Hood wants pardon case sent back to Hinds County
Attorney General Jim Hood has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling that former Gov. Haley Barbour’s late-term pardons were valid.
In a filing Thursday, Hood asked that the case be sent back to Hinds County Circuit Court.
Hood claims the Supreme Court’s March 8 decision, which effectively determined the limits on the governor’s power are not reviewable, could have lasting implications for the state.
The court had declared it would not intervene in a dispute between the executive and judicial branches. It said the determination of whether pardon applicants had met legal requirements was the sole power of the governor.
In his filing, Hood said that makes Mississippi’s the only Supreme Court in the nation to hold such a view. He argued the separation of powers doctrine does not prevent the court from reviewing whether the pardons were legal.
AP
3/22/12
Magnolia Tribune
