In this morning’s DJournal, MSlawyer has discovered a quote/paraphrase of a statement from Samuel Davis, dean of Ole Miss Law, that — if it correctly captures his language — should make you take a good long look at his suitability for the job.
“My initial reaction is one of sadness,” said Samuel Davis, dean of the University of Mississippi Law School, Scruggs’ alma mater. “I’ve known and been friends with Dick and Diane Scruggs almost 50 years now going back to our days in Pascagoula, and I feel a great sense of compassion for him and his family. And that’s just a very personal reaction. I haven’t really thought about the implications for the legal community or the legal profession.”
Davis, who also directs the Ole Miss Law Center, said not everybody who pleads guilty is guilty and that Scruggs might have had other reasons for the move. If that were the case, Davis said, the reasons likely were good ones. [Emph. mine]
He hasn’t really thought about the implications for the legal community or the legal profession? Scruggs might have had “other” reasons for pleading guilty, probably “good” ones?
Jeebus H(ussein), if that’s what your premier law school’s dean thinks, is he quite the sort of stale-stinking-GOB person you really want in that position, Mississippi?
lotus
ole miss law school – hatchery of GOBs. Its part of what is wrong with the state.
I’m sure the massive amounts of cash Dickie has infused into Ole Miss has absolutely no bearing on his opinion of Scruggs.
What an incredible statement to come from someone who is teaching law to students. Reading that kind of thing makes you understand how the Mississippi bar has found ourselves in such an awkward position as far as public trust.
I give money to Ole Miss Law School. But, statements like that make me wonder why.
Not to condone the comment but there is a plea known as an “Alford Plea” where one can deny guilt but still plead guilty on the theory that the evidence is sufficient for a jury to find one guilty and that the punishment would be more severe and/or the plea bargain offered is just too good to turn down.
Personally, I think the cloak of the presumption of innocence in Dickie’s case has been sufficiently removed and that he is guilty as charged whether he wants to admit it or not.
wc, that was no Alford plea yesterday, so let’s not confuse the issue here, please.
Lotus, I was just commenting on the Dean’s comment that not everyone who pleads guilty is guilty. I have read the Scruggs plea and I agree that it was not an Alford plea.
Mississippi Legislature passed a Justice Court Bill this week SB2571 . Please all go in and read this everybody and lets debate on if this is good for Mississippi or a GOB law. A Lobbist was paid a lot of Money to get this thru for the JCJ’s. It is not Law yet but will be Law if the Gov. signs it. This is not being reported by any of the press. It appears to me to be a Big Raise for the JCJ’s for a part time job.
I wonder if maybe, just maybe Davis knows something that I suspect. I suspect that Scruggs received a “come to Jesus’ call from someone with a chunk of power.
I think if this thing had come to trial there would be revelations of serious wrong doings by really powerful people.
Now Jim, this is most interesting, tell me who could call Dickie and talk to him about Jesus. It would nearly have to be family, probably his sister in law.
[Edited by site-owner.]
For the thousands of Ole Miss Law School graduates who do the right thing on a daily business, I ask that you please do not take cheap shots at all of us. The blemish on the legal society caused by these lawyers gravely disappoints us all, but it does not diminish the sense of pride we have in being Ole Miss graduates, lawyers, political and community leaders, etc.
Well, stand up and say something then, when you hear statements that you know are hogwash. We are often judged as much on our silence as on our words.
Shelby, sorry about that, but you gotta give us a WORKING email addy to comment here, you just gotta. Plug one in there and come on back.
oops
Jim: If someone called Scruggs about coming to Jesus, they did a lousy job. His guilty plea does not remotely end this mess. The trial will still occur because of the charges against Zach that did not get resolved. The Wilson case is still out there to trap folk. There are more powerful people with bigger problems at risk in Wilson than in the one that got resolved.
The reasons he plead are pretty visible on the surface. If he had tried this case to a conclusion and got convicted, he would have been given a sentence that was the equivalent of life. He was offered a deal that caps at 5 years. He simplified the case against his son in a way that helps his son a lot, when apparently the US Atty would not offer a deal that cut the son loose altogether. And I think there’s a strong chance that the search documents given over on Thursday had a big impact on the Friday plea.
No deus ex machina is needed to explain the pleas. It’s all right there and visible on the surface.
Trent, I love Ole Miss, Hell I feel like I should own the place, had one child who loved it so well she stayed six years, changed majors so many times she ended up making an accountant and is an assets manager and got her a lawyer while she was there who is now a Judge. Family has degrees in Marketing, Real Estate, Public Adminstration and more than one lawyer, so when I say anything about Ole Miss its my family. The corruption in our Judical hurts us all and I will not play the Hypocrisy game.
Wow, mag, in the essay that got me into law school, my first sentence was: “In the little north Mississippi town where I was born, they don’t say, ‘She’s studying law,’ they say, ‘She’s making a lawyer.’ …”
Hadn’t thought of that in years. Thanks for the reminder.
