the notion that if the President's advisers cannot speak freely, without their words being made public for political gain, then the President is unreasonably denied the frank advice which must be afforded the high office.

Ok, let's say we all (or at least I) buy that line of reasoning. Why is it that this sort of privilege should be extended to individuals who are no longer working with an advisory/executive status in the government? (e.g.: Karl Rove, Monica Goodling, etc.) It seems to me they no longer have to worry about ensuring frank exchanges from people who no longer work with the president, as they will no longer have the protected advisory role. This, would negate the supposed 'chilling effect' that the executive privilege doctrine proposes to protect.

Any thoughts?

Interesting note from the primaries

2007-08-09T18:32:00.000-05:00

I found it very interesting that Mississippi, long considered a "Red State" as it has voted for the Republican candidate every year since the 1980. However, in the primary this past Tuesday around 442,000 voters voted in the Democratic primary elections while only around 187,000 voted in the Republican primary. This 442k in a primary is almost as many folks that voted for the Democrat candidate, John Kerry, in the last Presidential election.

Is it because of local elections, is it because there were better races on the Democrat ballot, is it because the Republicans were content with their options and didn't see the need to participate, is it a trend that may carry on to the statewide general and/or 2008 Presidential election? You tell me.

My thoughts are that are that it was a combo of the above issues, I think local elections are the biggest reason, I think the Republicans were fairly content and there was a big push on the Democrat side in the Dale/Anderson race. I don't think this is a trend in Mississippi though especially with the Democrat presidential candidate is probably either going to be Hillary, Obama or Edwards, none of which will carry Mississippi.

GO VOTE TODAY

2007-08-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

please

How to Hack the Diebold Vote Machine.

2007-07-30T16:15:00.000-05:00

Here you go, dear readers. A short video on how to hack a Diebold Machine. all you need is a screwdriver, a thumb/flash drive, and about 120 seconds.

Now, after watching this, you might say, "But Polly, isn't this no big deal in Miss. since we have a paper trail tied to our machines?" That might be the case if we had a protocol for handling such and incident. Officially, right now, there is no official protocol from the Sec. of State's office to instruct a comparison of the paper record with the digital results when something fishy comes up. Even if a seal is broken when the box arrives at the courthouse for counting, there is no instruction to check the paper record. Think too many folks are gonna vote in Precinct X? well hack away my friend! the fix is in because no one will be asked to look!

A Quick One While I'm Away...

2007-07-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

I made a comment a few spots down talking about vote suppression and disenfranchisement. Virtually all of the instances I've encountered have a few things in common: the parties involved and the people targeted. You should read about it here (short) and here (fuller/better review). NOW on PBS just did a good clip this week. (read, listen, or watch).

Why is this important?

Because it's illegal and the Justice Department was actively looking the other way to help the GOP. oh, and the Atty. Gen. doesn't want to talk to congress about firing people who wouldn't play ball on the cover-up.

While we're talking about integrity, i saw a map Sunday that really hit home for me.

[...oh, and my apologies to The Who. I couldn't think of a worthy title for this post!]

Quick Observation

2007-07-26T00:26:00.000-05:00

I'm not impressed with the President claiming executive privilege concerning FORMER employees. The argument that they cannot get 'unfettered and frank' advice seems to go out the window when the person in question no longer works with or advises the president.

Weak.

Harvard Charlie's Castle Doctrine Ad Fallacies

2007-07-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

Here is the ad:

Fallacy #1 - Charlie didn't change the law all by himself, which is the clear insuation. He may have been principal author of the bill that passed but Sen. Ross was but one vote in the Senate, then the bill also passed the House and the Guv signed it. Charlie you didn't pass the bill and I wonder what the other 31 sponsers of the bill in the Senate think of the ad and the omission of their assistance.

Fallacy #2 - Darth Vadar doesn't live in Mississippi, now I have to say having Darth sneak up on your porch would be bad but come on, a Darth invasion in a local political ad is a little over the top.

Fallacy #3 - Ross implies he is a guy who gets stuff done for the people, "protecting families". Look at the bills Ross authored in 2007 that passed. A couple of minor changes to the MBCA, UPA, UCC and bills dealing with notaries, assistant d.a.'s, and a bill promoting toll roads. Not a whole lot of protecting the family going on there. In fact, Ross as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary let a bill, HB 1546 in 2005, that actually did help families die that had already passed the House. Oddly enough that bill was authored by now opponent, if Ross wins the GOP nomination, Jamie Franks.

Best stuff comes in race for No. 2

2007-07-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm not normally a fan of the Greenwood Commonwealth paper but I liked this little editorial about the Lt. Governor's race.

