Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood seems to have passed on three fantastic opportunities to pursue justice in the state of Mississippi. The only problem is that they all strike a little bit too close to home, and his office doesn’t seem to have the political courage to engage. Our self described “tough as nails”* DA turned AG probably finds these matters hit a little too close to home in terms of friends and campaign contributors.
* “tough as nails” only applies to civil rights cases covered by CNN and political non-contributors to his campaign.
In his most recent campaign, AG Candidate Al Hopkins very plainly stated that work was given out by Hood’s office in a pay-for-play fashion. The “Look Under The Hood” website does a remarkably good job of laying out this case for cronyism at its worst.
However, the most eggregious work has been in the state’s non-prosecution of cases that strike at the very heart of the Mississippi judicial process. The Mississippi tort industry, born under former AG (and current SKG “resolution counsel”) Mike Moore and perfected under Jim Hood has festered this kind of activity for two decades.
The Robert Arledge Matter
Robert Arledge was convicted in early 2007 in federal court on charges that he knowingly submitted false claims in a Phen-Fen settlement. During the federal investigation, about a dozen individual plaintiffs also pled guilty. Although the feds hatched these cases, there seems to be no prohibition for the state to pursue charges against Arledge or the individual false claimants.
The Paul Minor Bribery Matter
Gulf Coast tort kingpin Paul Minor (son of journalist Bill Minor) was convicted by a federal court for bribing two state judges (Teel and Whitfield). Minor, Teel & Whitfield are all now in federal prison for making/accepting payments in exchange for favorable rulings in state court cases. Interesting, in this case, Dickie Scruggs was involved as the “pocket”, and played the dumb rich guy that Minor used to pay off Teel. Scruggs eventually testified as such at trial. There seems no prohibition for Hood’s office to pursue charges against Minor, Teel & Whitfield, but it seems Hood’s office is content to let the feds clean up the messes that are happening under his watch.
And, of course, The Dickie Scruggs Matter
Dickie Scruggs, Zach Scruggs, Sid Backstrom, and former Mississippi Auditor (and Hood cheerleader) Steve Patterson all face federal charges of bribing a state judge to obtain a favorable ruling in a civil case where the plaintiffs allege that Scruggs’ SKG did not fork over its fair share of $26M in contingency fees. Former Special Assistant Attorney General Tim Balducci has already pled guilty in the scandal. Though Hood has not said much of anything subsequent to the indictments, he is very much trying to put distance between himself and Balducci.
Knowing that Scruggs & Company are still presumed innocent, you can’t come down on Hood too hard yet. However, IF this case follows the pattern of correctness in these other federally brought bribery charges, Hood will seal his legacy of cronyism and being soft on corruption on his buddies. Hood’s office has shown no seeming interest in investigating this case having already named Scruggs as a “confidential informant” to help Scruggs in a legal maneuver not to comply with a federal court order. Their office has gotten very defensive about their posture between bringing criminal charges and the civil claims on State Farm. In fact, the ties are so tight that General Hood might consider calling in an independent Special Prosecutor in this and other cases to remove the taint of any appearance of impropriety.
At the end of the day, Hood should exercise some political courage and at pursue state charges against Balducci, who has already pled guilty. To have a former Mississippi Special Assistant Attorney General bribe a judge is a horrible example to set in the legal community. In fact, all of the aforementioned should have state charges pursued against them to let them know that justice is not for sale in Mississippi (as it currently seems to be).
But the question is . . . Would Balducci have information in his defense of state charges that Jim Hood is afraid of?
Magnolia Tribune
