Lower Fuel Costs Shrink Entergy Mississippi Bills Nearly 14 Percent

Reduction effective through first quarter of 2009

Jackson, Miss. – Thanks to a continued decline in natural gas prices, customers of Entergy Mississippi, Inc. will ring in the new year with lower electric bills. From January through March, the typical residential bill will drop another 14 percent.

The first quarter fuel adjustment, approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, is the third such reduction since a nationwide spike in natural gas prices pushed bills up 28 percent last July and August. This decrease effectively wipes out the summer increase, leaving rates about 32 percent lower than they were in mid-summer.

Based on the latest adjustment, typical residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will pay about $89 for the first quarter of 2009 compared to bills from July and August when the same amount cost nearly $133.

“This fuel adjustment provides further relief to customers, which is especially important during these tough economic times,” said Haley Fisackerly, president and chief executive officer of Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “We’re cautiously optimistic that natural gas prices will continue to decrease in 2009, or at least become less volatile. This energy crisis is a nationwide challenge, and we’re continually working to find solutions that will benefit customers and provide long-term stability in our rates.”

After skyrocketing more than 120 percent since mid 2007, natural gas prices began falling in late July 2008. Entergy Mississippi filed for an unprecedented mid-quarter adjustment with the MPSC that resulted in a 9.6 percent reduction in customers’ September bills. That was followed by another 9 percent drop when the utility filed for the final quarter of 2008.
Currently, natural gas prices are still higher than in 2007 and could rise again in this volatile market, creating a negative impact on future customer bills. While Entergy Mississippi uses a diverse fuel mix to generate electricity at the lowest reasonable cost, natural gas is the utility’s largest fuel source.

Entergy Mississippi makes routine quarterly fuel filings with the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff and the MPSC to recover costs of fuel used to provide electric service to customers. Both the staff and commission have 45 days prior to the start of the affected quarter to review the filing and make changes before it goes into effect. By law, the utility makes no profit on fuel charges.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Entergy Press Release
via MSPress.org
1/6/9

Scruggs II: Ed Peters Surrenders Law License, Forfeits Alleged Bribe Proceeds

The Daily Journal has more here on the underlying complaint. Nothing has been announced yet, but it’s apparent that Peters has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. This means that the hammer is about to drop on Judge Bobby DeLaughter and (again) on Dickie Scruggs. Will Scruggs II also ensnare Trent Lott and the mysterious P.L. Blake? Stay tuned.


Letter of Apology
1/7/9

More Funding Proposed For Crime Lab

"Both the defense bar and prosecutors agree that we have to do something to fix our crime lab," said Jim Hood.

Hood formed a task force to study Mississippi's crime lab and compare it to labs in neighboring states. The task force recommends the state double its funding to the crime lab and build a new larger facility.

"Whatever it takes however we have to fund it we have got to do it. We have to protect the innocent as prosecutors and convict the guilty," Hood said.

Mississippi has not had a full time medical examiner in at least 15 years. The state is close to hiring one this year.

WAPT
1/7/9

Ed Peters day kicks off Scruggs II (summarizing a confusing day of posts)

The drama started first thing with WLBT in Jackson reporting that Ed Peters had surrendered his law license. As we noted in an update to the post reporting the WLBT account, YallPolitics quickly put up the docket entry from the Mississippi Supreme Court in the bar discipline case. The petition surrendering the bar license and the facts that can be gleaned from it are here.

At the end of the day, the WLBT added a tidbit to all this in its later story about Peters, noting that the bar complaint was filed about nine months ago (which would be April). There’s been a lot of speculation all day about what case was the subject about that bar complaint– Wilson v. Scruggs? Kirk v. Pope? Shelton? the police manslaughter case? Eaton? There are reasons (public and private) going all over the place, and no resolution.

In a confusion over exactly what was being said, the Daily Journal briefly seemed to report that Peters had plead guilty, although actually the only thing confirmed was that he’d confessed the bar complaint. This lead to a long statement from the state bar about why exactly they could not tell us much about what had occurred.


NMC
1/7/9

Bryant to face growing scrutiny from within GOP right wing

While still maintaining an extremely cordial public relationship with the Barbour administration, it's undeniable that Bryant faces the delicate task of slowly beginning to cut Barbour loose and push his own political agenda in the Senate if he is to seize the mantle of leadership in time to make an expected 2011 bid to succeed Barbour as governor.

It's a delicate and complicated political dance. Cut Barbour loose too early or with a sufficient lack of grace and tact and run the risk of turning the popular, term-limited governor from a lame duck into a mean mallard.

Cut Barbour loose too late and run the risk of looking like an acolyte who lacks the power to govern without his blessings.

For Bryant, the stakes could not be higher over the next two years. For a 2011 governor's race, Bryant will need to be committed to a full-bore campaign by 2010.

Bryant is not the only Republican who could make a credible campaign for governor. State Treasurer Tate Reeves and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann are both considered possible contenders. Gulf Coast businessman Dave Dennis is also frequently mentioned as a possible candidate.

On the Democratic side, there are also several strong names floating around, including Attorney General Jim Hood, former attorney general Mike Moore, current state Democratic chairman Jamie Franks and a handful of lesser-known potential candidates.

To be sure, Bryant is the current lead dog in the gubernatorial speculation race. But a lot can change over the next 18 to 24 months.