New laws that go into effect today

2007-07-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

House Bill 617 - State pays tuition, room and board for active military members.
House Bill 1439 - Patients in nursing homes can choose their own pharmacist to serve their needs.
Senate Bill 2057- Drivers must move a lane over when an emergency vehicle is aiding another motorist.
Senate Bill 3034 - Consumers can freeze their credit reports with the three major bureaus if they have been a victim of identity theft.
House Bill 423 - The state Commission of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks can study whether to allow hunting over grain.
Senate Bill 2772 - Residents must have a permit to buy a stun gun.
Senate Bill 2825 - Registered sex offenders cannot be on or near school campuses under most circumstances.

For more see this CL link.

No Smoke for You

2007-06-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

Apparently this, no smoking anywhere thing is spreading across Mississippi. See the city of Ridgeland passing an ordinance banning smoking city wide. This adds Ridgeland to the list of Tupelo, Hattiesburg, Mantachie, Oxford and others. Let me first identify myself as someone who is not a smoker, never has been a smoker and am somewhat allergic to lots of smoke. Most would think I would be in favor this, I am not. However, people should look at ordnances like this as objectionably.

1. This isn't city/county property they are influencing, it's private property.
2. These cities are telling business how to operate and what type of clientele are acceptable.
3. If a restaurant/business wants to be smoke free it can do that without an ordinance.
4. If someone doesn't want to visit a restaurant/business because it is smokey then they can leave and go elsewhere. It is the same idea as changing the channel on your television if you don't like what is on.
5. If a business loses customers because of smoke that is their right and their business model will/should determine if they want to be smoke free.
6. Cigarettes are not illegal.

I am not saying that Ridgeland have done anything illegal, ordinances like this do most likely fall under "public welfare" and if the people vote to want it then they can have it in this great democracy we live in. What I am saying is that it's not smart, and its not fair. Ordinances like these are social segregation, instead of whites telling blacks "You can't live here" it's non-smokers telling smokers on their own private property "You can't smoke here". And don't start with arguments about well you can ban drugs on your own private property, it's because those things are per se violations of law, lighting a cigarette is not. I can, and have, walked out of a restaurant because it was too smokey, I have left a casino sooner rather than later because of smoke, these were my decisions and they my appropriate response to a businesses decision. Now the businesses don't get to make the decision anymore, that has been taken over by the anti-smoking special interest and the Board of Aldermen

It's time for the gloves to come off in the Lt. Governor's race

2007-06-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

The Republicans get to choose between Charlie Ross and Phil Bryant this August, a mere 2 months away and it seems like this week the campaign has really kicked into full gear. Ross started running campaign ads this week and Bryant can't be far behind. We have seen some jabs back and forth but Bryant's association with the Partnership and several jabs at failed audits. I haven't seen as much out of Bryant to this point but he is ahead in most polling so he might be holding out for now. Both Ross and Bryant have over a half million dollars in the bank, I believe last reports were that Ross had over a Million in Cash on Hand, and in two months any left over will just be wasted for one of them so see things pick up in the near future.

For my money I bet Bryant will win the nomination simply because not enough Repubs know Charlie Ross despite the fact, IMO, Ross is the more polished, smarter and probably more effective candidate. At some point political races are just popularity contest when the 2 candidates run on almost all of the same issues which is what Ross and Bryant are doing. Additionally, Bryant has the endorsement of the Home Builders Association, Realators Association, Paul Gallo (who has a wide audience in the Republican households) and Don Wildman (far-right Tupelo religous advocate/zealot) and as silly as it sounds endorsements do mean something when they all pile up for one person.

Judicial Qualifications

2007-06-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

In the light of Judge Leslie Southwick having his nomination being taken back up today I wanted to try and put forth an open thread with more of a question.

What do you think are proper qualifications for a Federal Judge?

I think Polly, one of our new writers, is working on a Southwick post and you have already seen posts by me and comments by Representative Green on the subject so I open up the floor to you, the reader.

Party Registration for Primaries

2007-06-13T15:28:00.000-05:00

I didn't want to let the week pass without at least touching on this story. Late last week US District Judge Allan Pepper ruled that political parties have a right to stop non-party members from voting in their primary elections and suggested that party registration and voter ID would do that. Several different issues that greatly influence Mississippi jump out of this.

1. parties can exclude non-party members

2. party registration is / will be required

3. voter i.d. is being pushed by the courts

I will take these issues separately:

1. I don't have a big problem with this idea, if a candidate is to be chosen as the "Democratic" or "Republican" candidate then only members of those parties are the people who should be selecting them. I realize the arguments such as "there are only 2 parties that can win" and "if you don't vote in the primary you're left with no choice" but to me if a candidate is to represent a party he should be voted to that position by members of that party, not outsiders. Now I'm starting to sound like Ellis Turnage, who IMO is a big nut-job, but on this idea maybe we agree.