(In fact, BRAVA your 9:30 in general.)
Dean Davis obviously had a long-time friendship/relationship with Scruggs. So, I can understand his feelings, even though I disagree with him.
BUT, as the Dean of the UM Law School, he SHOULD NOT have made such a public statement of those feelings. He is a leader. And at times like these, people are looking carefully at our leaders, analyzing what they say and do. He did not help the cause of MS lawyers, the Bar, or the UM law school with his comments, IMO. These were self-serving comments for him and his long-time friend, Scruggs —perhaps fueled in part by the desire to abstract even more money from Scruggs for the new law school, etc.
While his comments, in a vacuum, may indeed be true, we are not operating in a vacuum. There was a LOT of direct and strong circumstancial evidence weighing towards Scruggs’guilt. Davis is either not as smart as I would he should be to be the dean of our law school, or his good judgement has been clouded by this entire ordeal. In any event, someone needs to pull him aside, read him the riot act, and bring him back to the reservation.
Sorry, I meant to say above: Davis is either not as smart as he should be to be the dean of our law school, or his good judgement has been clouded by this entire ordeal. Missing that edit feature.
Also, when reading comments from UM leaders about this mess, keep in mind that not only has Scruggs donated a lot of money to the school (primarily academic facility projects and other academic programs), but our Chancellor, Robert Khayat, owes Scruggs a huge debt of gratitude. Scuggs helped Khayat’s father get out of prison and loaned a large amount of money to Khayat’s father.
My guess is that many of these MS leaders who were close to Scruggs are still in denial. And that being said, perhaps they need to stay away from a media microphone for a while, unless they want to look really stupid to an educated public.
Friends if I ever get in trouble enought that the Mississippi Press comes a calling, please do me a big favor and keep your mouth shut.
davis should resign now and of course rename the building named after scruggs…should be named after someone who has died and can’t be indicted from the grave
lotus: “magno-who? Naw, never heard of her.”
Welcome to folo, clean. Yep, sounds like a plan to me.
Care to guess what other prominent plaintiff lawyer and ad hoc partner of Scruggs whose name has surfaced also has a building named for him on the Ole Miss campus?
I guess that when or if an indictment for him comes down that Ole Miss will stop naming buildings after its lawyers.
ha ad hoc lawyer is right…yes an ole lawyer friend told me we should never name buildings after lawyers that are alive…we cringed when MM Roberts had the stadium at USM named after him while alive..ha..but he died …and was not probably in danger of indictment…ha
Um . . . don’t tell me Ole Miss has a Nutt House of its own, Justus (seem to recall it has something named Nutt).
I’m certainly not condemning all Ole Miss lawyers. Hell, I’m married to one. But all of you Ole Miss grads who care about the place really need to look at what your Dean reportedly said. I hope some clarifying remarks are forthcoming. If not, there sure isn’t going to be a check from this household sent to Ole Miss Law School this year.
Lotus, he is also a very large contributor to Ole Miss. He and Scruggs have appeared together in photos celebrating their donations to Ole Miss, and have had benefits/parties given by Ole Miss in their joint honor. There’s that word “honor”. I’m not sure that I can leave that word in the same paragraph — perhaps I should have said dishonor, which is what has been done to the legal profession, the judiciary, to Ole Miss, and most importantly, the people of the State of MS.
I just re-read my previous comment and had to laugh out loud. I’m sure the Dean doesn’t care whether we send money or not, because it’s such a pittance compared to what they get from Joey, Dickie, Davie, et al. You rarely get rich when you practice law the honest way or work for the government. The Dean’s just looking out for Ole Miss and its financial supporters who matter, I guess.
I can still remember getting into some arguments when I attended Ole Miss Law School about the relativity of right and wrong that was often espoused by some professors. I never bought off on the whole idea that there are only two sides to an issue, your client’s side and the opposing party’s side, with no other considerations.
But, it was sure easy to pick out the ones who did buy off on the whole concept of having a moral compass as being necessary, or even important. And, a couple of their names have come up in this thing.
I’ve met too many successful, and honorable and moral, lawyers, to be convinced that it is a losing combination.
Missing the edit function, but you get my drift.
explain about khayat’s dad please. pl blake was also “loaned” money by scruggs. what exactly was khayat’s dad paid for? was it described as “loan” “gift” or “voir dire” or what.
to me chancellor khayat’s behavior as well as davis’s mirror “the ends justifies the means” philosophy of dickie. embrace the convicted felon for he has pledged large amounts of money to us.
How could Davis and the Dean say how sad they are when this reflects on our school so poorly? I mean this guy has a building named after for Pete’s sake. I just hope they rename it and don’t try and put off so long people forget. It would be awful for visitors to ask who Richard Scruggs is and why he is there a building named after him. I would just have to laugh and tell the story but would be quite embarrassed.
