Spat Between Mississippi AG, Alabama Federal Judge Heats Up
We haven’t waded into the Dickie Scruggs story in some time, partly because the bigtime drama has wrapped, as they say in Tinseltown. The famed plaintiffs lawyer pleaded guilty in March to crimes related to a judicial-bribery scheme. All that’s left is the sentencing, which was earlier this week moved up from July 2 to June 27 in order to accommodate a scheduling conflict of John Keker, Scruggs’s lawyer.
Still, some good drama is playing out down in Scruggs-land. Alabama federal judge William Acker on Thursday accused Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (pictured) of conspiring with Scruggs to skirt a court order, calling Hood a “so-called public official.” (Click here for the story from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger; here for Judge Acker’s opinion.)
On Friday, Hood made it clear he wouldn’t take Acker’s comments lying down. According to this report from Legal Newsline, Hood responded, “The rules of judicial performance do not allow a court to engage in unnecessary attacks on officers of the court, particularly when they are not even parties to the litigation.” Hood reportedly will move to ask Acker to “remove such derogatory allegations.”
WSJ LAWBLOG
6/6/8
Magnolia Tribune