2. Party registration being required is another good idea, how do you know who you are as a group without having a list of some sort. Fears of party registration go back to the Red Scare (and before I'm sure) in America but I just don't see the problem. Many people say that there are only 2 parties and if you can't vote in one of those primaries your choices are limited to an extent that it corrupts the process. I just don't believe that, if enough people are unhappy with a party that party will go away, if enough people who are unhappy form together a new party will be founded. History is our proving ground for this, in the beginning there were Federalist and Anti-Federalist (Democratic-Republicans), there were Whigs and Free-Soilers, there were Know-nothings, Greenbacks and Populist Parties and there were Bull Mooser's, Socialist, Democrat and Republican parties, Parties come and go, power swings back and forth and the more power these "third-party" parties get the more neutralized the big 2 become, just look at the evolution of the Republican party from Lincoln to Reagan and look at how Republicans have changed from Willkie to Bush 43 (from economic conservatism to mass social spending and debt creation). All of this is said to show that just because you aren't voting in one of the big 2 parties doesn't mean your ideas won't be heard.

3. voter i.d. seems to be pushed by this ruling. I, personally am a fan of voter i.d. I think I understand the premise behind it's opponents that some voters feel hassled, that some voters become afraid because things like i.d. prevented them from voting 40 years ago.

Let me start with saying it is not that much of a hassle. If you can drag yourself up to the ballot box you can come up to the circuit clerks office and fill out a new voter registration form. If you don't have an i.d. because you don't drive then they can get you an i.d. just for voting, we have special i.d.'s for military, special i.d.'s for gun permits, this would not be a problem. And for the most extreme of cases, those shut-ins and disabled people I'm sure a decent exception could be offered of an in-home visit by a clerk's assistant to verify. Keep it mind these exceptions would rarely, if ever, be used.

As for those people who say well my grandma was harassed by a poll tax way back when and I shouldn't be hassled, you should grow up. Voter intimidation in the 60's and before did happen but that was 40 years ago, and now we actually have a system in place to deal with voter intimidation if it were to rear its ugly head. This simply is not a modern day problem and we cannot let fear of issues of a half a century ago influence something as important as getting an accurate voting system.

My one slight problem with this issue is that voter i.d. shouldn't be pushed by the courts, it should be pushed by the people. The people's voice is in the legislature and I simply do not understand the lock the "Black Caucus" has on any voter i.d. bill that comes through the State House of Representatives. Let it pass, your voters will be leery the first time but after that everything will be fine, people are scared of change, of the unknown, but this is a good thing that keeps everyone above board.

As always we welcome comments and ideas.

MS Supreme Court talks about Justice Court Judge Qualifications

2007-06-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

I really found this opinion, Montgomery v. Lowndes County Democratic Executive Committee, interesting. Late last year myself and 2 other reference librarians I work with all considered running for an open Justice Court Judgeship in Rankin County. However, none of us lived in the district represented. We did a little research and could not find anything saying you must live in the district but common sense says you should live in the district and we all kind of dismissed the idea (plus we are all pretty busy so it was mostly just talk anyway).

Then last week the Supreme Court handed down the opinion in Montgomery which clearly provides that we were right about the law and wrong in our assumption. Apparently the only qualifications are those explicitly laid out in the Mississippi Constitution, Sec. 171 and 241, and being in the county is enough and being in the district in not required. This is despite a somewhat on point law, 23-15-359, and an Attorney General's Opinion that disagreed with where the Court went.

Let me take this as an opportunity to share that AG opinions are almost entirely worthless, they are kind of like Presidential singing statements and carry no weight and in modern day legalities carry no sway (unlike the sway they might have carried in the early 20th century). This is not a fault or indictment on the AG's office but just a simple truth that no one should pay attention to them because the courts do not.

As always feedback and/or discussion is welcomed.

Southwick Nomination

2007-06-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

The latest news on Judge Leslie Southwick's nomination to the 5th circuit is that a second scheduled vote has been postponed, thereby putting him in some sort of holding pattern. For an article see here. I post this here because this blog has gotten a lot of traffic regarding Judge Southwick.

If you have any comments either pro or con regarding Judge Southwick we welcome debate at Mississippi Law and we welcome your point of view; however, if you are willing to dish it out please be willing to take it also.