Not to over-generalize about “Ole Miss,” but if that is truly Dean Davis’ opinion, and if he has not condemned the behavior that Scruggs pled to, then NO WONDER Mississippi lawyers are lacking moral/ethical compasses.
Yesterday I asked Scruggs if he had a statement to the students at Ole Miss, he said he was not a liberty to comment, but was visibly shaken by the question and its possible answer.
With Khayat and Davis’ comments it’s like we’re his mom and dad trying to give him a hug. Our school officials should be talking about how this should not reflect on the whole school and how we do not condone public corruption.
I consider Dean Davis a friend, and am very deeply disappointed in his statement. I saw Dickie Scruggs swear under oath that he had committed judicial bribery. I have to assume that Dean Davis knows that guilty pleas are taken under oath and require an admission to the truth of the facts stated by the prosecutor.
It was one thing for people to forcefully deny the possibility that Scruggs was guilty before yesterday. He was “cloaked with the presumption of innocence” by law and not everyone took the time to study these cases and see the evidence that was emerging. But after 10:30 yesterday morning, it was an established and inarguable fact that Dickie Scruggs had bribed a judge using his own money. I can’t imagine worse crimes not involving crimes against a person (that is, physical injury or death) or treason, really, than a lawyer corrupting the legal system.
Confounded, some of the details about Khayat’s father and Scruggs are set out in Assuming the Risk, which you really need to read for more background on Scruggs. It’s where the quote where Scruggs says he uses the dark side comes from.
Satan and his spawn have been pulled into the light for all to see. Spawn sure didn’t wonder far from the evil one’s side.
Now I see the Dean of the Satanic cult is already in the self-justification mode…….”Just because you plead guilty to being evil does not really mean you are evil.”
NMC @ 12:15 – Agree about Davis, and the people of MS.
They all should stand up against the corruption in the legal system and shout: “I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE, NOT FROM SCRUGGS OR ANY OTHER CROOKED LAWYER OR JUDGE”! But, as others have pointed out, there are still a lot of ties to Scruggs’ money, and, unfortunately, that has a way of coloring the view for some.
NMC, I have a couple of questions, if you can answer them.
It’s my understanding that the DOJ threatened to go after Langston’s assets, but that as a part of the Langston plea deal, they agreed not to pursue his assets. Now, I understand that Langston stated that he got 1/3 of the $3,000,000 saved on the Wilson legal fee dispute, but how could the feds have gone after Langston’s assets over and above his $1,000,000 share in that transaction?
If Scruggs is still fair game on the Wilson case, how much of Scruggs’ assets (and the assets of other involved lawyers) can the DOJ put at risk of seizure or forfeiture?
All this presumes that my understanding of the DOJ threat against Langston’s assets is correct, of course. But, it seems that getting after the assets and fortunes of crooks may be the only real deterrent if the DOJ is only handing out 2-1/2 and 5-yr. sentences.
Recall that their plea deals very carefully all left these buzzards open to IRS investigations and prosecutions too. Maybe they all come out of the pokey without a sou (so their wives may all be looking up family-law specialists as I type, hm?).
Ooop, not sure Deborah Patterson is entirely in the clear herself, come to think of it . . .
These maximum possible sentences looks light to many of us (particularly if the defendants are allowed to keep millions in ill-gotten gains), but perhaps they will serve another useful purpose: they may encourage the remaining Scruggs Katrina Group’s joint venturers and co-conspirators to come forward and enter similar pleas before they are charged. If so, this would allow the US Justice Department and the Mississippi Bar to button this matter up quickly, and move on, without having to air so much dirty laundry in public. And if there have been similar crimes committed in other cases, apart from Hurricane Katrina cases, perhaps those joint venturers and co-conspirators will come to the plea table now, sparing the State of Mississippi a prolonged media ordeal like this one. If so, these pleas may ultimately be regarded as salutary for all, not just the defendants entering them.
I read this story
http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/432689.html
Which bothered me.
What really bothers me is Scruggs made millions and then basically bought love by the millions. I give probably proportionately what Scruggs gave to charities and good causes, but because I am not made of millions it’s peanuts and it actually does effect my personal bottom line.
It’s this “giving” which allows Scruggs to feel indignant towards his crime and plea. He can look back and remind himself all the good he’s done in order to absolve himself of his bad.
The reason this angers me is Backstrom. He robbed Backstrom. Scruggs corrupted a very young man with 3 young children, but Scruggs will do everything to save his own child. It stands to reason that while Zach was every bit as involved it was somehow relegated to Backstrom to manage this deal. Was that calculated on Scruggs part? I see nothing that Zach was bothered in the least about earwigging then bribing a judge nor anything to suggest he was dumb enough not to get what was happening around him or curious (Sweet potatoes? What are you talking about Tim?).