With a tax hike on the table this session and other legislation important to Barbour's core constituency on the Republican right, Bryant will draw increasing scrutiny from within his own party over that period - perhaps as much or more from fellow GOPers than from the Democrats.

Democrats who see Bryant as a more pragmatic, easier-to-compromise Republican than Barbour will be seeking to reiterate those believe with tangible policy concessions in negotiations with him over the next two years.

They'll be looking to see if he bears Barbour's political water or his own. But Republicans will be looking at just the opposite.

The conservative wing of the Mississippi GOP will be looking to see if Bryant holds the line on taxing and spending and whether he's too eager to compromise with the Democratic majority in the House.



Sid Salter
Clarion Ledger
1/7/9

Metro area has money wish list

Here's the breakdown of state and federal requests:

Jackson
The city is asking for about $560 million from the federal government for infrastructure projects but so far has a lone item on its state wish list.

The city wants the option to raise the sales tax by 1 percent.

"It's not everyone's perfect choice," Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon said. "It certainly would be a tremendous economic boost for us."

She said the city was not as successful getting money from the state in past years. Those re-quests often were not passed, while smaller bills that did not include money were approved.

"What we did before didn't work, so I think it's incumbent upon us to try a different approach," Barrett-Simon said.

The city wants to levy a 1 percent sales tax on most goods and services. Officials expect the tax would bring in between $21 million and $25 million a year for infrastructure improvements, law enforcement and economic development.

If the tax is approved, 60 percent of city voters then must pass it in a referendum.

The plan is to exclude groceries, prescription drugs, restaurants and hotels from the sales tax. The sales tax rate in Mississippi is 7 percent.

Nikki Jackson, who owns The Riverboat Shop in downtown Jackson, said her customers do not want any new taxes.

She said people are nervous about their jobs, with several businesses in the downtown area closing or cutting positions.

Still, she said business has been steady. People have continued to buy snacks and drinks, although gift sales has slowed.

"Our customers would not be interested, not at all," Jackson said. "I don't think anybody would be, not in this economy."

Stan Flint, Jackson's government affairs consultant, said the city usually asks for more than 20 bills each year but has scaled down its requests this year.

In addition to the sales tax, the city may ask for two resolutions: one in support of a stadium for Jackson State University and another in support of a biotech campus for the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The city also may ask for a bill to raise pay for court-appointed attorneys from $200 to $500 per case.

Hinds County
Roads are a key issue, and officials hope to secure funds from the federal government. County supervisors have not specified an amount but have identified more than $1 million in necessary repairs.

On the state level, the county will support Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant's push for legislation increasing the homestead exemption from $75,000 to $100,000 for residents older than 65.

With reappraisals this year throughout the area, some senior citizens had to pay property taxes. That's hitting many residents on fixed incomes, District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham said.

"We've had people that are in their 80s that are having to pay taxes for the first time," he said.

The county also will ask the Legislature to give the county more say in which roads get paved. The state decides which roads to pave and when.



Clarion Ledger
1/7/9

Councilman: Mayor has fluid in his lungs

Mayor Frank Melton returned to the hospital over the weekend after complaining that fluid had built up in his lungs, making it difficult to breathe, Councilman Frank Bluntson said Tuesday.

Bluntson, along with Melton's family physician, Dr. Robert Smith, drove the mayor to St. Dominic Hospital on Saturday.

"When the fluid builds up, he can't hardly breathe, and he just needed some relief from that," Bluntson said.

Goldia Revies, a city spokeswoman, said she did not know when Melton would leave the hospital, saying only that he would stay Tuesday night.

This is the third time the mayor has been hospitalized since November.

The city has not released an update on Melton's condition.

Bluntson said he talked to Melton's family members Monday, and they said he was resting comfortably. Revies said Melton's wife, Ellen, had traveled from her home in Texas to be with the mayor.

Melton, 59, has suffered from health problems throughout his first term as mayor, requiring double-bypass surgery and the implanting of a defibrillator.

According to a court document released last week, Melton is in end-stage cardiomyopathy. His cardiologist has recommended a transplant, but Melton does not want one, the order says.



Clarion Ledger
1/7/9

Ex-DA turns in license

Former longtime Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters, identified as a participant in an alleged bribery scheme, has turned in his bar license in a move legal experts say suggests he has struck a deal.

Federal authorities are investigating allegations he schemed with associates of imprisoned former lawyer Dickie Scruggs to bribe Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter, once Peters' protege in the district attorney's office, for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit.

Peters' action may signal he could dodge charges in exchange for his cooperation, said Matt Steffey, professor at Mississippi College School of Law.

According to his petition to the Mississippi Bar, Peters, who is in his early 70s, submitted his "irrevocable resignation" following an unspecified "disciplinary matter" before the bar's Committee on Professional Responsibility. "In view of my retirement and resignation, I do not desire to defend this matter," Peters' petition states.

Peters' decision to turn in his license means "he's forever barred from practicing law and cannot apply for reinstatement," said Adam Kilgore, general counsel for the Mississippi Bar. "This is the ultimate punishment. It doesn't get any more serious than losing your license and to not be able to practice law."

As part of his cooperation, Peters has agreed to turn over $425,000 remaining from a $1 million "reverse contingency fee" he received for allegedly influencing DeLaughter to rule in favor of Scruggs in a legal fees dispute involving a former Scruggs law partner, Bob Wilson.