Possession of a Weapon by a Felon, Mississippi Code 97-37-5

2007-05-29T07:55:00.000-05:00

Ran across this statute last week and thought it might make for an interesting blog post. Below is the text of the statute. My commentary is the green text that is mixed in. If you have any comments please feel free to add them in.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of this state, any other state, or of the United States to possess any firearm or any bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack, or any muffler or silencer for any firearm unless such person has received a pardon for such felony, has received a relief from disability pursuant to Section 925(c) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or has received a certificate of rehabilitation pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

(1c) This is an interesting list of "weapons": bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack or silencer. My issue with this list is who gets to decide what a certain type of knife is? Switchblade is fairly clear but a Bowie knife is more confusing, is their a length something has to be to be a Bowie or a Butcher knife is even more open to interpretation, are we talking a clever or a boning knife or any knife that can be found in the grocery store meat department? I don't see any definitions for these "weapons" so I guess discretion falls to the courts, but with that comes the problem of wrongful arrest if a cop thinks its a knife under this section but the judge doesn't. I wish this section was more clear.

(2) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections for not more than three (3) years, or both.

(2c) This section had a proposed amendment to make this a 10 year maximum penalty, up from 3 by HB 1552 (2007), but it did not get out of committee. I don't have a big problem with this amendment but I always worry about how many sentences get increased in election years for those about to try and reelected want to look "tough on crime".

(3) A person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of this state may apply to the court in which he was convicted for a certificate of rehabilitation. The court may grant such certificate in its discretion upon a showing to the satisfaction of the court that the applicant has been rehabilitated and has led a useful, productive and law-abiding life since the completion of his sentence and upon the finding of the court that he will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.

(3c) I like this provision, kind of a reward for being "rehabilitated". However, it does provide for discretion which can be good or bad with elected judges and could, in a broken system, allow for the purchasing of these certificates of rehabilitation with a lawyer who is buddies with a judge or a campaign contribution to the judge that slides past most voters.

Oktibbeha Co. Hospital v. Mississippi State University, MS Dept of Health and Premier Radiology

2007-05-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

Issued last week by the MS Supreme Court was an interesting ruling, 2006-SA-00358-SCT, concerning the CON (Certificate of Need) process in Mississippi. For a slight bit of background I will say that to run a hospital or medical center of some sort in Mississippi you need a CON which is has many, many hoops to jump through and red tape to be crossed. I beleive they all have to start as legislation and the hoops and tape are administered by the MDOH. In this case it appears that the legislature passed a bill in 2004 that would allow a MRI system and a linear accelerator (I think they are similiar but different, but I'm no doctor) to be placed in Starkville with the condition that 2/3 of its operable time be allowed to the University for research purposes and 1/3 of its operable time could be for private use. With this bill the normal CON procedures were waved. The Oktibbeha Co. Hospital (OCH) objected to this, a suit followed and last week the MS Supreme Court ruled on it, saying that this bill was not unconstitutional and that use of these systems through Mississippi State is acceptable.

Now I will provide a bit of my take on this.

OCH was the only game in town for things like a MRI and with this bill they lose their local monopoly. I'm sure they are more upset by the 1/3 time that Premier Radiology is getting than the 2/3 research component for MSU.

I think MSU and more especially Premier pulled a bit of a fast one as Premier used the cover of a research university (really the research university in the state) to get access to machines that can exponentially expand their business without jumping through the hoops and redtape of a CON process.

Finally, I think OCH is pretty unhappy with their lawyers at this point. While the Court didn't completely blast the lawyers for not filing this constitutional challenge with the MS Attorney General's Office, as is required, they did make a remark and strike that entire part of the argument (one of the three issues). The Court didn't buy the argument that because MSU was served and technically the head lawyer at MSU is an AG attorney proper notice was given. This strikes me as a piece of bad lawyering as service and notice are one of the few things that is easy to get right and they didn't do so in this case.

Mississippi Legal News of Note

2007-05-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

Couple of items I wanted to make sure and pass along in case you had missed them

- Ann Hannaford Lamar of Senatobia was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court by Governor Haley Barbour to fill departing Justice Kay Cobb's Northern District post. Lamar is a former Circuit Court Judge for the 17th district and former District Attorney. I know very little about Lamar but she looks qualified and has stayed out of the news for anything that might be considered "bad". On a personal not I would like to say I am glad Barbour appointed a female to replace the only female that was on the Court. I'm not a huge feminist supporter but females make up half of the population of the State there should be at least one on the State's Supreme Court.

- former Court of Appeals Judge and current nominee to the 5th Circuit, Leslie Southwick, has had his confirmation process started with the often contentious questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to some news articles opposite has arisen due to votes Southwick made while on the Court of Appeals. Southwick responded with [paraphrasing] I voted with an opinion that accurately reflected what the law in Mississippi states. I understand the groups that disagree with what these cases held and don't like Southwick's voting (not authoring) these opinions but a Judge's job is to rule on what is the law, not to make the law and if the law is not unconstitutional then there is not much the judge can do; and further if the law is not challenged as being unconstitutional they shouldn't even consider that. I'm not sure of the background on these complaints but what I have seen looks like certain groups are trying to make a problem where there is none to be made. For more discussion on this nomination I recommend googling Judge Southwick's name and there are many articles and blogs out there this week.