I’m not excusing Backstrom, but Scruggs was 20 years Backstrom’s senior, very powerful and manipulative.
So what I see with all this “save Zach” is just one more moral chip missing in Scruggs. Everyone falls (young men with children) to save Zach and Dick, who bought his good name, still has that.
As a Poor Mississippian I’m having a problem with Scruggs’ plea DEAL DEAL DEAL yesterday. Marshall Ramsey’s blog was asking what do you think of Dickies’ plea, and a poster states he had not kept up with it , didn’t know if it was state or federal but thought it should have been tired out of state because it looked like the plea was just another fix. Ok or we both Stupid or we are not looking forward enough.
Scruggs’s memory is the receptable of the information concerning many, many buried bodies. Buried bodies involving high-profile business/legal partners of Scruggs, as well as politicians on the state and national level, and lots of money. The feds know that, and if they don’t put the “squeeze on Scruggs” to get that memory information out of Scruggs, then the most logical explanation would be that somebody very, very important (with something to hide) instructed the feds to bring it to a screeching halt.
This all started with my letter to the Mississippi Sec. of State in 2001 asking for an investigation into the legality of two huge “campaign loans,” totally $156,000 made to the wife of Mississippi Justice Oliver Diaz by attorneys Paul Minor and Dickie Scruggs. The letter was passed onto the AG Mike Moore. Its was only one of several appeals I had made to Moore to investigate my attorney Paul Minor for bribing state judges, including my own judge John Whitfield.
I had begun filing complaints, appealing to the Mississippi Bar and the Mississippi Judicial Commission to investigate my allegations of judicial bribery. Although all my complaints included ample evidence, including secretly taped conversations with transcripts, they were all dismissed and expunged from the record.
At the same time I appealed to the Justice Department, seemingly without success. My last resort was to appeal to the public. I began writing a series of letters which were published in statewide newspapers along with my husband’s editorial cartoons. By that time I had gained experience from the hundreds of letters I had written to lawmakers appealing for an investigation into the corruption of Mississippi’s legal system.
Finally, in a last ditch effort, I appealed to the state legislature before a standing room only hearing in Hattiesburg in August 2002. The investigative reporter for the Sun Herald telling me the news staff had “connected the dots” and believed that I was involved in a federal investigation. Two days later on 10/7/02 the Sun Herald broke the story about the federal probe of Paul Minor and my former judge John Whitfield.
Last March I sat in the courtroom to hear verdict against Minor and Whitfield. Both were found guilty. Throughout the legal procedures I could not understand how Scruggs had been let out of the investigation. This is the rest of the story.
Even though this is a satisfying ending to my story and book, it is a sad one. Scruggs, and those hoping to catch crumbs from his table, lost sight of their mission to uphold the law. The are no doubt intelligent people who knew the consequences of their actions.
The public should consider that these were powerful men who took advantage of the powerless, those denied justice. But, no one was there to help me endure this legal nightmare or to show concern when I faltered. No such show of support was there when my family suffered indescribable anguish from Mississippi’s unjust legal system.
I learned a powerful lesson, that we cannot take for granted that other, lawyers, judges, and law makers will to uphold justice. Each of us has the duty to learn how our justice system works, the right to demand justice, even though we are not always given the right to speak up. I also learned that the Minor and Scruggs convictions are only symptoms of a national disease, of a political system spinning out of control.
Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us of the importance of speaking out against an injustice, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
(Walter Olson’s book, The Rule of Lawyers, his website, Overlawyered.com helps us to understand the legal woes and injustice that has gripped our nation.)
Justus, You know the saying “If I go down it will be with the head helt high” We didn’t see a grasping for air, what I read out of this was someone more inportant than I has decided this is what I must do.
Out of Wind @ 1:57. That’s quite a story. I don’t know your identity or any details other than what you just shared. But if what you say is accurate and true, then I haven’t but admiration for you and your resolve to seek justice.
I need that edit feature.
What I meant to say above @ 2:39 is that “I have nothing but admiration for you and your resolve to seek justice.” And, I mean it.
Outofwind, for what’s it’s worth, a lot of us still wonder how Scruggs managed to avoid getting indicted with Paul Minor.
What Justus said, Out of wind.
I don’t know the Minor-Diaz case as well as you do, and I distrust the Bush DoJ something fierce. We may have very different views on that, but your valor is plain, and I say BRAVA to you.
I was irritated with Khayat in December when he basically said he didn’t believe DS was capable of the accusations against him. I felt that he was calling the government a bunch of liars, which made me furious. Now Dean Davis seems to say the government is just picking on DS and that he probably isn’t guilty but his plea is some part of a noble gesture. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE IDIOTS???
