C-L looks at fairness of Supreme Court

The Clarion-Ledger took a surface look at the state of our court system on Sunday. Included were:

• A column by corporate defense attorney Alex A. Alston Jr.
• Marshall Ramsey’s cartoon
• An editorial that was only half right

This post may be a bit long, but I think it is important to look at each piece separately. What is presented by the C-L goes to the heart of what Kitch’s race is all about.

Alex A. Alston Jr. column

The C-L’s look at the state of the courts hinges on this column. Alston is an attorney whose main job is defending corporations. That means, in Republican or U.S. Chamber speak, that he is “one of the good guys”, not some nasty ol’ trial lawyer.

Truth be told, Alston does have a reputation as being a respected attorney who has practiced on both sides and who believes our judicial system should be fair to all parties — whether they be individuals claiming to be wronged or corporations claiming to have done no wrong.

Alston studied four-and-a-half years of Supreme Court rulings for a book he is writing. During this study, he found two striking facts:

1. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of defendants 88 percent of the time in appeals where a jury finds a business negligent and awards an individual damages.
2. The Supreme Court has NEVER ruled in favor of an individual in an appeal where a jury found the business was not negligent. (Note: These appeals were filed where an error was thought to have been made by the lower court judge during the course of the trial.)

Let me make this clear: If you are a business and a jury finds you negligent and that your negligence caused damage to an individual, don’t worry about it. You can appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, and almost 9 out of 10 times you’ll be let off scott free.

That’s not balanced. That’s an activist court. That’s a court who feels a judge’s personal preference should be held in higher regard than the decision made by a jury.

And let me point out that the tide changed from few jury verdicts being overturned to virtually every jury verdict being overturned approximately 4 years ago. Here’s something that is most certainly not a coincidence:

Jim Smith became chief justice on April 1, 2004, just more than four years ago. Talk about an April Fools joke on the people of Mississippi!

Marshall Ramsey cartoon

I love Marshall Ramsey. I read his blog daily. He’s got the coolest blog at the C-L, with The Blog coming in a close second.

That said, nothing could be truer, save maybe John Grisham’s The Appeal. Big Business stands behind Lady Justice, and they pull the strings.

With the current one-sided make-up of the court, you could repeal every tort reform law in Mississippi, and it would make no difference. A majority of the justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court are 100-percent behind Big Business.

It is quite clear that these justices care first about the economic well-being of the corporate donors who support their campaigns, and second — a distant second — about the rights of individuals.

Now, the solution is not to have an unbalanced court that swings the other way. The answer is to have a court made up of men and women who find justice in the laws of our state, not in the dollar signs of their donors.

Kitch’s background — a former district attorney, a small business owner, an attorney of 40 years who has represented individuals and their interests — proves he has what it takes to be fair to any party who stands before him.

C-L editorial

Here’s the kicker of the editorial:

If, as Alston claims, the court is ruling against Mississippi juries 88 percent of the time when they reach verdicts against corporate defendants in favor of victims and that appeals of jury verdicts in favor of corporations and medical interests by victims fail 100 percent of the time, something is systemically and fundamentally wrong.

These numbers call into question the validity of whether Mississippians are truly getting justice from juries of their peers — or whether the broken judicial election system is condemning Mississippians to the best appellate justice that money can buy.

First, the Clarion-Ledger is better than this. If they wanted to see whether or not Alston’s numbers are correct, they could do so. It’s not rocket science, but it does take a little time.

We’ve hired a researcher to do just that for us, and we’ll get our findings in about a week. Ironically, our guy is a former Gannett-trained newspaperman from Maryland.

That aside, the Clarion-Ledger makes one good point and one bad point.

Their good point:

…something is systemically and fundamentally wrong.

Their bad point:

Electing appellate judges is an antiquated, outdated proposition.

The answer is not to disenfranchise every Mississippian when it comes to electing judges. Nor is the system antiquated, anymore than electing our governor or our Legislature antiquated.

It is really an absurd argument that electing our judges is somehow fundamentally more corrupt of a process than electing our governor. I once was of the same opinion as the C-L and Jim Smith — both misguided, mind you — but then a much wiser man showed me the error of my ways.