Mississippi and the Line-Item Veto

2007-05-01T18:24:00.000-05:00

There currently is a debate brewing in Mississippi legal/political circles as Governor Barbour has used a line-item veto to eliminate a 5.5 million dollar expenditure that was passed this past legislative session and Attorney General Jim Hood had objected to this. For articles/editorials regarding the veto see here,Clarion Ledger Editorial, and here, Hattiesburg American Article. The appropriate sections of the Mississippi Constitution appear to be Section 73, Section 72, and Section 69 presented below.

The lines seem to be drawn with Barbour relying on Section 73 of the MS Constitution and Hood relying on the the decision in Barbour v. Delta Correctional Facility Authority, 871 So.2d 703 in which the MS Supreme Court ruled a line-item veto as unconstitutional. My reading of this opinion is it was narrowly tailored to address what appears to be a rather unusual situation with correctional appropriations. I found the dissent by (soon to be departing the Court) Justice Cobb more persuasive and helpful to show that there is also case law supporting the ability to use a line-item veto in certain circumstances. What these cases seem to turn on is whether the bill is an appropriations bill (see Sec. 69) or not. Theoretically all appropriations are supposed to be done only in appropriations bills but bleedover is not that uncommon where legislating is combined with funding. If it is an appropriation then the governor can line-item veto, if not then no line-item option. The bills in question here are HB 1681 and HB 1689 both of which appear to be appropriations bill to me and therefore able to be line-item vetoed.

Section 73. Veto of parts of appropriations bills.

The Governor may veto parts of any appropriation bill, and approve parts of the same, and the portions approved shall be law.

Section 72. Approval or disapproval of bill by Governor; veto override process.

Every Bill which shall pass both Houses shall be presented to the Governor of the state. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if he does not approve, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds (2/3) of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds (2/3) of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him, it shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall be a law unless the Governor shall; veto it within fifteen (15) days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him, and such Bill shall be returned to the Legislature, with his objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of the next session of the Legislature.

Section 69. Contents of appropriations bills.
General appropriation bills shall contain only the appropriations to defray the ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the government; to pay interest on state bonds, and to support the common schools. All other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject. Legislation shall not be engrafted on the appropriation bills, but the same may prescribe the conditions on which the money may be drawn, and for what purposes paid.

link to the blog of the cartoonist who did the below cartoon.

National Article regarding MS Governor's race

2007-04-30T18:16:00.000-05:00

This isn't a home for promoting certain campaigns but I saw this article regarding John Arthur Eaves, Democratic Gubanatorial candidate, in the Washington Post. It is rare that MS gets national press that isn't derogatory in some manner so when I see an article that isn't taking a swipe at MS I thought I might pass it along.

Link to the article here.

A Holy-Roller Democrat

By Dan Gilgoff
Sunday, April 29, 2007; B03

John Arthur Eaves baptized three of his four sons in the Jordan River, an event he highlights in a radio campaign ad. The candidate for governor of Mississippi thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned, calls for reintroducing school prayer and wants limits on riverboat gambling -- all hot-button issues among evangelical pastors. A baby-faced trial lawyer with a flair for self-promotion, Eaves is employing the same tried-and-true campaign tactics as many Republicans running in the South, the Midwest and other culturally conservative parts of the country.

But Eaves isn't just any old run-of-the-mill evangelical candidate -- he's a Democrat. And he's challenging not just any first-term governor, but Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a Goliath in the GOP, with possible designs on the White House.

At stake is more than the governor's mansion in Jackson, but arguably the future of the national Democratic Party. That's because Democrats have almost completely lost their grip on the South, with the number of Southern Democratic U.S. senators dwindling from 20 in 1980 to five today. In the past two presidential elections, the Democratic ticket lost every Southern state. And despite Democratic Senate pickups in the so-called Upper South states of Missouri and Virginia in 2006, competitive statewide races that year in Tennessee and Florida went to Republicans. A win by Eaves "would be a shot across the bow to the Republican Party that Democrats can compete in the South again," says Mike Mikus, Eaves's chief campaign strategist.

But an Eaves victory would also be a shot across the bow to the Democrats' liberal base, raising the question of how far the party is willing to go in jettisoning its support for abortion rights, gay rights and a high wall of separation between church and state for a chance at electoral success. Eaves's campaign asks: Just how big should the Democrats' tent be?