I understand they are whores for $$, but give me a break. I can’t speak for all the prosecutors, but I know one of them was the editor of the law journal at Ole Miss and currently teaches a class there. How about a little respect for those guys? Oh, wait. I forgot – they can’t give MILLIONS to the school. Thank goodness they do their part to give some credibility to Ole Miss grads.
ORCHID, you’re back (and in great fighting trim, I note)!
Child, we been missing you.
Dean Davis’ statement and Chancellor Khayat’s statement re D. Scruggs’ guilty plea is about the money. At Ole Miss, it’s all about the money. They want the small money, but the big money people are the ones that really count to them. If you have ever been in a group with them, you’ll see them greet and shake hands with the small givers, but they a–kiss the big givers. It’s the culture that Khayat has established at Ole Miss. Some call it the KKK: the “King Khayat Kulture.”
Now, as someone above stated, what I give is big to me because I don’t have Dickie’s millions. And I do get a nice thank-you note. But I tell you, Robert Khayat will push me out of the way and step on me to run over and kiss Dickie and friends. I’ve seen it happen. It’s not personal; it’s just business.
Though I’m no longer an academic, I wonder what impression Khayat and Davis are making on university communities in other states. A pretty low one, I’d surmise, if they hear about these statements: “GOB U.”
Orchid, I’ve heard the “whore for money” phrase used in describing Khayat. I just thought it was a little too indelicate to print. LOL
Oh well, nomiss, you can go with “hoor” or “ho” if you prefer. “Strumpet” . . . “streetwalker” . . . any a them. (We may be high-tone, but we not especially delicate.)
From Michael Orleys “Assuming the Risk” (p 293):
“One person who ended up on Scrugg’s payroll was Eddie Khayat. After Mike Moore ran him out of offic in 1982, Khayat fell on hard times, burdened in part by legal bills. Scruggs says he ‘felt sorry’ for Khayat, and paid him ‘a monthly stipend, if you will, just to help him out.’ ”
In hindsight, that sounds like a PL Blake monthly stipend to me. Eddie Khayat still had a lot of political connections in the area which I’m sure would have been helpful to Scruggs. And we’ve learned that D. Scruggs doesn’t really like to pay people unless he’s getting something in return. Just a thought.
Hell, he didn’t like pay them when he WAS getting something in return. Just all mineminemineminemine.
Oh, I have been here all along, just stalking yall. I love this site. I love the fact that it is quoted and referenced in motions, briefs, statements, etc.!
I apologize for the indelicate nature of my post. My grandmother would certainly disapprove. It is just that every now and then I want to scream: THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!!
I know it just business for Khayat and Davis but it still irks me sometimes. I know these prosecutors didn’t enjoy the past few months. They had to indict powerful (and well liked) folks. There was no joy for them in bringing down these guys. I just get annoyed that DS gets what appears to be sympathy from folks like Khayat and Davis when the prosecutors and at least one of the FBI agents graduated from Ole Miss, too!!
And it really annoys me that the dean of my alma mater seems so ignorant of the facts of the case that he stumbles through his official statement making excuses and suggesting something other than guilt motivated Scruggs’ plea. Apparently he is not too familiar with federal court criminal practice, particularly in this district.
That said, I am glad that some closure may be on the horizon. The MS legal community needs and deserves it!!
Orchid, how the hell can we have closure with the Wilson/Delaughter allegations hanging out there, and the PL Blake mystery growing? If the DOJ shuts it down now, it will smell “rank” and look like someone or something is being protected. If the public is going to have their confidence in the MS legal system restored, then those issues must be fully resolved at a bare minimum. But, my be is that both the Wilson case and PL Blake will lead upstream to bigger secrets.
Orchid, I’ll scream with you:
THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!!!
I’ve heard that the Ole Miss law school is still needing money to build the new Robert Khayat Law Center. They thought they would have more money by now, and Dean Davis is under the wire to raise more money. I doubt that his official statement about D. Scruggs will help him any in getting money from the common folk now.
Oh, I didn’t mean it should be over. Sorry about that. I just meant closure from the standpoint of DS actually admitting he did wrong so that the dominos will continue to fall.
I totally agree that the investigation should continue. It is just that lots of folks from DS’s attorneys to Ole Miss bigwigs have kept on and on that DS was such a great guy and that Patterson, Balducci and Langston were liars and the government created a crime and DS was one step down from a Saint, and blah, blah, blah.
Now that he has admitted that he committed a crime I think the other investigations will proceed more quickly.
What is up with Blake? Any ideas on whether he is a target? a witness? has a lawyer??
Would that we knew re Blake, Orchid. Nary a word. Who knows when he hoves into view, but I’m all eye-peeled for Peters and DeLaughter next (oh, and let me throw in Houston Patton, if y’all don’t mind).
