Guru
August 12th, 2008, 11:54 AM
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/justice_for_sale_080608/
* Ok, here is part of the story but DO NOT miss the link to the "rest of the story".
Whoa! This is big.
The Beginning: Big Tobacco
The tortuous trail to Paul Minor’s jailing begins in the 1990s, with the set of history-making cases that several states brought against the tobacco industry seeking to recover smoking-related health costs. Minor was among those representing the plaintiffs, along with other trial lawyers and state attorneys general, including Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore.
The tobacco industry settled without going to trial, paying $246 billion to the states in the largest civil settlement in history. Among those forced to pay were the four largest tobacco companies: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Lorillard Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA.
Trial lawyers like Minor earned millions from the deal, and many became generous contributors to Democratic candidates and campaigns, especially in the South.
In 1999, Mississippi trial lawyers donated as much to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ronnie Musgrove as did the Democratic National Committee. Musgrove received $379,500 from trial attorneys, of which Minor donated $112,000. Minor and his law firm donated hundreds of thousands to Democratic candidates between 2001 and 2004, including, according to the New York Times, $129,000 to then-presidential contender John Edwards.
The tobacco settlement, however, had serious repercussions for the integrity of U.S. elections.
Mississippi attorneys have described the behind-the-scenes political fight sparked by the tobacco ruling as nothing short of “war”—between corporations and Republicans on one side and plaintiffs, trial attorneys and Democrats on the other.
* Ok, here is part of the story but DO NOT miss the link to the "rest of the story".
Whoa! This is big.
The Beginning: Big Tobacco
The tortuous trail to Paul Minor’s jailing begins in the 1990s, with the set of history-making cases that several states brought against the tobacco industry seeking to recover smoking-related health costs. Minor was among those representing the plaintiffs, along with other trial lawyers and state attorneys general, including Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore.
The tobacco industry settled without going to trial, paying $246 billion to the states in the largest civil settlement in history. Among those forced to pay were the four largest tobacco companies: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Lorillard Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA.
Trial lawyers like Minor earned millions from the deal, and many became generous contributors to Democratic candidates and campaigns, especially in the South.
In 1999, Mississippi trial lawyers donated as much to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ronnie Musgrove as did the Democratic National Committee. Musgrove received $379,500 from trial attorneys, of which Minor donated $112,000. Minor and his law firm donated hundreds of thousands to Democratic candidates between 2001 and 2004, including, according to the New York Times, $129,000 to then-presidential contender John Edwards.
The tobacco settlement, however, had serious repercussions for the integrity of U.S. elections.
Mississippi attorneys have described the behind-the-scenes political fight sparked by the tobacco ruling as nothing short of “war”—between corporations and Republicans on one side and plaintiffs, trial attorneys and Democrats on the other.