The political calculus behind Eaves's candidacy is simple. By neutralizing the traditional GOP advantage on social issues, Democrats hope to focus on economic issues, where, particularly in poverty-stricken Mississippi, they believe they have the upper hand. Eaves, a graduate of Ole Miss and now a wealthy lawyer whose dirty-blond mane is a fixture in legal ads across the state, is an unabashed populist. He supports universal health care, large increases in public school funding and a so-called living wage. He attacks Barbour for opposing a "tax swap" that would slash the grocery tax and raise the tobacco tax and for pushing 50,000 low-income residents off state Medicaid rolls.

Eaves roots his populism in the same evangelical Christianity as his social positions. "A lot of people ask me, 'How are you a Democrat and a Christian?' " he says in his Jackson office, festooned with photos from his 1996 trip to Israel to baptize his sons. "And I say, 'Because I'm a Christian, I'm a Democrat.' Christ healed the sick, reached out to the poor and came to tell us the truth, which today would translate into support for health care and education. Christ came to help people, and I believe that's the role of the Democratic Party."

Eaves, whose father also ran -- unsuccessfully -- for governor as a Democrat, faces an uphill climb. At 40, he has already lost a bid for Congress and he aborted a 2003 challenge to the then-governor, a Democrat, after just two months. The most recent public polls, released late last year, put Barbour's approval rating at 59 percent. A longtime tobacco lobbyist with strong Republican fundraising ties, Barbour has said he'll raise $13 million for the race.

But Eaves's internal polls show that with the right messaging, Barbour's support could be brought below 50 percent. And in addition to tapping his trial-lawyer network, Eaves is expected to plow some of his own millions into the race. Eaves's most serious challenger for the Democratic nomination dropped out of the race last week; he will now face three others in an August primary.

Eaves appears to represent the next step in the Democratic Party's plan for making inroads among evangelicals and other serious churchgoers. After its 2004 drubbing, when all five retiring Southern Democratic senators were replaced by Republicans, Democrats reached out to "values voters." In 2005, Timothy M. Kaine, the winning Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, reserved his first ads for Christian radio. In 2006, the Democratic Party persuaded a pro-choice candidate in Pennsylvania to drop her Senate bid to clear the field for the ultimately successful Robert P. Casey Jr., an abortion opponent.

But Kaine and Casey weren't outright religious conservatives. Eaves is.

So far, most liberal groups have kept quiet about Eaves, though he says that some Democratic consultants have declined to lend support because of his conservative social views. National liberal groups such as Planned Parenthood say that Eaves is an anomaly and that despite the successful 2006 candidacies of abortion opponents such as Casey in Pennsylvania and Rep. Heath Shuler, a North Carolina Democrat, the party is fielding more pro-choice candidates. They point out that even culturally conservative states such as Montana and Virginia elected pro-choice Democrats to the Senate last November.

But Democrats took back Congress in 2006 because of dissatisfaction over the Iraq war and congressional corruption scandals, not by riding a pro-choice wave. Being tied to the liberal image of the Democratic Party has become such a liability in states such as Mississippi that its lieutenant governor changed parties in 2002, becoming a Republican.

That deterioration of his party's "brand" provoked Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to pour tens of millions of dollars into resurrecting the party in the reddest states, including Mississippi. Last year, the DNC hired four full-time staff members on behalf of the Mississippi Democratic Party, which formerly had one. And yet Mississippi's old-guard Democratic county chairmen, like those in other red states, keep grousing that a robust party infrastructure is useless without a top-of-the-ticket candidate whom voters can get excited about.

To hear his campaign tell it, that's where Eaves comes in -- as a gregarious savior, leading flocks to the voting booth while he enthuses about Jesus. If Eaves and similar candidates succeed in opening up red states, their strategy could be the Democrats' ticket to winning back the presidency and a commanding majority in Congress.

But Eaves still has to prove that he can win in a state in which white evangelicals, who make up half the electorate, voted for President Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry by 88 percent to 12. And the party's base still has to decide that the cost of such victories isn't too much to bear.

Camera's in the Courtroom

2007-04-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

As I watch the news tonight I can't help but think back 6 or 7 years to a speech I heard in undergrad. The speaker was (then) Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Ed Pittman and the speech was about putting camera's in the courtrooms to help make the courts more transparent. This seemed to be very important for Chief Justice Pittman and has become one of his most notable pieces of his legacy on the bench.

This speech has revisted me with the most recent trial of Frank Melton where a camera in the courtroom has been fed to the Jackson television stations and is live streaming on their websites for anyone to view when court is in session. Additionally, most oral arguments before the Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are broadcast on the Supreme Courts website. Back in 2001 I though Justice Pittman's idea of the camera's was good but now it seems as they are actually working as he planned it seems like a terrific idea, allowing us a look into trials ranging from Edgar Ray Killen to Frank Melton to Haley Barbour v. the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, all of which were streamed across the state for those who wanted to watch.