I think that the Dean felt the need to say something postive about DS because of the many $$$$$$ in donations and prehaps, because of their long term friendship. Surely, he does not expect the intelligent people in MS and the surrounding states to actually believe that DS has been living underneat a rock and never knew these things have been happening. DS is somewhat of a celebrity. His money has made him powerful and well respected. Everyone wants a friend like that…he probably loves the fact that when he walks into a room that everyone wants to speak and shake his hand. The more $$$ you can donate, the more publicity that you get…a power thing. I think the Dean knows the truth, but chose to look the other way. It would have been better for him to keep quite, than to have appeared stupid. I agree with what someone else said, he makes it appear that it’s OK to cheat….how sad is that?
Welcome to folo, TomTom. You know, Khayat and Davis look worse than stupid. They look bought.
Speaking of Blake, who was the judge in the tobacco case?
Lotus, they are…….they’ve got dollars stamped over all them….big ones too. They are just acting out the script to get to the red carpet and receive the Oscar…on what a speech that would be!!
It was a bunch of cases, TomTom. The first one was in Chancery Court down in Pascagoula before a chancellor whose name I can’t recall at present.
Orchid @ 4:06. The dominos will fall, I’m just not sure how fast. But, other investigations are ongoing.
I’m with you on how revolting this pity for Scruggs thing has gotten. I mean Michael Milken and Al Capone had friends who were sad when they went to prison, too. Hell, so did Bernie Ebbers, Scott Sullivan, Bonnie & Clyde, Jessie James, Paul Minor, and Martha Stewart. Well, they’ve all got one thing in common — THEY ARE ALL CRIMINALS! It doesn’t matter if Scruggs’ is the white collar variety or not.
lotus 4:14–THEY ARE BOUGHT!!
Scruggs can still write those checks from Club Fed. That’s why Khayat’s and Davis’ opinions of Scruggs’ guilt are colored green, and I don’t mean that they look at it with an Irish view.
http://wikiscruggs.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-it-over.html
I’m wanting to know who the judge was that awarded the tobacco case to DS for all the billions to MS….he and Moore worked on it together and a movie was made about the case.
I have applied to Ole Miss law school and am frankly so appalled by that quote from its dean that I may rescind my application.
Course, one must keep in mind that I am making this decision after having just attended the St. Paddy’s Day Parade in Jackson. While they may not have passed out “bushels”, the Sweet Potato Queens certainly represented.
Notwithstanding any of that, I remain baffled by that quote from Dean Davis.
Coastian, better they rescind that doofus dean.
Oh dear me, representin’ Sweet Potato Queens — quick, somebody find me my smellin’ salts!
Mike MOORE ,Where have I heard that name before, Oh Yes, A Blogger posted on Davids’ site today, they post M Williams saying Mike Moores’ millions were hide with his SPECIAL ATTORNEY GENERALS, and to Think General Hood let his be known, thats sure not fair to Joey is it.
has Joey sold the frat house that he bought for his son at Ole Miss?
Maybe someone needs to dump a load of taters in front of the law school in hopes of getting the attention of some of the current students.
Well, most of the ones I know at UM Law are counting their blessings they made it back from their Spring Break vacations without a felony arrest hanging over their heads. They haven’t quite gotten to quantifying their bushels yet.
Didn’t know about Joey paying off the frat house in Oxford (though I wonld’t be surprised), but he’s certainly staying current on the rent on one of his kid’s spreads in Belhaven. I was over there the other night.
I am wondering if Khayat and Davis’ comments were said in hopes DS would give them and excess amount of money before anybody else he can. Get rid of it before those bastardo’s can get it, kinda thing.
I wish could edit:
….an excess amount of money before anybody else could get there hands on it.
It appears that what was said was something to the effect of, “Right now we’re concerned with weighing the impact of the potential financial loss the Institution would suffer than doing the right thing. I know we appear to be “politically correct” by doing things like getting rid of Colonel Reb and the Confederate flag and all, but golly gee, he gives us alot of money…and he’s like family and all. Let us see if this will impact us hosting the Presidential debate on campus and test the winds before we commit ourselves to anything right now. Stay in touch now, y’hear and keep them cards and checks coming.
I think it is a little late to cash out hoping for a bleeding heart at this point. If he sells something he had beter hang on to the cash and don’t forget.. where is Pl gonna get his installments from. If I were Dickey I would hold out and give therights to a book to GOB John Grishman, I’m sure he will want to be able to keep the misses happy while he plays golf for 5.
I wish you could edit too, dmw (oop — li’l inside yoke).
Well the folks that faught for the south did so for many reasons but from my understanding they did so for their famlies and because they felt they were doing what was right. the only thing right about all this shit is that a Jugdge had to male parts to do what was right!!! the others are a disgrace to the School, the people of Ms and their family.
