Jackson Jambalaya

ANY public official connected to Chokeweed, Sr. or Chokeweed Jr. should be terminated. Keep up the good work Tony!

Canon 5
"...a Judge...shall not...publicly endorse a candidate for public office"

Unfortunately, I think she'd have a good argument that this was not a "public" endorsement. There may be an Ethics Opinion on this, but I'm too lazy to look.

This would be a bigger story if it wasn't a municipal judge. Do they even count?

Yeah....this doesn't look like a public endorsement, at all. It appears to be from her private email account, sent to someone else, and that person forwarded it to a listserv.

KF is this the reason Tony terminated her? If so, he may be digging a deeper procedural ditch than he wants to......

This isn't a public endorsement or campaigning at all-- Especially since her email was directly to the candidate or to his team. It's impossible to campaign-To the candidate. If anything it simply looks like her private email got forwarded. Plus there is Supreme Court Law that would clearly be in her favor regarding this.

A. Political Conduct in General.
(1) A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office should not:
(a) act as a leader or hold any office in a political organization;
(b) make speeches for a political organization or candidate or publicly endorse a candidate for public office;
(c) solicit funds for or pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate, attend political gatherings, or purchase tickets for political party dinners, or other functions, except as authorized in subsection A(2).

Citing the Supreme Court ruling in Stater as authority:

¶ 12. Neither the mayor nor the board of aldermen may remove a municipal judge once on the bench on their own authority where the municipal judge has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. This rule provides a safeguard protecting the court system from the usurpation of political power and influence. Article 6, § 177A of the Mississippi Constitution provides for a Commission on Judicial Performance which recommends to the Mississippi Supreme Court what action should be taken against a judge who has violated the terms of his office. Miss. Const. of 1890, art. VI, § 177A. See also In re Anderson, 412 So.2d 743, 744 (Miss.1982). Thus, while a mayor may have an obligation to file a formal complaint with the Judicial Performance Commission, the mayor does not have the authority to suspend a properly appointed judge from serving on the bench. -

I felt like looking.

Having read the email thread. It appears she was responding to an email sent to her from Chokwe, Jr. urging him to share the email he sent to her, to "magbar" whatever that is. This is not a public endorsement. *Yawn* Next!

In Mississippi, following current federal employment law (and no state-specific law existing) an employee can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all as long as the reason is not based on illegal discrimination. If the mayor is empowered to terminate these judges, the terminate he can.

Not sure how 12:29 views her termination as resulting in digging a ditch for the terminator.

12:29 here. In Mississippi, any allegation of misconduct (campaigning would be one of them) would have to go to the Judicial Commission and the may does not have the power to terminate a municipal judge at that point, it takes it out of his hands. It must be submitted to that committee for a decision.

Kingfish, this is your second or third time posting an email from June Hardwick to the MagBar. I'm curious, who is giving you access to these emails? Or, are you a member of MagBar? #WhoIsTheMole? #ImReadyForScandal.

Okay, seriously, this seems to be a nonissue.

I believe you have to be an attorney to be a member of the Magnolia Bar Listserve and Catfish never passed the bar.

The Jackson municipal code gives the mayor the authority to appoint a municipal judge. I imagine they, as all appointed employees, serve at the will and pleasure of the mayor and can be terminated accordingly.

4:17, that is true up to a point. If the allegation is misconduct, as I have heard whispers that this email is the real reason he terminated her, then he lacks the authority to do so according to the MS Supreme Court - which trumps a city's municipal code any day of the week.

If an appointed employee is terminable at will, I don't see how the municipal judges somehow get extra protection because they are a judge. I can't find where the supreme court or the judicial performance committee have any jurisdiction over a mayor terminating a municipal court judge for any reason.

She was apt to say "Not Guilty" periodically. That's always the death knell for a municipal court judge. You probably need look no further than that.

But this is the thing...Yarber probably wouldn't have blurred the legal lines had he not given a reason, whether it be this e-mail or the low bond.

Because she was at will, she could have been fired without any reason.

Either action can be debated on their ethics, but they were not illegal. Since both reasons seems to have a hole in them, he looks like he he treading on some dark waters if litigation is brought

Imaginary allegations of misconduct aside, in Mississippi, no employer is compelled to state, give or have a reason for termination of one's employment (at or following termination).

I read somewhere that she resigned to focus on her own law practice and her kid.

Even more interesting tidbit. I heard Mayor Yarber put the reason for the termination in the termination letter. Not a smart move, at all. He should fire his legal team. They are horrible at advising him. Either that - or he just doesn't listen. This carelessness/or boldness might land him entangled in lawsuits.