For live videos feeds of the Supreme Court & the Court of Appeals see here
For the statement released by the Court when camera's were first allowed see here
For the most recent streaming involving the mayor of our state capital you can go to WLBT, WAPT or WJTV and catch their streams.

Clarion Ledger doin the hard work

2007-04-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

Wanted to make sure and pass along this good compilation. The CL has compiled the Senate voting records for SB - 2391 (Abortion clarifications), 2764 (Disbanding the Board of Health), 2375 (Toll Roads), 3215 (Economic Development), 2470 (felony firearm possession); HB 238 (Education Funding), 423 (Deer Baiting), 1500 (Windstorm, Insurance Law Changes); SCR 621 (food/cigarette tax swap). I encourage you to follow the above links to read the bills for yourselves.

Link

New Laws - SB 2369 - Phys Ed for K-8 Students

2007-04-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

The Mississippi Healthy Students Act, SB 2369, was passed this past session requiring Kindergarten through 8th grade students to get 150 minutes of exercise per week and 45 minutes of health per week. Additionally high school students are required to get a .5 credit in phys ed or physical activity. This also appears to create local school health councils with members appointed from parents, teachers, students, administrators and about anyone else you can think of.

For the actual logistics dealing with this new law it looks like in Section 2 paragraph 3 the legislature is supposed to appropriate money to hire a "physical activity coordinator" and the schools must adopt a Wellness Plan by the beginning of the 2006-07 school year (which is almost over) and beginning with the 2008-09 school year the "plan shall also promote increased physical activity, healthy eating habits and abstinence from the use of tobacco and illegal drugs through programs that incorporate healthy lifestyle choices ..." The entire act is effect on July 1, 2007.

The couple of questions I had when reading this is when do schools have to be compliant?, and why wait until 08-09 to put physical activity in the Wellness Plan if the Act is effective July 2007? This bill, SB 2369, looks so bare that you can't really tell what is going on. It makes a blanket statement of more minutes for Phys Ed and Health but no start date because, at least to me, it doesn't appear to be an actual part of a Wellness Plan that doesn't go into effect until 2008 and even if it did what looks like the Wellness Plan seems to be the same thing people have been wanting for years.

My assumptions are that the more Phys Ed starts this August (of 2007) and these magical plans don't have to incorporate Phys Ed until 2008 (which will actually be after they are already in effect).

If anyone can provide clarity on this for me, please do so. I think I agree with the premise but this appears to be a prime example of legislative confusion.

Insurance Law Update

2007-03-28T08:01:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to provide a short annotation of proposed bills (that are alive as of last Monday or passed) for 2006 and 2007. I know there is probably a small audience for this type of info but for those select few here you go:

To get to the bill language go here and then find the bill by scrolling down the page
2007 – Singed by governor
- HB 1311 - Insurance producers; provide time limit to appeal licensing decisions of Commissioner of Insurance.
- HB 1313 – Insurance companies; revise financial reporting requirements with the Commissioner of Insurance.
- SB 2337 – State income tax credit for purchase of private insurance to cover long-term care insurance

2007 – alive but not fully passed either, awaiting signature or in conference
HB 753 – mentions windstorm in non-amended sections
HB 1312 – Insurance rebate monies; county must designate fire investigator and require training
HB 1485 – revise requirements on bail bondsmen
HB 1500 – Mississippi Economic Growth and Redevelopment Act of 2007 (Windstorm)
HB 1524 – public adjusters; provide for licensure and regulation by Commissioner of Insurance
HB 1727 – income tax and insurance premium tax; authorize a credit for certain investments made by qualified development entities
SB 2644 – State Employees Health Insurance Management Board; add directors of JUCO Board and PERS
SB 2809 – Auto liability insurance; place lienholder’s name on insurance check as loss payee
SB 3050 – Mississippi Economic Growth and Redevelopment Act of 2007 (Windstorm)
SB 3090 – City of Pascagoula; authorize payment of retirees’ health insurance premiums

2006 – all signed by the governor
HB 720 – Bail Agents, require certain license requirements
HB 984 – Risk retention/purchasing groups; delete annual registration fee
HB 1175 – revising the definition of “insurance” under the Preneed Cemetery and Funeral Registration Act
SB 2006 – Insurance Coverage; require notice of cancellation mailed to creditor loss payee
SB 2056 – Med Mal Insurance Availability Plan; authorize Tort Claims Board to transfer assets and liabilities
SB 2076 – Insurance agents; exempt from examination applicants for credit property license
SB 2332 – Prohibit rate increases on auto insurance for active military personal; MCPA
SB 2381 – authorize ADR procedure for personal lines insurance claims (DOI)
SB 2382 – Insurance agent/producer licensing laws; make technical changes (DOI)
SB 2424 – Unauthorized insurance agents; extend repealer on law prohibiting commission payments
SB 2557 – Insurance premium finance law/sale of checks law; make technical changes
SB 2849 – allow pooling of liabilities under an employers liability insurance policy; Workers’ Comp Comm.
SB 2963 – Exemption from Health Savings Accounts; execution

