Three of the four seats up for grabs on the Mississippi Supreme Court this November will be decided at the ballot box, while the fourth is unopposed. Judicial races are non-partisan elections, but typically the state Republican and Democratic parties do make endorsements.
Justice Leslie King, appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the unexpired term of Justice James Graves, will return unopposed to the high court from the Central District.
Chief Justice William Waller, Jr. will face Democratic State Rep. Earle Banks in the Central District. Waller won his 1996 election with 65.9% of the vote and his 2004 election with 74.2%.
Justice Mike Randolph is being challenged by Gerald Talmadge Braddock in the Southern District. Randolph was first appointed to the Court by Barbour but won his subsequent election in 2004 with 64.5% of the vote.
The Northern District will choose from two newcomers – Josiah Coleman and Richard “Flip” Phillips – since Justice George Carlson is not seeking reelection.
The Business and Industry Political Education Committee, or BIPEC, released their recommendations for Supreme Court candidates this week, noting that their selections were, in their opinion, “’best’ for adhering to the impartiality and fairness of rule-of-law adjudication for Mississippi’s highest court.” BIPEC recommended Waller (Central District), Randolph (Southern District), and Coleman (Northern District).
It would seem prudent for Mississippi voters to follow suit and take BIPEC’s recommendations given the background of the challengers in each of these races. All three – Banks, Braddock and Phillips – are trial lawyers, a moniker that does not sit well with a majority of Mississippi’s conservative voting base.
Earle Banks is an attorney with the firm Dockins Turnage and Banks. He is also the president of Peoples Funeral Home and Autumn Woods Memorial Gardens, as well as vice president of Peoples Assured Family Life Insurance Company. Banks has served in the Mississippi House of Representatives since 1993 representing District 67 in Hinds County. Visit the legislature’s website or Google him and you can review Banks’ history of bills he has submitted while in the legislature, some of which paint a picture of how he would react on the bench.
Gerald Talmadge Braddock has offices in Vicksburg and Hattiesburg with The Braddock Law Firm. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group of the top trial lawyers in America who have won million and multi-million dollar settlements. The third paragraph of his bio on his website proudly states, “He is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and is head of the Mass Tort Division for the Mississippi Trial Lawyers of America. He is a member of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers.” The bio also states that Braddock does “grassroots work” with college students as a “liaison for the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association.” It is not hard to assume from where Braddock would draw his decision making if he were on the high court.
Richard “Flip” Phillips, described by Cottonmouth as a “heavyweight” upon entering the race, is with the firm Smith Phillips Mitchell Scott and Nowak. He has served as Batesville City Attorney since 1978 and members of his firm also represent the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors. Phillips is also the attorney for the Panola Partnership, an economic development entity. Phillips served as President of the Mississippi Trial Lawyer Association from 1993-1994 and like Braddock is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Currently the big enchilada in Mississippi judicial politics is the constitutionality of the state’s tort reforms, specifically the cap on noneconomic damages. In APAC vs Bryant (a $30 million verdict against APAC Construction Company) Phillips argued for the plaintiffs that Mississippi’s cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. Phillips also has written about his philosophy of “regulation by litigation,” something the business community will further reject from a candidate wishing to sit on the Supreme Court. In addition to BIPEC, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association also endorsed Coleman as the better candidate over Phillips.
Stay tuned to Yall Politics for more information on the candidates and campaigns as we move toward Election Day.
Magnolia Tribune