Dang, Where is edit??? ha!! Sorry about the typos
Dear Out of Wind: John Ashcroft was U.S. Attorney General back then. He was in a singing quartet with Dickie Scruggs’s brother in law, Senator Trent Lott. Also Dunn Lampton is close to Lott. IMO that is why Scruggs escaped prosecution along with Minor. Scruggs took the 5th at Minor’s trial, so I don’t think he had an immunity deal. Scruggs served up evidence on Minor.
Dickie’s pledge of $25 million to Ole Miss is for $1 million a year for 25 years. He’s only made a few installments so far. I guess that’s why the Dean doesn’t want to p*** him off.
Well, I’m all for Liberal Arts profs getting their due for once, that I will say.
Hope they got a contract.
Yeh well, Stormy, we’ve seen how well Dickie does with contracts …
Does anyone know why Mike Moore accompanied D. Scruggs to the court house when Scruggs testified before the grand jury in the Minor case?
..sorry I can’t pay, my ass is going to the pen cause I my ass got caught?? hee hee
If you think about it, it’s painfully obvious from the posts here. While Scruggs’ integrity has been diminished by his guilty plea and his achievement of the status of a criminal, his real power has been largely unaffected by the criminal procedure. That is, he wields his power with his money, and his money hasn’t been affected.
NoMiss// Mike Moore asked to sit at the Defense Table in Oxford with Dickey, but was rebuked. Thats a lot of what got Dickie there HUBRIS by Himself, Mike Moore, Jim Hood,Trent Lott,Joey Langston,and Mr. and Mrs. Patterson. Tim and Sid were just PAWNS.
Well, I have never cared much for Moore over the Tobacco deal. I had a family member that died of a long bout with cancer, they had no insuance and it was hard. Lets remember who got a ton of money from the tobacco deal, it wasn’t the people that really needed it!!!!!
justus – 5:43 -
My thought is that I would be beyond scared to accept money from him now. It would be the quickest way to get involved in an investigation from the wrong side. Money you can’t spend has little if any value. I may be wrong. Who knows?
Thank you to those who responded with such kind words. It means a lot. For those wanting to learn about the tobacco case, Assuming the Risk by M. Orey is a good start. The Insider fell short, in that the writer or film editors did not understand that harassment of witnesses and jury tampering is as common as bribery in Mississippi.
There are so many judges and lawyers involved in this crime, I suspect the feds were not aiming for the bigger fish as some comments opined, but were instead casting their net wide in hopes of exposing the breathe of a corrupt system. Lets hope the feds continue to fight public corruption
Paul Minor signed over his assets to his wife just minutes before the feds could lay claim on his ill gotten gains. This was an issue in Minor’s sentencing hearing last March. Minor made it sound like he was bankrupt even though he will be recieving over a million $ each year from tobacco while he is in prison.
This makes me wonder how much Scruggs was able to dump before he pled guilty? Scruggs will still be receiving his proceeds from the lawsuits while in prison, many of which I suspect involved shady judicial decisions.
Mississippi should be forced to retry all the cases heard by this corrupt judges during the time covered by the bribery convictions, starting with those of John Whitfield. One of those cases is mine.
Do reporters in Mississippi have access to telephones? Do they call Mr. Lott at his new lobbying firm and ask him hard questions about his involvement in these matters? Do they report the answers they get? If they are not able to obtain quotes, do they report that? Did they obtain degrees in journalism?
TomTom, the chancery court judge in Pascagoula who was very important in the tobacco case was Judge Myers. From Orley’s “Assuming the Risk” ( 347) discussing a motion that Scruggs had filed with Judge Myers to keep the cigarette makers from including the “economic-benefit defense”in the trial. (“Scruggs came up with the idea of filing a motion in linine to preclude the cigarette makers from even raising the economic-benefit defense. It was an unusual tactic.” since it was filed long before a trial date was set and before a judge, not a jury.
“Finally, on April 15, 1997, Judge Myers issued an eight-line ruling granting the plaintiffs’ motion. By keeping the Medicaid suit in chancery court, Judge Myers appeared to have denied the cigarette makers the right to present standard tort defenses, such as assumption of risk. Now the economic-balance defense was out of bounds too. The defendants were headed to trial with both hands tied behind their back.”
An eight-line ruling sounds pretty decisive to me.
anita lee has reported that her calls to lott’s office go unreturned in some instances and in others she gets a no comment.
Trent needs to come clean with Mississippi about why he resigned NOW. It ain’t because of any scripture he heard at first baptist IMO. More likely a tape recording delivered by doj is my bet.
Out of Wind, it’s a good bet that Scruggs has signed over his assests also. His wife Diane will receive the tobacco annual payments. I suppose that’s one reason the UM chancellor and Dean Davis are being so supportive. They still want that money from Diane.
Again, you are a very courageous and strong person to have pursued this injustice. I’m sure it was trying and exhausting. That’s probably why you sign in as “out of wind.”