Still, the C-L is right. Our system is broken, but the voters can fix it.

Throw out the money changers

In his speeches, Smith likes to talk about throwing out the money changers from the temple. Too bad he doesn’t feel they should be thrown out of the courtroom as well.

This campaign will show a pattern of how the Smith-led court has made the rich richer at the expense of the individual Mississippian.

There are clear examples of how Smith’s biggest donors have benefited from his decisions, even though he has been asked to recuse himself from the cases.

There are clear examples of how Smith has benefited from the wealthiest industries in the nation, the same industries that have made money by causing their customers to suffer.

There are clear examples of how Smith has taken advantage of the taxpayers by abusing his position as an elected official for personal gain.

Smith complains he has been called an “activist judge”. It’s a title he most certainly deserves.

On Nov. 4, the voters need to return our court to a place of balance. They need to fire Jim Smith. In his place, they need to elect Jim Kitchens.

C-L takes a look at campaign donations

Clarion-Ledger reporter Jimmie Gates took a look at campaign donations in judicial races in Sunday’s edition.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming role was discussed briefly, as was the fact that while Kitch leads Jim Smith in fundraising, that could change at any time.

On the Chamber:

State Supreme Court races used to draw little attention and didn’t require much money, but Diaz said that changed in 2000 when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pumped about $1 million into ads to help his opponent and other candidates the group thought were pro-business. Mississippi trial lawyers opposed the Chamber’s effort and countered by spending more money in the judicial campaigns.

“I expect the same this time,” Diaz said of the Chamber’s effort to try to get him defeated.

Bryan Quigley, a spokesman for the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform, said the group looks nationwide at judicial races but hasn’t finalized plans of any areas that it will target.

“We don’t talk about any specific races,” Quigley said. “Of course, Mississippi is an important state.”

The institute this year ranked the state 48th among all 50 states in the fairness of its litigation environment.

On Kitch vs. Smith in fundraising:

In District 1, Chief Justice Jim Smith, who has been on the court since 1993, has raised $69,550 this year. His opponent, Crystal Springs lawyer Jim Kitchens, has raised $125,000.

Smith and Kitchens couldn’t be reached for comment.

Kitchens’ campaign manager, Sam Hall, said he is absolutely certain the Chamber will get involved in the local state Supreme Court races.

Also, Hall said the early campaign contributions in the race between Kitchens and Smith may be misleading.

“If Jim Smith wants to raise more money than Mr. Kitchens, he will do it,” Hall said. “He (Smith) has the capability to raise more money. All of Mr. Kitchens’ contributions are from family and friends.”

The majority of Kitchens’ campaign contributions have come from out-of-state and in-state lawyers, according to the campaign finance reports.

Hall said Kitchens has made it clear that he doesn’t want to know who is contributing to his campaign to prevent any appearance of impropriety.

Here are a few other things Gates and I discussed that did not make it into the article:

1. Jim Smith can get away without raising as much money as Kitch, because Jim Smith will have the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to do his dirty work for him.
2. When the U.S. Chamber comes to Mississippi and starts running television ads, they will be dirty, sleazy, negative attacks against a good man.
3. Jim Kitchens will defend himself. If he doesn’t like something Jim Smith has done or not done, Kitch will say so himself. He doesn’t need anyone to fight his battles for him.

I’ll also clarify this statement:

“…All of Mr. Kitchens’ contributions are from family and friends.”

I believe “and colleagues” was tacked on at the end of that quote when I said it, but I’ll give Jimmie the benefit of the doubt. He’s a good reporter.

That said, most all — if not all — of Kitch’s colleagues are also friends. So in that sense, the quote holds true.

But the point is this: We’re not reaching out to a bunch of PACs and mysterious “big money” types to fund his campaign. Members of the campaign are calling Kitch’s friends and asking them to help. And they are indeed helping.

Smith still cozying up with GOP

First, credit where credit is due. Justice Jim Smith traveled to the Tomato Festival, stood right across from Kitch’s tent in Kitch’s hometown and politicked for a little less than an hour.

Smith is a tough campaigner, and he’s not resting on his laurels as an incumbent. Truth be told, he shouldn’t.