Federal authorities have filed paperwork for the government to take the $425,000, which remained after "federal income taxes and losses incurred as a result of recent stock market conditions," U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee of Oxford wrote.

Peters' surrender of his law license is "an admission of guilt that he violated the ethics rules," Kilgore said.



Jerry Mitchell
Clarion Ledger
1/7/9

Only in the Dickie Scruggs world can the United States Government actually sue $425,000 in cash. But it has happened.

Complaint
Subsequent Order

In the case styled 3:08CV137, the US Government vs. $425,000 in US Currency, the US Attorney filed on New Year's Eve to seize it after it had been forfeited by Ed Peters, who was "a member of a conspiracy to corruptly influence a sitting Mississippi Circuit Court Judge". That doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination, does it?

In paragraph 9 of the complaint, it basically says that after being paid almost $1,000,000, paying taxes on it and subsequently losing his ass in the stock market, that $425,000 was all that was left over.

This document combined with Peters surrendering his law license would leave one with the distinct impression that Peters may not get indicted or plea after all.

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. wants money it claims Langston transferred to Peters in plot

Former Hinds district attorney Edward J. Peters is formally accused of conspiring to corrupt a sitting Mississippi circuit judge in a U.S. District Court document filed Dec. 31, the Daily Journal has learned.

The document came to light Tuesday in a records search about an order to get at $425,000 from alleged illegal wire transfers from Joey Langston of Booneville to Peters.

The order to “arrest” the money, filed about 5:22 p.m., is U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander’s response to a Dec. 31 document explaining why U.S. Attorney Jim Greenlee wants to obtain the money.

This document appears to be the first public federal accusation of Peters in a scheme to bribe Hinds Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

However, no charges against Peters are public yet, although it’s been widely speculated he is part of what investigators call “Scruggs II,” a plot to bribe DeLaughter with the promise of a federal judgeship, if he helped former Oxford attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs and others with a legal fees lawsuit – Wilson v. Scruggs.

Peters repeatedly has not returned calls for comment.

The complaint asking forfeiture of the money says it was seized from Peters and is in the custory of the U.S. Marshals Service in the Seized Asset Deposit Fund Account at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Here’s where the information becomes public about Peters.

The December document states under the heading “Facts”:

• Peters “was a member of a conspiracy to corruptly influence a sitting State of Mississippi Circuit Court judge.”

• He was approached by Timothy Balducci, Steve Patterson and Joey Langston to agree to pay Peters to help get a favorable ruling on a Hinds County case.

• They agreed to pay Peters $50,000 in cash as an initial payment for his services.

• Eventually, they agreed Langston would pay Peters through wire transfers from Booneville totaling $950,000 into Peters’ Jackson bank account.

The $425,000 the U.S. Attorney’s Office wants is what’s left of that $1 million after deductions for federal income taxes “and losses incurred as a result of recent stock market conditions.”

“Each wire transfer made by Langston to Peters constitutes a violation of 18 USC Section 1343,” wire fraud, the document notes.

NE MS Daily Journal
1/6/9

Alleged Scruggs II conspiritor submitts 'irrevocable resignation'


Peters allegedly accepted $50,000 of tax free money from Scruggs, Balducci testified last spring. When Delaughter ruled in Scruggs favor, Scruggs gave $1.5 million to Langston to split with Peters and Patterson, part of Langston's guilty plea says.

A lawyer close to the case has said Peters has been cooperating with governments investigation into Scruggs II. Another attorney involved in the case said the U.S. Attorney's and Department of Justice likely worked out a plea arangment as part of his cooperation. Turning in his bar card was likely part of the agreement.


Daily Mississippian
1/6/9

hattip NMC

This is another attempted exercise in connecting the dots.

Remember in the Peters resignation that it referred to a bar complaint numbered 07-456-2. My sense is that this comes from one of two places. Either the Wilson case and the now notorious "reverse contingency fee" or Kirk vs. Pope. I dug an old NMC post out of the archives. Notice that Peters' now defense attorney, Cynthia Stewart, was co-counsel with Peters on Kirk vs. Pope.

Because most of the timing of Kirk v. Pope happened in the '03-05 time frame, I am starting to lean towards it being related to the Wilson case, which would actually make more sense. However, the Kirk vs. Pope stuff is interesting and especially timely.

Kirk v. Pope: A look inside the Judge DeLaughter and Peters relationship (by NMC)

In 1996, Mike Kirk sued Randy Pope and Dixieland Forest Products, Inc. for breach of contract. The next year, Kirk filed for bankruptcy but did not disclose the lawsuit as an asset in his bankruptcy filing. According to his bankruptcy lawyer, Kirk mentioned the lawsuit and said it had been dormant; the lawyer thought it had been dismissed because it hadn’t been pursued. The bankruptcy case was closed December 30, 1998, and Kirk discharged –that is, the bankruptcy court ruled his case was finished and he was released from debts.

In late 2002, the original contract case against Pope was tried and, on October 28th, Kirk got a judgment against Pope for $700,000. Between the trial and the judgment, Kirk went back to his bankruptcy lawyer and asked him what to do about the judgment. The bankruptcy lawyer said the case should be reopened and the judgment made an asset of the estate. Kirk told the bankruptcy lawyer to do that, and the lawyer filed a motion to reopen the case on October 25th.

