Music Monday for Oct. 27

Welcome to Music Mondays. Today’s selections from Kitch’s album, The Sun Recordings, are:

Track 19: Just a Closer Walk

Track 20: Down by the Riverside

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

A little love from Madrid

I came across this blog post today, and I thought I would share it with everyone.

It’s written by a Jackson native now living in Madrid, and it is about Kitch.

Here’s a bit of it:

He begins his speech with his story: a great example of God taking the poor and humble and moving them to great places. Amen to that.

Enjoy. I did.

Jim Smith Uncovered

We’ve launched a new website today called Jim Smith Uncovered.

It can be found at:

http://www.jimsmithuncovered.com

We wanted people to be able to take a close look at Jim Smith’s record while on the bench.

We were careful to make this site focused on the issues, not on personal attacks.

We encourage you to take a look at the site, pass it along to your friends and let the press know what you think of Jim Smith and his dealings on the Supreme Court.

Campaign launches website on Smith’s record (10/22/08)

The Committee to Elect Jim Kitchens today launched a new website that takes a hard look at Chief Justice Jim Smith’s record while on the bench.

The site — Jim Smith Uncovered — is located at:

http://www.jimsmithuncovered.com

The campaign said the site is intended to help voters get a better look at what Jim Smith has done as a judge on the Supreme Court.

“We have said from day one that this race should be about the issues, about a person’s record and not about personal attacks,” said campaign manager Sam Hall. “Jim Smith Uncovered takes a look at Smith’s record, what he’s done on the bench as a justice. We want to make sure that voters understand what he has done during his 16-year tenure.”

The website looks at:

1. Wasteful Spending. Jim Smith spent more than $23,000 to decorate his “no-frills” office. He has also received more than $175,000 in travel per diems since 2000.
2. Bad Efficiency Study. Jim Smith is taking credit for other people’s hard work by claiming a study from the Chicago School of Law ranks his court as the second most productive in the state. In fact, the study looks at the court under former Chief Justices Ed Pittman and Lenore Prather.
3. Breaking Rules. Jim Smith violated Senate rules when he filmed inside the old Supreme Court courtroom in the Capitol. Despite saying he would not use the material, he’s featuring the footage on his Website, in mail outs and on television commercials.
4. Appointing Judges. Jim Smith is backtracking on his repeated commitment to go to the Legislature and seek a change in the way our judges are selected. You can tell it’s an election year when a politician will say anything to get elected.
5. Donor Protection. Jim Smith has repeatedly refused to recuse himself from hearing cases involving his campaigns’ large financial backers.
6. Campaign Finance. Jim Smith says he wants to throw the moneychangers out of the courtroom, but the moneychangers are financing his campaign through shady special interest groups.

We encourage the press and the voters to take a long look at Jim Smith’s record and ask him the hard questions about why he’s done the things he’s done.

If you would like further comment from the Kitchens campaign, you can contact Sam Hall at (601) 949-3420 or via email to sam@kitchensforjustice.com.

—

Jim Kitchens was elected three times as a district attorney. He has practiced law for 41 years. He and his wife, Mary, have five children and six grandchildren. They live in Crystal Springs. Visit his Web site at www.kitchensforjustice.com.

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Music Monday for Oct. 20

Welcome to Music Mondays. Today’s selections from Kitch’s album, The Sun Recordings, are:

Track 17: He’s in the Jailhouse Now

Track 18: Your Cheatin’ Heart

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

Highlights from the Stennis Institute forum

Kitch squared off against Justice Jim Smith and Ceola James today at the Stennis Institute’s Press Forum.

It was quite a show. Once again, Kitch was not bashful about drawing contrasts between himself and the incumbent.

Here are some highlights:

1. Kitch made sure that people knew the “efficiency” study Smith goes around quoting actually addresses a period of time before Smith became chief justice. Kitch also said it was easy for Smith to increase the efficiency of the court because he has shipped 90 percent of the cases the court hears to the state Appeals Court.