That said, one of the reasons Smith stood right across the street from Kitch’s tent, however, is that is where the Copiah County Republican Party set up their tent. Jeppy Barbour, brother to this guy, was campaigning for Sen. Roger Wicker.

When Smith left, he left his push cards on the table at the GOP tent so people could hand them out.

Consider these two things:

1. More than a few Copiah County Republicans were quick to say Kitch had their vote.
2. We declined to put our push cards on their table because judicial races are non-partisan, and Kitch takes that very seriously.

Kitch is building a wide base of support. I stood at the crossroads of the festival, in front of the GOP tent and beside Jeppy Barbour, handing out stickers and push cards.

Die-hard Wicker supporters were telling me, “I love Mr. Kitchens. Known him all my life.”

People who declined to take Wicker stickers would say to me, “Tell Mr. Kitchens he has my vote.”

I can look at our donors and the people who have signed up on our website, and I know Kitch is getting support from everywhere.

But Smith’s campaign is developing a disturbing pattern: He is seeking only Republican support. He relies on Republicans to organize his events, and he is asking county Republican Parties to do his campaigning.

I’ll ask again: How can Smith marry his campaign to the Republican Party and still call it a non-partisan race?

Commonsense says he can’t, and thus commonsense says he is not running a non-partisan race.

Rain can’t dampen Tomato Festival

Copiah County, and in particular, Crystal Springs is famed for their tomatoes. Thus, Crystal Springs is the site of the annual Tomato Festival.

Rebecca Kitchens Thornton, Kitch’s youngest daughter, snapped a few photos. We’ve posted them on our Flickr site, which you can view here.

We handed out a lot of cards, shook a lot of hands and met hundreds of people. Of course, this is Kitch’s back yard, and many of the people knew him.

UPDATE: You can read more about the Tomato Festival and Jim Smith here.

Welcome to the world, Jack!

Kitch welcomed his newest grandson to the world today.

John Wimberly Kitchens Jr., son of John and Jessica Kitchens, is the first Kitchens grandson and sixth grandchild all together. He will be called Jack.

Jack weighs 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and is 19 inches long. He was welcomed by his sister, Grace, who is 3.

For now, congrats to mom, dad, granddad and the entire family.

Washington County GOP backing Jim Smith?

I just have no idea where to start with this one.

In a previous blog post, I pointed out how Jim Smith’s campaign was asking Republican leaders to set up campaign events, even though judicial races are strictly non-partisan.

Eleanor Barkhorn, a reporter for the Delta Democrat-Times, asked Smith about this charge during a stop he made in Greenville.

From her story:

“I’m unaware that I’m having any events sponsored by local Republicans,” said Smith in an interview after the Sherman’s luncheon.

That’s a funny statement, considering the VERY NEXT PERSON Barkhorn interviewed was a gentleman named Brad Hathaway, who helped organize the event. (Did I mention that Hathaway is a member of the Washington County Republican Party?)

Here’s Hathaway’s comments:

“I was thrilled to see a good cross-section of the community,” said Hathaway.

“The individuals who showed up to hear from Justice Smith were not there to represent any particular party.”

Thankfully, Barkhorn did a head count during the luncheon. She counted approximately 20 attendees at the luncheon. Only one was black, and only three were women.

It makes me wonder exactly to what community Hathaway was referring. Because I’m not quite sure I’d call that a “good cross-section of the community” in Washington County.

Of course, my point here is not that Republicans are working to help elect Jim Smith. That’s fine. I’m sure you might find one or two Democrats who are helping him as well. The point is this: He’s using the Republican Party structure to run his campaign.

That can’t be said of us. We have Democrats and Republicans working on staff here. We have Democrats and Republicans donating money to us. We have Democrats and Republicans offering to host events.

But one thing we’re not doing: We’re not reaching out to party structures and asking them to organize events, raise us money or go out and run our campaign. Smith’s campaign undoubtedly — and in our opinion, undeniably — is doing just that with Republicans throughout the district.

This race is about experience AND issues

We’ve already mentioned Justice Jim Smith starting to waffle on appointing judges during an interview with the Meridian Star.