Another thing, out of wind, it’s good to hear from the victims of these bribery cases. We often focus on the judges and lawyers and forget the people who are hurt in these bribery crimes–people who count on the justice system to work fairly and people who cannot recover from their losses imposed by lawyers like Scruggs who see the legal system as a game to play to win at all costs. You apparently were one of those costs in one of the Minor cases.
I have a sinking feeling Scruggs entered his guilty plea for strategic reasons alone. I have a theory as to why and how he’s gonna try to work the system .. hopefully I’m wrong.
Does Ms. Lee report her efforts and the fact that she gets “no comment” sometimes and that her calls go unreturned others? I don’t recall seeing that in print, but in fairness to her, I don’t read it everyday. What about the Clarion-Ledger? What about the papers in North Mississippi?
Nomiss that was a lot of good information, but since I am not a lawyer, are you saying that the cigarette makers couldn’t claim that the industry was good for the ecomony, and why was the motion being presented before the judge instead of a jury an unusual tactic? Also, “Assuming the Risk” is that a book?
Assuming the risk is a book. Assuming the Risk : The Mavericks, the Lawyers, and the Whistle-Blowers Who Beat Big Tobacco (Hardcover)
by Michael Orey (Author)
I’m going to buy those books and read them. Since all this information has come out about our attorneys, and PL Blake has been introduced, I’m really interested in the tobacco case. Do you think that the Feds could be planning to go that far back? Someone has got to let us know what PL has been doing.
I have waited thinking someone else would ask, but I must be the only one. What does GOB stand for?
TomTom, I was quoting from Chapter 32 of the book “Assuming the Risk: The Mavericks, the Lawyers, and the Whistle-Blowers Who Beat Big Tobacco” by Michael Orey. You can purchase it online.
The quoted section is a bit complicated to explain, but basically the cigarette makers wanted the trial to be a jury trial instead of before a single judge “whose rulings to date had favored the plaintiffs (345).” The plaintiffs were Scruggs, et al.
The plaintiffs wanted to try the case in “The two courts in this land which matter most (the Chancery Court of Jackson County and the Mississippi Supreme Court)….(348).”
These quotes were in answer to the question as to the identity of the judges in the tobacco cases. I don’t know Judge Myers, the chancery court judge in this case, but Scruggs and company were very interested in keeping their cases before him, and he was a local judge.
Good Old Boy, Balbo.
Oh. Like MOB, which is what i have been for the past 10 months, soon to happily retire the title. Thank you ever so much, nomiss.
Nomiss that is very interesting…..thank you for your answers.
Now, Nomiss and balbo, we must be precise here:
Good Ol’ Boy.
["Does anyone know why Mike Moore accompanied D. Scruggs to the court house when Scruggs testified before the grand jury in the Minor case?"]
No, but apparently it was for an important enough reason that it was worth a large chunk of his reputation to do it.
Observer// Mike Moore/Dickie Scruggs….and Jim Hood/Joey Langston…Apparently its the Credibility that The Attorney Generals’ Office can bring to a Ring, that being a corrupt Ring of unethical, witness tampering,Judge Bribing , Lawyers , who if had not been brought to light would have within the next 20 years been an uncontrolable force , which was in large part created by Scruggs’ and given legitablety by Mike Moore.
“would have been an uncontrollable force”in the next 20 years?
Was an uncontrollable force for the past 15 years.
I submit that Khayat and Davis need to read this (probably with the help of two mirrors apiece, because they actually need it tattooed on their foreheads).
confounded// What I intended to convey was the buying of our elected offices in our State, and this Ring was going NationWide. They were organized, in that when one family donated, the whole Ring donated in a coordernated effect. They tried to buy Lt. Gov. GO LOOK.
Mag @12:18. You are absolutely correct! Look at the former ICEPAC and its members, and the “PATTERN” of those contributions.
Mag, to take your theory a bit farther, consider this. If the plan was to get Mike Moore elected as a US Senator, think about how much power that could give to the “Ring.”
If this bribery case had not opened up this wound, consider if Trent Lott had continued his position as Senator, and Thad Cochran had decided not to run again. You could have had Trent Lott, brother in law of Scruggs, as one senator and Mike Moore, vbf of Scruggs, as the other senator. Think of the deals and behind the scenes moves these guys could have pulled off.
Don’t think that Lott and Moore’s different political parties would have made a difference. in their collaboration. Read Lott’s biography to learn of his contributions in the tobacco case.
The feds struck the mother law of Mississippi corruption. I was told by one of the agents early in 2000 that conspiracy has no statute of limitation. This law has prevented them from prosecuting some of Mississippi’s worst offenders.
These criminals need tougher sentences than they are getting in order to serve as a deterrant to others. As it stands, a couple of years of rest at a cushy club fed – a few more rounds of golf and a nice legal library to write there memoirs- is a pretty good deal in exchange for a few billions.
oops – “mother load” to out of wind 2:56