SB 2117 - Extension of License for those on Active Duty

2007-03-06T09:03:00.000-06:00

Interesting bill that is due back from the governor this week, 2117, concerns extending licenses for those on active duty with the National Guard or U.S. Armed Forces. These licenses include attorney's, architects, auctioneers, chiropractors, barbers, etc. I think this is a very good bill and look forward to it becoming law.

SB 3036 - Domestic Violence, Revising Protective Orders

2007-03-01T09:35:00.000-06:00

What caught my eye about this bill is how many times it has been amended so when I started actually looking at the current amendments I was quiet surprised as how actively it changes the current law for a bill I have not heard anyone mention. For text of the bill with its latest amendments see here . This bill appears to currently be to conference as it has passed both the House and Senate but with different language. Primary changes that could occur with this bill are:

1. creation and implementation of a Mississippi Protective Order Registery (looks a lot like the Sex offender registry to me for those of you who think the SOFR is illegal/unconstitutional).

2. Costs of attorney's fees for the "protected" are to be paid by the violator is a protective order is deemed appropriate.

3. Lots of restrictions can be placed in accordance with this protective order bill, this has typically already been in the purview of the judge but this would make it statutory where I do not believe it has been so clearly delineated before

In the news this week

2007-02-08T15:03:00.000-06:00

Couple of articles I wanted to reference

First is the passing in the Senate of SB 2617 which is a voter-id bill, for a CL article see here. (It appears this bill is currently held on a motion to reconsider) This bill is traditionally killed in the House but I, personally, am a big proponent of voter-id and think those who speak out against it are just making themselves look foolish by telling stories of slippery slopes that just won't happen in 2006. Perhaps in 1996 (or 1986) these responses would have been more appropriate but not now. Now virtually everyone has ID of some sort, and if they don't they should, this isn't a poll tax or way to hinder the vote, it is in fact a way to insure your right to vote is safer because there should be no way with an ID check that if you are properly on the roll that someone else has voted in your stead.

Second is the passing in the Senate of SB 2795 an abortion bill, this is a quiet similar bill, if not the same, as was killed last year; for a CL article see here. The jist of the bill is that it would eliminate abortion in Mississippi, excepting in cases of rape, incest or life of the mother. I highly suggest you read the actual language of the bill as I do not mean to mischaracterize any portion of it.

As always we welcome questions, feedback, personal takes on these or any other issues dealing with Mississippi Law.

MS Marriage Laws

2007-01-29T11:52:00.000-06:00

The Clarion Ledger in Jackson had an intersting editorial today referencing HB 167. Link to the editorial is here. Basically the thought is that the time has passed where a 3 day waiting period and a blood test are now obsolete (and more so, an obsticle for tourism and the drive-thru wedding that casino destinations are known for). Does anyone have any thoughts on changing the law, Is Mississippi in the dark ages or is this just another left-wing progression pushed on Mississippians.

Favorite Proposals

2007-01-19T08:48:00.000-06:00

Not much is making news in legislation this week, more talk about Haley Barbour filing his financial report showing before campaigns even get fired up he raised the 3rd largest amount ever, in Mississippi state politics. Due to the slowness of the week I wanted to mention a favorite proposal of mine, House Resolution 1 proposed by Jamie Franks.

It, quiet simply, would place House Roll Call votes on the internet for public viewing I am not really sure why it hasn't been like this in the past, especially since they put in the new boards and voting boxes a couple of years ago.

If you have a proposal you like or would like to discuss let us know.

State of the State

2007-01-16T11:07:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to Governor Barbour's State of the State address from last night. While not legal persay it gives a good indication of upcoming veto's and legislative pushes from the governor's office and Mississppi Republicans in general.

Think of it what you will, if someone wants to talk about a specific part of it post a comment and we can run with it.

Katrina victim defeats State Farm yesterday

2007-01-12T10:20:00.000-06:00

I feel like we would be remiss from mentioning a first major court victory for a homeowner who lost their house in Hurricane Katrina and was denied coverage by their insurer. Here is a link to the article reflecting on the 200k-plus in compensatory damages and 2.5 million in punitive damages awarded to the plaintiffs.

I am a little too close to this situation to talk about specifics with Katrina lawsuits but some of the other mods on this board may want to talk more about this ruling and what may or may not come of it and the other cases filling the coastal county's dockets.