BOBBY HARRISON: Legislation would have blocked tobacco lawsuit
But a proposal is under consideration this session of the Mississippi Legislature that most assuredly would have prevented Moore from suing the tobacco companies if it had been law in the 1990s. The bill has passed the House by a narrow margin and is pending in the Senate.
The bill would require the attorney general to garner permission of a majority of a panel consisting of the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state before pursuing such lawsuits.
Now there is a strong case to be made that the bill, should it become law, is unconstitutional. But, if such a law existed in the 1990s and was not ruled unconstitutional by the courts, there would have been no tobacco lawsuit filed by Mississippi.
Daily Journal
2/15/17
Magnolia Tribune