But we also wanted to mention something about this statement from Smith:

My race this year is about experience versus no experience,” he said, not about the issues brought forth by Kitchens. “I have truly led by example,” he said…

Now, isn’t that a surprise. An incumbent elected official wants people to vote solely on who has more years in office.

But I bet when former Gov. Kirk Fordice was looking to hand-pick a Supreme Court Justice, Smith didn’t want Fordice to look at who had served as a judge the longest to make that pick. Otherwise, Fordice would not have appointed Jim Smith to the job.

And we’re glad that Smith wants people to look at his 15 years as a justice. We want them to look at those 15 years as well. And when you are looking at that record, make sure you are asking these questions:

1. How many of Smith’s big donors won cases in his court?
2. How many jury awards for injured people were reversed in favor of big businesses or insurance companies?
3. How many times has Smith said he wants politicians, not the people, to choose your judges?
4. How many times has Smith ruled to reverse a court’s decision and let a defendant get off free and clear?

When it comes to experience, Jim Kitchens brings 40 years in the legal profession to this race. He was elected to three terms as a district attorney. He has argued before the highest court in the land — the U.S. Supreme Court. He has both prosecuted and defended criminal cases.

Kitch is nationally known as one of the best attorneys in the United States. He has the awards and commendations to back it up.

Smith is right that this election is going to be about experience, and Kitch has a lot of it. But this election is also going to be about issues, and Smith cannot hide from that, not matter how hard he tries.

Meridian Star: Smith backing off appointing judges?

It looks like Chief Justice Jim Smith is starting to back off his claims that appointed judges are the way to go. I wonder if his polling told him to do that?

We got word last month that a polling firm was calling some of our friends and supporters asking questions concerning a judicial race.

Now, in the first interview Justice Smith has given since his poll came back, he’s backing off his desire to change the way our judges are selected.

According to a Meridian Star article in today’s edition:

Smith said that he favors appointing judges on the appellate level (Court of Appeals and Supreme Court) only, but that he is “not looking for change at this time” in the method of selecting appellate judges.

Is that code for, “If I’m re-elected, that would be a good time to make the change. But for now, my polling said people don’t want to lose their right to vote.”

The chief justice has advocated this system for four years, and you can believe that if he is re-elected he’ll make this his top priority.

If you value your right to vote over a politician’s ability to appoint his cronies to cushy jobs, then you’ll be happy to know that Jim Kitchens will fight any attempt to change the way we select our judges.

Kitch leads in campaign finance reports

Campaign finance reports were issued yesterday, and for the second straight month Jim Kitchens has been able to raise more money than his two opponents.

And for the second straight month, if you take a long look at the reports, you’ll see where the lines are drawn.

Jim Kitchens raised nearly $67,000 from friends and colleagues from Mississippi and across the country, plus more than $1,500 in small donations that averaged less than $50 per donation.

Justice Jim Smith raised almost $31,000 from only 21 donors. That’s an average of more than $1,000 per donation. Nearly a third of his donors came from large corporations or political organizations.

For a non-partisan candidate who wants to keep politics out of the race, Justice Jim Smith sure is taking a lot of money from Political Action Committees, groups whose main goal is to influence the way people vote in order to benefit their small group of wealthy supporters.

If you look at Jim Kitchens’ campaign finance report, you won’t find one dime of PAC money. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Chief Justice Jim Smith. It’s no wonder that he wants politicians choosing your judges.

(Note: Ceola James reported no money raised or spent.)

If you want a justice who is a man of the people, then vote for Jim Kitchens.

If you want a justice who is a man of big business and politicians, then re-elect Jim Smith.

Never has a choice been clearer.

Is this race non-partisan or what?

Judicial races in Mississippi are supposed to be strictly non-partisan. Jim Kitchens has refused every invitation to political fund raisers and is going out of his way to follow not only the letter but the spirit of the law when it comes to conducting a non-partisan race.

The same cannot be said for Justice Jim Smith. Amanda Paige-Whittington with Smith’s campaign enlisted the chair of the Noxubee County Republican Party to help organize an event there set for Monday.

Can someone explain how a Republican-organized event for a judicial candidate is non-partisan?

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