At this point, Pope fired his lawyer Leonard Melvin and hired Ed Peters and Cynthia Stewart. On November 26, 2002 Pope filed to remove the case to the federal court because it was related to the bankruptcy case. The bankruptcy court entered an order sending it back to the Hinds County court (and Judge DeLaughter) because it was already tried there, with Kirk’s lawyer to act as the bankruptcy trustee’s representative to pursue the case.

At this point, from the bankruptcy court’s perspective, Kirk seems to have fixed whatever problem he created for not disclosing the lawsuit in the first place.

On November 19, 2003, the judge granted an order sought by Pope reducing the judgment to $400,000. Kirk accepted this ruling.

This is when things start getting really strange. Keep in mind that "ex parte " means that a court only heard lawyers from one side. This is ordinarily not to be allowed (the rules against this are set forth here) and are a big part of the claim that Judge DeLaughter did something wrong in talking to Ed Peters in the Wilson case. According to the Supreme Court opinion, on November 25, 2003, Pope filed a "Motion for Reconsideration and for Stay of Judgment, " which was set for hearing on December 12, 2003, "apparently [opined the Supreme Court] by ex parte order of the trial court [Judge DeLaughter], which also stayed all matters. " In a footnote, the Mississippi Supreme Court notes that the ex parte order "stated that the judge was contacted at home by counsel for Pope and that the order was necessary, in part, to prevent Kirk from executing on the judgment. "

Let’s call that ex parte order "Strange Event 1 "

Here’s some of the strangeness: The Supreme Court notes that the order was "apparently " set by Judge DeLaughter’s ex parte order that came to be because the judge was contacted "by counsel for Pope " –that would be Peters and Stewart, one or the other –at the judge’s home. It is difficult to tell from the court’s statement of facts, but it seems to be saying that Ed Peters went to Bobby DeLaughter’s home (without telling the other side of the case) and got an order stopping everything, including stopping the other side’s right to do something about collecting on their judgment.

That is not how it is supposed to work.

On December 1, 2003, Judge DeLaughter gave Kirk time to respond to the motion and enjoined (that is, stopped) Kirk from executing on the judgment and Pope from getting rid of any assets until the motion was heard. On December 9th, Judge DeLaughter entered an order with the consent of Kirk and Pope continuing the hearing on the motion to reconsider and stay until February 6, 2004 and continuing the injunctions against both parties.

Here comes "Strange Event 2 ":

"Prior to the hearing on February 6, 2004, Pope advised the trial court [Judge DeLaughter] that there would be no hearing, as both parties were negotiating a settlement of the judgment. " In a footnote, the court states: "The trial court said by order that the attorneys for all parties advised that the parties were in settlement negotiations and asked that the hearing be cancelled. However, both parties dispute the trial court’s characterization. "

Huh? What did each party say had occurred? And am I reading this correctly –that Judge DeLaughter and the parties all had different versions of what had occurred? And by saying "Pope advised the court " I would take it to mean Pope’s lawyers –Peters and Stewart did so, with no word to the other side (which apparently disputed Judge DeLaughter’s account of what happened).

At this point, Pope filed a malpractice action against Pope’s former lawyer and settled that action for $275,000 on April 20, 2005. Most of that money went to Peters and Stewart.

On May 5, 2005, having learned of Pope’s collection of the money in the attorney malpractice claim, Kirk filed a motion for contempt and for an injunction freezing Pope’s asset. That is, Kirk went to court saying that Pope was ignoring the order to "freeze " his spending of assets.

Pope then filed a motion asking the court to clarify the December 9, 2003 order and admitted that Pope (that is, his lawyers, who obviously knew about the injunction) had disbursed the proceeds from the malpractice settlement and Pope had sold at least one asset. On May 17, 2005, Judge DeLaughter entered an order declaring that neither party had requested a continuance of the injunction beyond February 6, 2004, "and that it assumed the parties had reached a settlement " " He then set the case for a hearing on June 17, 2005 on the meaning of the February order, and instructed the parties to do nothing until that time. The Supreme Court opinion gives the impression that Judge DeLaughter did this on his own without prompting from the parties.

Now comes "Strange Event 3. "

On May 24, 2005, the trial court entered an order denying Pope’s motion for reconsideration and stay of judgment. This procedural description from the opinion raises a lot of questions. Why did Judge DeLaughter drop the idea of a June 17th hearing (the Supreme Court opinion doesn’t say, but it seems that the May 24th order intervened and it did not happen)? And what about the original hearing at which this motion was supposed to have been considered back in February, 2004? Suddenly, no hearing was required. I would be curious to hear Kirk’s lawyers take on that, and what exactly went on with Judge DeLaughter between the May 17th order (let’s have a hearing) and the May 24th order (let’s not! Instead, let’s up and decide a motion from months ago).

On September 14, 2005, Pope filed a "Motion for Relief from Judgment " under Rule 60(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, in which he asserted that Kirk was judicially estopped from (that is, cut off entirely from making) his claims against Pope. Pope argued that, because Kirk did not tell the bankruptcy court about his claim in the first place, the claim should be cut off entirely ( "judicial estoppel ") and thus the $700,000 circuit court judgment was no good and should be set aside.

Rule 60(b) is about relief from judgments, that is, from final orders from courts. If the judgment is less than six months old, relief can be had for fraud, accident, mistake, or newly discovered evidence that could not otherwise have been known. After six months, relief can be had if the judgment is void or has been paid. In either event, "the motion shall be made within a reasonable time " " Shall is a big word for lawyers –there is no way around it.

