Hood takes new oath of office, no mention of Scruggs but vows to fight fake contact lenses
Now, from what I can see, Hood is an energetic law enforcement official. I follow Katrina-related events, but I’m not in a position to judge his total performance in office nor do I care to — I will leave that to the residents of Mississippi, who spoke in the last election. I’ve read about some of his prosecutions and investigations, and some of these have struck me as very worthy and laudable efforts. But you’d think such an official would be all over this Scruggs stuff, in the absence of countervailing factors or reasons, such as perhaps his previous closeness to Scruggs making an investigation unpalatable in several ways. Still, he is bound to uphold the law of Mississippi and as numerous readers have pointed out to me, the federal charges and continuing federal investigation certainly do not preclude the application of Mississippi law nor do they prevent a concurrent state investigation. For example, post-Katrina, Hood conducted a criminal investigation through a state grand jury into potential abuses in Katrina claims adjusting by insurers, even as a federal grand jury and the U.S. Attorney in southern Mississippi reportedly were doing much the same thing, not to mention all the hoo-ha in Congress.
Insurance Coverage Blog
1/12/8
Magnolia Tribune
