Jackson Jambalaya

 Should Carlos the Clown get his law license reinstated? The Mississippi Bar posted this notice on its website: 

The Bar Seeks Opinions on Reinstatement Request 

Carlos E. Moore has filed a Petition for Reinstatement from a Suspension in accordance with Rule 13 of the Mississippi Rules of Discipline. Mississippi Bar policy allows members of the Bar an opportunity to express their support or opposition to a petitioner seeking reinstatement so that the Bar will be better informed by those attorneys and judges that previously practiced with the subject attorney as to that attorney’s practice habits, standing, character, and reputation in the legal community. The Office of General Counsel for the Bar will receive correspondence in support of or opposition to the instant petition until August 28. All correspondence submitted will be provided to the Supreme Court with the Bar’s response to the petition. Please mail correspondence to the attention of the Office of General Counsel for The Mississippi Bar.

There is a reason this website calls Carlos Moore "Carlos the Clown."  Moore's practice consists of a string of inflammatory press conferences, sloppy lawsuits, and repeated sanctions, making one wonder whether he is indeed fit to practice law. 

Moore first attracted notice when he sued to change the old state flag. You see, it is always 1960 in Moore's Mississippi as he whips up racism so he can profit from it, justice be damned. Unfortunately for Moore, he lost that fight and the flag remained the same for several more years.  

 Undeterred, Moore took his act to Tupelo after a black man was shot to death by the police.  Moore held one of his trademark press conferences - long on grandstanding but short on truth.  Calling the man's death an "execution", the attorney said the Tupelo police issued a memo declaring it to be "open season on black people."  

Tupelo did not take too kindly to what Moore had to say so it told him to put up and produce the memo or shut up.  After numerous attempts to dodge discovery, Moore confessed to the federal judge there was no memo as he called his statements "a rhetorical device."   The Court fined Moore $3,000 in 2017 as it found he fabricated the memo and made anonymous phone calls to support his claims.  Earlier post.

This episode was nothing short of disgusting.  Tupelo probably made the most racial progress in Mississippi after integration.  Such meant nothing to Moore as he sought to burn down the town with his lies.  Lies that were uncovered because the city decided to fight back.    

The Mississippi Workers Comp Commission fined him $500 after he threw a tantrum at a hearing.  Earlier post.

 Moore popped up in Jackson where he accused Belhaven University of sexism and racism at another colorful press conference.  With his female client sitting silently next to him, Moore claimed a Belhaven employee sent sexually explicit pictures to his client when she applied for a job.  However, it turned out the client sent her own sexy photos to the employee and engaged in some rather sexually provocative banter with him.  After Belhaven told her to preserve her phone, the client  got rid of it.  U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, an Obama appointee, fined Moore $500 in 2017 after he determined Moore helped her ditch the phone and lied to the Court about it.  Earlier post.

2017 continued to be a bad year for Moore.  Moore sued a medical clinic in LeFlore County on behalf of his client.  When it came time for trial, Moore was nowhere to be found.  Everyone was present - lawyers, clients, witnesses, everyone but Moore.  The Court learned Moore was in Texas at a speaking engagement in yet another example of how Moore does not take seriously the practice of law. Fed up with his antics, the Court fined Moore $27,467 for trial costs to the defendant in 2020.  Moore unsuccessfully appealed the fine.  Earlier post.

Beaten but not broken, Moore went to Rankin County where he claimed a substitute teacher threatened to lynch a black student at a press conference.  Moore sued the school district and Kelly Services for the student's family.   Did we mention the student's mother was serving time for fraud? 

What actually took place was the student acted a fool in class. When students complained, the teacher said don't worry, he will eventually "hang himself", hardly a threat of lynching.  Although Kelly Services settled for an undisclosed amount, Moore did not recover against the Rankin County School District.  

Moore finally ran afoul of the Mississippi Bar as it  reprimanded the attorney in 2020 because he wrongly assigned a client's funds.  It would not be the last time Moore showed a lack of knowledge on handling estates.  The Tennessee Bar censured  Moore in 2019 after he placed a lien on a client because she refused his advice to accept a settlement offer.   Earlier post. 

Next up was Oxford as it got its chance to suffer the traveling clown show. Moore represented the family of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend, an Oxford police officer.  The attorney filed a wrongful death action against the Oxford Police Department.  However, Carlos just could not help himself and began making things up yet again.  See a pattern? 

Moore's complaint claimed the police officer's (now in prison for life) first wife died of a rather suspicious suicide.  There is just one problem: she was very much alive.  Moore also claimed in his lawsuit the current Chief was Chief when the officer was hired.  The Chief's predecessor hired the officer but who cares about such things when one is on a roll?  The Court dismissed the Chief and his police department from the lawsuit, leaving Moore to collect $2 million from someone in prison.  

The unethical behavior continued.   Moore held another press conference on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson where he accused a Capitol Police officer of shooting his female client who was a passenger during a traffic stop that went wrong.  Moore named the wrong police officer at the press conference and sued him as well.  This website determined the correct police officer after less than five minutes of research.  Moore corrected his mistake after this website reported his errors.  

Such behavior continued when Moore was appointed Municipal Court Judge Pro-Tem in Grenada and Clarksdale.  The Mississippi Supreme Court suspended him from the bench for 60 days when he got caught working his private cases from the bench.  The Court ultimately and permanently expelled him from the bench after he repeatedly made political comments  and referred to himself as a judge on social media .  Earlier post.

The Bar finally suspended him for a year when he yet again mishandled an estate.  Earlier post. Moore applied for reinstatement after twelve months passed and taking the required legal education classes.  

Should the Mississipi Bar reinstate the license of Carlos Moore? 

Simply put, Carlos Moore is a blight upon the Bar.  His so-called practice of law consists of grandstanding and race-baiting.  The suspended attorney repeatedly shows he does not know how to practice law as evidenced by his mishandling of estates, fabricated statements, and glaring errors such as suing the wrong person.  As he seeks reinstatement, he refers to himself as a judge on social media and calls Nolan Wells friends murderers in a blatant disregard for the rules of ethical conduct.  

Moore lacks the temperament and competence to practice law, even in Mississippi, and that, my friends is the bottom line.  The Bar should think long and hard before it reinstates Carlos Moore. 

Note: Since Moore has a habit of grossly misinterpreting comments, this post is one of opinion.