Rule 60(b) motions are considered by lawyers to be difficult; one after six months is considered nigh-unto impossible. For an order to be "void " a lawyer would essentially have to look at it and say "no court could do this " (Rare and unlikely, to say the least). Courts particularly look at Rule 60(b) motions with a jaundiced eye where, as here, the underlying facts would have been known to everyone before the judgment and could have been brought up then. That’s clearly the case here –the opinion elsewhere notes that Pope’s lawyer made a reference to the bankruptcy in the original trial.

Think about that six month deadline. When Judge DeLaughter granting that motion to rehear in May, he apparently reset the six month clock over a year and a half later. This worked. The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the 60(b) motion was timely because it was filed within six months after the denial of the rehearing.



NMC
1/21/8

From MS Bar General Counsel Adam Kilgore

Attachment of documentation

The attorney disciplinary process is regulated by the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, as set forth by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. The Mississippi Bar acts as a designated disciplinary agent of the Supreme Court of Mississippi in accordance with the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar. The Mississippi Bar takes very seriously its role as a designated disciplinary agency of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.


Rule 15, Mississippi Rules of Discipline, provides that Bar disciplinary matters are to be held confidential by all of the Supreme Court’s designated disciplinary agencies, including the Board of Bar Commissioners, the Office of General Counsel, the Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility, and the Executive Director of the Bar. The period of confidentiality ends only upon one of the following events: (1) the attorney makes a public statement or disclosure about a proceeding under the Rules of Discipline, or (2) a Formal Complaint under the Rules of Discipline is filed with the Clerk of Supreme Court of Mississippi.


Mr. Peters’ Notice of Irrevocable Resignation has been filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Mississippi along with a Petition by The Mississippi Bar to Accept Mr. Peters’ Irrevocable Resignation in Accordance with Rule 10, Mississippi Rules of Discipline. Rule 10.5, Mississippi Rules of Discipline, provides that an irrevocable resignation and the order accepting the resignation is tantamount to proof of guilt on the matters alleged.


Rule 15, Mississippi Rules of Discipline, requires that the enumerated disciplinary agencies of the Supreme Court of Mississippi maintain the confidentiality of the details of the underlying disciplinary matter which gave rise to Mr. Peters’ resignation. The confidentiality provisions of Rule 15, Mississippi Rules of Discipline, are designed to protect the integrity of the investigatory process surrounding Bar discipline matters. Therefore, the Bar cannot provide any additional information regarding this matter beyond confirming that Mr. Peters’ Notice of Irrevocable Resignation and the Bar’s Petition to Accept the resignation have been filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.



Adam Kilgore
General Counsel
The Mississippi Bar

Peters bar resignation means he's guilty of something

While details were scarce, Bar spokesman Adam Kilgore said Peters' signature to the Notice of Irrevocable Resignation means he has pleaded guilty to something pretty serious.

NE MS Daily Journal
1/6/9

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 1/6/9

While Toyota has suspended indefinitely the opening of a $1.3 billion automotive manufacturing plant in Blue Springs, Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday recent financial pledges by the company demonstrate its long-term commitment to Northeast Mississippi.

Toyota will pay the interest on state and local bonds issued on its behalf and make its first annual payment of $5 million for education in 2010, Barbour said Monday.

The governor said that during talks with the Japanese automaker during the holidays, Toyota agreed to pay, starting in 2010, the interest on state and local bonds issued to help lure the company to Blue Springs.

That payment will be about $10 million to the state in the upcoming year. Randy Kelley, executive director of Three Rivers Planning and Development District, said the company had agreed earlier to pay at least $2.5 million per year to the PUL Alliance for the bonds that Pontotoc, Union and Lee counties issued for Toyota.

The Clarion-Ledger, 1/6/9

Deeper cuts to Mississippi's budget appear likely as December revenues fell 9.5 percent below what was anticipated, and state officials expect the effects of another round of trimming would be more keenly felt.

Almost $356 million was collected last month, according to the State Tax Commission. That's $16.6 million less than the amount collected in December 2007.

Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday he is evaluating what to do next. State fiscal officials are required by law to cut when revenues fall below a certain amount.

Mississippi trimmed $42 million from its $5 billion budget in November - a 2 percent cut in the fiscal year that began last July - and Barbour warned that more cuts would be necessary if revenues didn't improve.

The Clarion-Ledger, 1/6/9

Hinds County is taking steps to borrow $1.5 million to pay bills and make payroll until property taxes are collected.

The county has not had to take out such a loan before, but the weak economy and a tight budget make it likely to happen.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Monday, with District 4 Supervisor Phil Fisher dissenting, to advertise for bids from prospective lenders.

"This is really bad. It's not a good idea," Fisher said after the meeting.

Advertising for a loan "is a precautionary measure," District 3 Supervisor Peggy Calhoun said.

It takes several weeks to select a lender, and starting the process means the county will be able to borrow the money immediately if there is a budget shortfall, she said.

The Clarion-Ledger, 1/6/9

The city of Jackson has increased oversight for its gasoline credit cards and has begun to reduce questionable purchases, city officials told the Jackson City Council on Monday.

But the progress report on the Fuelman discount gas program also shows the city still has not gained complete control over the cards.

"I think we're taking baby steps to get the problem resolved," Councilman Jeff Weill said.

Monday's update follows weeks of public scrutiny into the Fuelman program.