2. In response to Smith saying, as a judge, he’s a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, Kitch told a story about a time when Smith told him the same thing. “I told his honor that was why he’s running over so many people.”

3. Smith said most of the cases the Supreme Court reverses “are coming from the same handful of judges”. You can believe he meant many of the Hinds County judges. Why? Good question…

Tomorrow, I’ll have a bit more. I’ve got to check a quote, but it’s a doozy!

Music Monday for Oct. 13

Welcome to Music Mondays. Today’s selections from Kitch’s album, The Sun Recordings, are:

Track 15: The Hog Song

Track 16: Moonlight on the Desert

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

The devil, details and a coordinated campaign

Mississippi law prevents candidates and other groups from coordinating campaign efforts.

For instance, if Chief Justice Jim Smith was to have a photo shoot, state law would preclude him from sending those photographs to, say, IMPAC to be used on mail outs or to MFEP to be used in television commercials.

However, if said photos are on the Internet, what — save copyright laws and theft of intellectual property laws — would prevent IMPAC from stealing those photos and using them anyway they wish.

From a Sunday article in the Clarion-Ledger:

[Smith political advisor Morgan Baldwin] acknowledged it appears at least one group borrowed photographs of Smith and also his wife from the candidate’s Web site. Groups may have borrowed photographs of other judicial candidates in other races.

Of course, Justice Oliver Diaz brings up a good point:

“These groups can’t use those photographs without permission,” said state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., who is running against [Bubba] Pierce. “If somebody were using images of my wife or children, I’d be up in arms. I don’t approve of these independent groups, but to do nothing to challenge them is actually to agree with them. It rises to a level of coordination.”

The devil, as they say, is in the details. These photos on the Internet are no more than 72 dpi, and would be virtually impossible to use in video or printed material.

But even if these are the actual photos used, what does it say about a Supreme Court justice who cares nothing about special interest groups stealing his photos? Especially when his campaign manager says they can do nothing about it.

Surely Mr. Smith, a judge, knows that he could file suit against those groups for stealing or copyright infringement.

I wonder if Smith would be so nonchalant about this theft if the group who stole those photos from his website used them in negative pieces against him?

Special interest money pouring in

And. They’re. Off!

The Clarion-Ledger had a pair of articles this weekend about special interest money in the Supreme Court races.

The first, from Saturday, looks at what Kitch and his opponents have raised.

Although it appears Kitchens has collected $10,000 more than Smith, the figures are misleading, says Kitchens’ campaign manager, Sam Hall.

Hall said pro-business special interest groups have raised almost $600,000, and some of that money has gone to support Smith’s re-election campaign.

The outside money doesn’t have to be listed on Smith’s campaign finance report, Hall said. Hall pointed out that outside special interest groups have been running ads supporting Smith.

The second, from Sunday, details how special interest groups have released a diluge of money into Mississippi in an attempt to buy these races.

Another group, Improve Mississippi Political Action Committee, reported $573,203 in contributions, much of it coming from PACs for Mississippi doctors, bankers, manufacturers and Realtors. The biggest contribution – $125,000 – came from the American Justice Partnership.

…

“Jim Smith likes to use the phrase he wants to throw the moneychangers out of the temple, but the moneychangers are spending more than half a million dollars to support him and some of his friends in other districts,” Hall said.

[Smith political consultant Morgan] Baldwin responded that more than half of Kitchens’ contributions have come from trial lawyers.

I love hypocrisy, don’t you?

Music Monday for Oct. 6

Welcome to Music Mondays. Today’s selections from Kitch’s album, The Sun Recordings, are:

Track 13: Waiting for the Train

Track 14: How Long, How Long?

We’ll release two tracks every Monday between now and Election Day.

On Monday, Nov. 3, we’ll release all 20 tracks again so that you can have the entire album to enjoy.

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