Saturday, September 1, 2012

Jim Hood gets what he wants... and loses

Jim Hood found out the old adage "Be careful what you ask for" applies even to him after U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied his motion to remand a lawsuit against Entergy to state court. The Attorney General asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to order Judge Wingate to rule on the motion. The court did so on August 17 and Judge Wingate said fine, you want a ruling, here's a ruling. Hope you're happy after I ruled against you. Should've quit while you were ahead, bucko.

The Attorney General filed a suit in Hinds County Chancery Court in 2008 alleging Entergy and several Entergy-related companies in other states overcharged customers. The state claimed the overcharging occurred from 1974 to 2008. Entergy removed the lawsuit to federal court at the end of 2008, claiming diversity jurisdiction. Federal courts are authorized to hear state cases if the claim is over $75,000 and the parties are from different states. Most of the action in the case took place in 2009, including a challenge by Mr. Hood to the removal. Nothing was filed in 2010. Three motions were filed in 2011. The AG filed a request for a status conference about the case on July 20, 2011. The AG then filed his petition for a writ of mandamus with the 5th Circuit. Judge Wingate issued his ruling on August 25, eight days after the granting of the writ of mandamus. A writ of mandamus is a court order directing a public official or lower court to perform a duty.

Judge Wingate ruled the case will stay in federal court despite Mr. Hood's efforts to move the lawsuit back to state court. The court said there was evidence less than two-thirds of the affected customers were from Mississippi as the state included present and past customers as victims in its lawsuit. The state argued over 95% of the current customers were in Mississippi but said Mr. Hood "has made statements on the record in a state court proceeding which indicate that the intends to claim restitution for individual ratepayers both past and present." Entergy also presented evidence not challenged by the state that the damages if it lost could range from $25 million to $200 million. However, the court did point out the parties had not yet engaged in discovery and the state could question the amount in controversy again if it found it to be less than $75,000 after discovery.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Always liked Judge Wingate!

Anonymous said...

Wingate needs a swift kick in the pants. I'm no Hood fan, but Wingate shouldn't take years just to rule on a motion.

Anonymous said...

Sure would be nice to be able to vote ole Hood out

Anonymous said...

It'd be nicer if it was possible to vote Wingate out.

Anonymous said...

Wingate (Reagan appointee & law classmate of Justice Thomas) is notorious for taking way too long to decide motions. Solid conservative in trial; kinda lazy when it comes to motion practice.

Anonymous said...

And no doubt 9:08 wants the reader to understand that Wingate should be guilty by association.

Anonymous said...

i'll wager wingate has the worst record in the history of jurisprudence when it comes to time management. he sits on everything. for years at a time. and he's called on it all the time with no discernible effect

Anonymous said...

9:26 --

I have absolutely no idea what your post means. I wasn't trying to "associate" anything. I stated what my experience with that particular judge has been, and added a couple of biographical details. I like Judge Wingate. He is, though -- as another poster pointed out - lousy at time management.

Kingfish said...

Judge Wingate's tardiness is well-known, almost legendary. However, this ruling also shows what happens when you push it. Nothing like ticking off a federal judge.

Anonymous said...

11:25 then the association of Wingate to the routinely despised Clarence Thomas was completely superfluous on your part.

But, of course, we know it wasn't.

Anonymous said...

2:45: Who exactly is it that "routinely despises" Justice Thomas? It's been my observation that he rules as I would, were I on the SCOTUS. I think he does a great job!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I get it. You were lauding Judge Wingate for being a classmate of Clarence Thomas -- a Justice you now say you admire -- when, at the same time, you were condemning him ('notorious for taking way too long') for laziness with motions.

Sure. That makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

Anonymous said...

6:27 -

I really think you're looking for something that isn't there. I like Justice Thomas. I like Judge Wingate. I liked Ronald Reagan. Judge Wingate takes too long to rule on motions.

I fail to see how any of those statements are contradictory or mutually exclusive.

Seriously, take a breath. You sound like Chris Matthews.

Steve said...

....and another thread gets derailed.

Anonymous said...

So what was Hood supposed to do? Wait for Wingate to never rule? Hood did what he could and now Hood can litigate or try to get higher court to intervene and remand. Silly title to what could have been interesting.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know the "why" behind the years-long waiting for Wingate to rule? Research? Laziness? Great golf game?

Anonymous said...

I wish there was some way to say thank you to all of the Entergy crews and all of the others for their hard work on getting power restored.

Its such a shame. We call when the storm takes the power out, but we never get a chance to say thanks to those men and women who are out there dealing with the bad weather, long hours, bad conditions, and handling lines running power strong enough to kill ya. Bless you, folks, for working a very very hard job and helping all of us.



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