Jackson uses Fuelman to fill up city-owned and city-operated vehicles. The service gives the city a 30-cent-per-gallon discount at participating stations.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 1/6/9

The 2009 legislative session will convene today under the cloud of lower-than-expected state tax collections for the month of December.

For the month, collections were off by more than 9 percent, or $30 million, from the official estimate.

The sluggish tax collections highlight the biggest obstacle the Legislature will face in the 2009 session: how to balance the budget during the economic recession.

"The economy is the big bear in the room," House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, said Monday while preparing for session, which begins at noon today.

The Legislature will meet today in the Old Capitol, which has been closed since incurring damage in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina. After the ceremonial opening of the session, the Old Capitol will remain open as a museum as it was before the storm damage.

Ex-Hinds DA turns in law license

"In view of my retirement and resignation, I do not desire to defend this matter," Peters' petition states.

Peters was never listed as counsel for the Scruggs' team in a legal fees dispute lawsuit filed by former Scruggs’ associate Bob Wilson that was before DeLaughter. But Peters began to secretly work for Scruggs behind the scenes, talking regularly with DeLaughter, his former protege in the district attorney's office, and sharing "draft copies" of judicial orders before DeLaughter entered them, according to Timothy Balducci, a New Albany lawyer disbarred in a separate bribery case that took down Scruggs.

Judicial rules prohibit judges from communicating with only one side.

Balducci testified Scruggs' team flew down $50,000 in cash to Peters and that Peters was told it was tax free because no paperwork was going to be filed.

Former Booneville lawyer Joey Langston already has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleaded guilty in the case involving DeLaughter.

According to Langston's plea agreement, Scruggs told Langston in February 2006 that he would let Langston, Peters and former State Auditor Steve Patterson split the "savings" from the lawsuit if DeLaughter ruled in their favor.

By the time both sides met for trial in August 2006, DeLaughter concluded Wilson was owed nothing more than belated payments by Scruggs totaling nearly $1.5 million. DeLaughter told lawyers there was nothing left but a "negative balance," according to the transcript.

After DeLaughter ruled in his favor, Scruggs paid $3 million for the "savings" to Langston, who split the money with Peters and Patterson, according to Langston's plea agreement.


Clarion Ledger
1/6/9

The Clarion-Ledger, 1/6/9

Members of the Jackson City Council are questioning whether Mayor Frank Melton can continue to run the city with his chronic health problems.

Melton checked into St. Dominic Hospital this past weekend for the third time since November. A city spokeswoman said she did not know when Melton would leave the hospital, saying only that he would stay Monday night.

But Chief Administrative Officer Robert Walker said the city is still running smoothly.

"We know what our jobs are, and we do them," he said.

A court document released last week shed new light on Melton's health. It says the mayor is in end stage cardiomyopathy. His cardiologist has recommended a heart transplant, but Melton does not want one, the order says.

Flying the Pirate Flag: Ed Peters as Prosecutor

I’m going to post some things from the Mississippi Supreme Court about Ed Peters. It is strong stuff, and at times very offensive. It’s also very contentious– there are a lot of people (including lawyers, and worse, judges) who, viewing Ed Peters as an effective prosecutor, seemed really willing to turn a blind eye to the kind of thing I am talking about here. But I think it is an important part of the picture, and so here it is.

The point I am making here is that to a great degree, Peters was flying the pirate flag– he was playing to win, and didn’t really care what the rules were. He violated rules– against appeals to race, or commenting on the defendant’s failure to testify– that every lawyer knows. In these cases, it was easy for some to ignore because he was aggressively prosecuting “the bad guys.” But look back at what happened to Keith Shelton, and think about the recent triumph by the Mississippi and Louisiana Innocence Project in Cedric Willis’s case in which Peters and his assistant Bobby DeLaughter ignored exculpatory DNA evidence and proceeded to try an innocent man anyway.

So I want to talk about some of the tactics Peters used, because I think that this sort of thing is an important part of what’s wrong with him, and highlights problems with the system.

In the first case, Herring v. State, 522 So.2d 745 (Miss. 1988), Peters made remarks that the Mississippi Supreme Court called “utterly reprehensible.” Here they are (with emphasis added by the Mississippi Supreme Court):

BY MR. PETERS:
And, so, the question comes down-just as I asked you on the opening day of this trial-can you put race aside? Can you white members vote for a fair verdict? Can you black members vote for a fair verdict? You and I know there are people in this county and this state and this city that would say-you are wasting your time. You can’t have a jury with eight black people that are gonna vote for life for a black person raping a white person. Time will tell.

No matter if you’ve got his fingerprints all over the house. No matter if she’s beaten. No matter if her vagina is bruised and torn. No matter if her room is torn up. No matter if her door is forced open. You just can’t get any black people who are gonna vote for life against a black defendant who does that to a white person, You are not-

At this point (finally) there is an objection from the defense lawyer. The court said: “We uniformly condemn and roundly denounce such scurrilous tactics. ”



NMC
1/6/9

Peters Gives Up Law License

Former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters said he has resigned his license to practice law.

Peters said that he sent his request to the Mississippi Bar Association on Dec. 29. The Bar sent the request to the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday.

