Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chief Justice knew details but not names in bribery case months in advance


From the McComb Enterprise-Journal:


Long before the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the indictments of Dickie Scruggs and other attorneys in an alleged attempt to bribe a circuit judge, Mississippi’s chief justice knew about the case.

“I had known about this (case) for many, many months, because it was reported to me in advance without naming the lawyers,” Chief Justice James Smith told McComb Lions on Tuesday. “I knew everything except the lawyers involved.”

Smith went on to say that corruption was a problem for a very small percentage of lawyers and judges in the state "one-tenth of one percent." That's one in one thousand. Well, my guess is that more than one-tenth of one percent of the lawyers in North Mississippi just pled guilty to judicial bribery and this thing hasn't even gotten started good.

But I get the chief justice's point. Most lawyers are honest, but not 99.9 percent.

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