Here's Your New Mississippi Supreme Court
The results are in. Three of the four incumbent Justices who ran lost. Let's take a look at how the new Court was chosen. Jim Kitchens upset Chief Justice Jim Smith. Here are the highlights from an article by Jimmie Gates in today's Clarion Ledger:
[m]ore than $1 million was spent among the three for a job that pays less than $120,000 a year.
A million bucks is alot of money for a $100,000 a year job. At least we can take comfort that since it was a judicial election the campaigns were nonpartisan:
Although judicial campaigns are nonpartisan elections, the state Republican Party endorsed Smith and a political ad for Kitchens said he was the only true Democrat in the race. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, also endorsed Kitchens.
A nonpartisan race featuring endorsements from the state Republican party and Democrat Bennie Thompson? C'mon.
And the number one reason why judicial elections are flawed is:
But Ellisville plumber Archie Wayne Courtney said this week he believes Smith should have stepped aside from his case because he said the justice had a conflict of interest.
Courtney won a court judgment of more than $1.8 million against a bank, but a state Supreme Court decision reduced the amount to $45,040. Smith wrote the opinion.
Smith's campaign committee borrowed $55,000 from a bank that is part of the same chain Courtney sued, Courtney said.
"He should be off the court," Courtney said.
McCain had Joe the plumber. Looks like Kitchens has Archie the plumber.
Bubba Pierce defeated incumbent Oiver Diaz, Jr. Pierce also outraised Diaz by more than $150,000. Here's an excerpt from Jerry Mitchell's article in the Clarion Ledger:
Although some depicted this race as a fight between business interests and trial lawyers, contributions from lawyers failed to keep pace with those from business interests.
The National Institute of Money in State Politics studied state Supreme Court races in 2005 and 2006, finding that business interests made up 44 percent of the contributions, with lawyers coming in second at 21 percent.
In interviews, Diaz and Pierce didn't criticize each other, but that didn't stop third parties from running negative advertisements in the campaign.
In an advertisement paid for by the Law Enforcement Alliance of America in Springfield, Va., Diaz was accused of being "the only one ... voting for" two baby killers and another killer in three cases. Diaz called the accusations "lies."
David Chandler beat incumbent Justice Chuck Easley. Here are the highlights from Blair Goldstein's article in the Clarion Ledger:
The nonpartisan judicial race was one of the more contentious and unusual races in the state this year, loaded with personal jabs and political maneuvering.
Easley, 59, accused Chandler, 62, of being in the pocket of big business in civil matters while being soft in criminal cases. He dug into court records on Chandler's divorce and other family problems.
Chandler had slightly better financing than Easley:
With the support of the state's powerful medical lobby and other business donors, Chandler outraised and outspent his opponent. According to state campaign finance reports, Chandler raised about $305,590 and spent about $301,800.
Easley raised about $77,540 and spent about $43,310.
And Governor Haley Barbour Appointee Ann Lamar defeated Gene Barton. Barton, you will recall, relied on credit cards for his campaign financing. The juicy parts from Kathleen Baydala's article in the Clarion Ledger:
Barton, an Okolona lawyer, accused Lamar of taking financial contributions from special interest groups and political action committees that did not fairly represent themselves. He also said these groups sent out campaign materials that made unfair, libelous claims about him.
"I got compared to individuals in ads who are in jail because they tried to bribe judges," Barton said. "They said I would turn the clock back on tort reform, when I never mentioned tort reform one time."
Lamar responded to Barton's accusations, stating she had no control over third-party ads.
"I did not approve of those ads. I did not ask for their endorsements," she said. "Most of them I have not even seen."
While Barton said he did not make any statements about tort reform, officials with the Mississippi chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business say they were concerned that he and other candidates were siding with trial lawyers and gunning to overturn the current law.
"We just want someone to follow the law and not try to legislate from the bench," said Ron Aldridge, state director of NFIB in Mississippi. The chapter has 3,400 members.
Aldridge said the current law restricting jury awards is important because many small businesses could be sunk by having to pay hefty damages.
Comments anyone?