WAPT
1/6/9

Supreme Court of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of the State of Mississippi
Clerk's Docket

2009-BD-00005-SCT
The Mississippi Bar v. Edward J. Peters



Petitioner Parties
The Mississippi Bar Represented By:
Adam Bradley Kilgore
Gwendolyn G. Combs
James Russell Clark
Respondent Parties
Edward J. Peters Represented By:
Cynthia Ann Stewart


General Docket 1/5/2009 Notice of Retention by the Supreme Court

The man named by the scandal-plagued governor of Illinois to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate failed to gain entry on Tuesday when the chamber's secretary rejected as incomplete his credentials for the seat.

Roland Burris, a Democrat appointed to the seat by fellow Democrat Rod Blagojevich, said afterward, "I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation. I will now consult with my attorneys and we will determine what my next step will be."

The secretary of state in Illinois has refused to certify Blagojevich's appointment of Burris. Senate rules say such certification is needed.

Burris has asked the Illinois Supreme Court for a speedy decision on his request that the secretary of state be required to sign the certificate. He contends his appointment is legal.

Reuters
1/6/9

Ed Peters surrenders his law license

Things are starting to become visible now?


NMC
1/6/9

Former DA gives up law license

Former Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters has given up his license to practice law. Attorney Joey Langston has linked Peters, attorney Dickie Scruggs, and Hinds county judge Bobby Delaughter in a judicial bribery sceme.

According to Langston, Scruggs paid Peters to help influence Delaughter in a dispute over $15-million in legal fees for asbestos litigation. Peters was Delaughter's longtime friend and former boss.

Judge Delaughter eventually ruled in Scruggs ' favor. Peters -- along with Langston and former state auditor Steve Patterson -- pocketed $1-million from Scruggs , according to Langston's plea agreement in the federal investigation.



WLBT
1/6/9

hattip NMC

Khayat leaving Ole Miss — UPDATED

Although our university is 160 years old, for each of you its life began when you arrived as a student. At that time a merger occurred between you and Ole Miss. You shaped the university’s personality, and the university became part of you.

When you complete your degree and move on to pursue your career and family life, you will remember Ole Miss as it was during your years as a member of this community. But universities that prosper gradually change. They reflect the experiences, values, interests, hopes and aspirations of each generation of students that make it theirs.

Accurately or not, to a great extent chapters in the life of a university are identified with the person who served as Chancellor. But the university we know today is the product of generations of students, faculty and staff.

It has been my privilege to serve as chancellor since 1995. During that time I have met thousands of students, had the pleasure of getting to know hundreds and established lifelong friendships with some. Students have responded to opportunities to strengthen the university, and they have been the source of many progressive, life-enhancing modifications and changes, ranging from the One Mississippi initiative and CHEERS to the Designated Driver program to efforts to make our campus greener and textbooks affordable to all. Because of you, the university will never be the same.

On June 30, I will retire from the university. I do so with profound respect for you, our students, and a deep sense of gratitude for your contributions to Ole Miss.

I wish you success, good health, happiness and peace, and I hope to see you during the spring semester.

Warmest regards,

Robert C. Khayat, Chancellor


FOLO
1/6/9

Robert Khayat to retire from Ole Miss on 6/30/9

Some University of Mississippi employees wept this morning when their chancellor of 14 years, Robert C. Khayat, told them of his plans to retire June 30.

"Having reached the ripe old age of 70-plus, it is time for me to retire," Khayat said. "I do so with a heart filled with gratitude to the thousands of people who support our university. I leave with an abiding affection for the people and the school, and with confidence that this university will continue to provide the quality programs so vital to our state and region."


Sun Herald
1/6/9

Lessons From '92 Offer Hope to GOP

And then, as now, Republicans felt they had been laid low. Gov. Barbour, at the time a former White House political director, entered the scene to launch a four-part recovery plan for his party. Each piece would seem to make as much sense for Republicans today as it did then.

Step one was to rebuild state parties. When a party is in control of the White House, its strength lies at the national level. But when it's in the minority, Gov. Barbour says, the route back to strength is for national leaders to help build strong state party organizations.

After the 1992 GOP debacle, the fruits of that effort came almost instantly. Within two years, the number of Republican governors had risen to 31 from 17.

Step two was to rebuild the party's small-donor base. Another consequence of controlling the White House is that a party finds it easier to raise big money from big donors, and it tends to let its small-donor network atrophy. That's what Gov. Barbour found in 1992. The party had raised records amount of money, but from a shrinking base. Its roster of donors had shrunk from almost a million in the mid-1980s to about 400,000. By focusing on regaining small donors, he built it back to 1.2 million by 1996.

Step three was to push the party to the cutting edge of political-communications technology. After 1992, that meant getting more plugged into talk radio and satellite transmission of television content. So Gov. Barbour built a first-class TV studio at Republican national headquarters, launched a Republican television network and used satellite uplinks to beam interviews with Republican lawmakers to stations back in their home districts by the dozen.

Today, of course, the challenge for Republicans lies in a different kind of technology: They're behind Democrats in using the Internet to communicate directly with voters and donors.

Finally, and crucially, step four in the Barbour plan was to convince voters Republicans had fresh ideas -- specifically, ideas that translated conservative philosophies into policies that addressed contemporary problems.

Gov. Barbour started that process by sending a questionnaire soliciting policy views to every Republican donor and officeholder in the land. He then launched his own in-house think tank to put meat on those bones of ideas.

"You want to get as many people as possible to participate in the policy-making process," Gov. Barbour says. "And by that I mean literally in the hundreds of thousands." By the time House Republicans wanted to compose the now-famous "Contract with America" as a policy platform on which to run in 1994, the content was fully cooked.

