4 justices take oath on Mississippi Supreme Court
The new justices are David Chandler, 62, of Ackerman, who moves up from the Court of Appeals; Jim Kitchens, 65, of Crystal Springs, a former district attorney who had been in private law practice; and Randy “Bubba” Pierce, 44, of Leakesville, a former state lawmaker who had been a chancery judge since 2005.
The returning justice is Ann Hannaford Lamar, 56, of Senatobia. She served as district attorney and then as circuit court judge before Gov. Haley Barbour appointed her to fill an unexpired term on the Supreme Court when Justice Kay Cobb of Oxford retired in 2007.
Chandler, Kitchens, Lamar and Pierce were elected to the nine-member court in November. Chandler, Kitchens and Pierce defeated incumbents, and Lamar defeated one challenger.
Barbour attended the brief swearing-in ceremony at the Gartin Justice Building, telling about 75 onlookers that the rule of law is “like the air we breathe: It’s indispensable.”
NE MS Daily Journal
1/6/9
Magnolia Tribune
