One thing we know for sure about the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is that its members consider trial lawyers anathema. So no surprise to see their latest attack on Dickie Scruggs and Jim Hood accompanying excerpts from the November 1 and November 13, 2007, transcripts we’ve been studying.
Their excerpts are of Dickie Scruggs agreeing, “Uh, I’ll take care of it,” when Balducci asks about the extra $10,000 for Judge Lackey and of Sid Backstrom’s joke to Balducci, “We just cut out for about three minutes there and I didn’t hear any of that, but um . . . but (laughs) but uh, but I know what you’re saying (laughs)” after Balducci’s “You know, it’ll take some more money, is the other side . . . you know, I mean, we’ve given him 50 to, to get us to where we are now, but you know, for a little bit more, you know, he’s willing to play ball I think and get this thing like we want it, so. I mean, I guess . . . maybe you, maybe you should talk to, to Dick and Zach about it and see what they, you know, before we enter this order, it might be better served, you guys might wanna just keep it there.”
I guess that’s slipped my notice before — that for a second on November 13, Balducci weakly suggests even further bribery, past the $50,000 Sid thinks Judge Lackey has already received, to nail down the Jones v. Scruggs order to their exact specifications.
In any case, the editorial (with dot-drawings of smiling Dickie and glowering Hood) is more amusing to me. It tickles me to read that, “The transcripts are a rich insight into the ethics of the trial bar, and we’ve published excerpts. Readers can find more at the Mississippi blog yallpolitics.com.” Those poor ed-board skeezers are so deadset against linking directly to folo, they’ll gladly make their readers detour via Y’allP only to find Alan’s links to the transcripts NMC put up here.
WSJ’s sign-off goes, “It’d all be great fodder for John Grisham, if the novelist weren’t such an apologist for Mississippi tort lawyers. Like the Milberg Weiss and Bill Lerach indictments, this prosecution is showing everyone how the pillars of the trial bar really do business.”
So my question for y’all is: “Pillars?” Is that quite what your estimation of Scruggs and crew has been through the years? Pillars?
“showing everyone how the pillars of the trial bar really do business”
Lotus,this GOB system has been going on for a long long time. When you tie it all in with the legal /political/judicial system it is most disgusting. No this bunch is not “pillars” of anything–sadly just more of the same. Get a copy of the 1890 Constitution of MS and read and study same–hell it developed this system!
Are we surprised? This sounds more like a Chamber of Commerce press release than anything.
Actually apathy, more than anything, is why things are like they are in our legal system. No one wants to buck the system as long as they are getting feed.
I might add to my comment 1 that the above legal/political/judicial situation is also intertwined with the selective journalism that goes on ( and has been going on) within our state.All is hand in hand and I think by design in most cases. It needs a lot of cleaning and antiseptic.
Researching the word Pillar brought insight into who and what gets the term attached . Pillar of the community, means years of community service. Jack the Ripper suspects were thought to be Pillars of the community since they could go about without bringing attention to themselves. In Dickie Scruggs case , he was having success attaching himself to Pillars by buying his community under the guise of being an officer of the court. Sid Backstrom, Tim Balducci and Joey Langston will never have Pillar attached to their name no matter if they give the rest of their lives to community service.
Pillars of salt, perhaps.
Maybe the left two letters out of the word.
pillaGEr.
Lotus:
as the DJ pointed out, there are several blogs covering this saga, his just happened to be the one picked yesterday. You know how editing works and they can’t mention everyone.
DJ did give you props yesterday in a major way. Not the WSJ. And a certain local publication in Jackson is so threatened by scruggs bloggers that you and the others are now criticized on a more regular basis as it is clear you are mopping everyone else up with your coverage.
Well, kingfish, blog wars have always been too boring to draw my interest so I’ll just take your word for that.
As for the WSJ ed board, they’re perennially good for a hoot.
gobs and the hatchery of gobs (ole miss) have doomed this state. There ain’t no justice here and they like it that way. “the fix” is a way of life for them.
I will only say that the GOB network that makes up the political/legal/judicial/journalism system that we have has kept us DEAD ASS LAST in everything. As my Mom used to say ” thats the proof in the pudding”.