The parallels between 1992 and 2008 aren't exact, of course; the economy at the beginning of the Clinton era was coming out of a mild recession, while it now seems to be in a deep one.

But the broader lessons of the Barbour era seem relevant -- and cause for a bit of holiday cheer for a party that found mostly coal in its stocking this year.



WSJ
12/28/8

4 justices take oath on Mississippi Supreme Court

The new justices are David Chandler, 62, of Ackerman, who moves up from the Court of Appeals; Jim Kitchens, 65, of Crystal Springs, a former district attorney who had been in private law practice; and Randy "Bubba" Pierce, 44, of Leakesville, a former state lawmaker who had been a chancery judge since 2005.

The returning justice is Ann Hannaford Lamar, 56, of Senatobia. She served as district attorney and then as circuit court judge before Gov. Haley Barbour appointed her to fill an unexpired term on the Supreme Court when Justice Kay Cobb of Oxford retired in 2007.

Chandler, Kitchens, Lamar and Pierce were elected to the nine-member court in November. Chandler, Kitchens and Pierce defeated incumbents, and Lamar defeated one challenger.

Barbour attended the brief swearing-in ceremony at the Gartin Justice Building, telling about 75 onlookers that the rule of law is "like the air we breathe: It's indispensable."


NE MS Daily Journal
1/6/9

Cell phones top 'police officers’ wish list

Tupelo Police Maj. Jackie Clayton, Oxford Police Chief Mike Martin and Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson all want legislators to pass stricter laws dealing with people using cell phones while driving, which they say would save lives.

“I’d really like to see some laws that clamp down on people using cell phones while driving,” said Martin. “It is dangerous and can and does cost people their lives, especially the texting. If you are gifted enough to text without looking at the phone, no way you can read it without looking down.”

Clayton agrees. “Cell phones are really a problem for drivers and other people on the roads,” said Clayton.

“I don’t know if we’ll get them, but we really need stricter laws on cell phone usage while driving.”
State Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, said phones will be a topic of the legislators this session.

“This is an ongoing issue nationwide,” said Holland. “I think it will be an issue of importance during the 2009 session. A lot of people feel very strongly about this and there is no doubt that cell phone usage while driving causes death.”


NE MS Daily Journal
1/5/9

Voter ID, if needed, should apply to all

All that said, there is a movement in the Legislature to get the racially sensitive issue of voter ID behind us by coming up with a compromise. One of those most often suggested is to exempt older voters from having to produce ID when they come to the polls. The exemption is intended to address one of the main objections of legislative opponents. They have claimed that voter ID could intimidate older black voters who still remember what it was like when all types of schemes, from poll taxes to registration tests, were used to try to dissuade blacks in Mississippi from voting.

Like most of the objections to voter ID, this one is probably exaggerated. There may be elderly persons who never obtained a driver’s license, but it’s certain that they have had to produce other forms of ID over the years without reservation. It’s just not that big of a deal.

Furthermore, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant raises a valid objection to the proposed exemption. If a person is going to try to impersonate another voter, the schemer is likely to pick someone who is incapacitated or who has recently died. You’d want to make sure that the real person wasn’t going to show up at the polls on Election Day and start squawking that someone had voted in his name. Most of these prospects for impersonation are likely to be elderly.

If Mississippi is going to have voter ID, it needs to apply to everyone.


Greenwood Commonwealth Editorial
1/5/9

How about an appetizer of Rigsby Qui Tam and Katrina RICO news?

RICO first - before it’s too old to call “news”. After an October status conference, the case was stayed until the 19th of December. A status conference with Magistrate Judge Linda Anderson is now set for the 13th of January.

Now, for Rigsby Qui Tam and a new Order from Judge Senter.

That the Relators’ motions [242] [243] [248] [250] to dismiss this action as to Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc.; Jade Engineering; Exponent, Inc.; and Structures Group are GRANTED.

SO ORDERED this 5th day of January, 2009.


Slabbed
1/5/9

Greg Snowden & Reapportionment

Rep. Snowden said publicly what a number of Republicans have talked about privately -- that the Senate may try and prevent the Democrats in the House from using reapportionment to undermine the re-election chances of certain GOP incumbents. If this happens, then you can count on the House reciprocating (and then all bets are off). Mutually assured destruction then becomes a very real possibility.

Second, he suggested that the Legislature would not get the districts approved before the 2011 legislative elections; if that happens, legislators will run in the current districts and will not campaign in any new districts until the 2015 elections, unless a court requires it. Legislators have said privately that the only way to provide for a quick drawing of the lines is for both the Senate and the House leadership to approve district lines that make only minimally necessary changes (to conform to one person, one vote). If Lt. Gov. Bryant tries to substantially redraw district lines of Senate Democrats or if Speaker McCoy tries to do likewise to GOP House members, then the 2011 elections will be held in the current districts.

Third, he made clear that a major issue for Republicans will be to prevent the use of split precincts in the drawing of district lines. In 2000, the House particularly, but also the Senate, split precincts -- in hundreds of cases -- mostly between two districts, but in some cases between three and even four districts, in the drawing of boundary lines.
While all of this has been discussed privately among legislators and others interested in the topic, this is the first time I know that someone has raised them all in a public way.


RedBlue
Clarion Ledger
1/5/9