Jackson Jambalaya

Time for new draperies-

Cha-ching. The pols are lining up to get a piece of the action to fund their "pet projects*."

*Pet projects can range from greasing the palms of benefactors, to wasteful vote-getting initiatives, to maybe even fact finding junkets to exotic locations.

Oh Miss Lynn, wasn't this filed before you were elected? Are we being "Hood" winked?

That is almost 2 dollars for every person in the state. Why not publish the fees mississippi lawyers received for handling this case. Or at least fully disclose who got what.

Maybe now we can staff the damn opinions division????

Yeah, I agree. Transparency is needed here, starting with who gets how much, including the lawyers. I'll just bet they got more that the State of Mississippi got.

As for the opinions division, they were hopeless before they were dissolved, so no real loss there.

That’s it?

Why is the opinions division such an issue for you all? Or is it just the fact you do not like the AG or believe that she is not doing the job you want her to do? What did the Hood administration do so eloquently and authoritatively with opinions. Any nay-sayers/commenters ever cited to one in court? Anyone want to venture into explaining their legitimate precedential value?

Oh, Lord! the sky is falling, the AG's opinion division is not doing its job!!! Our legal system is doomed! Its going to collapse!! What will we ever do????

List of the outside lawyers who are cashing in please!

Taxation without representation. Those actually damaged won't get a penny.

@10:44 this is why people flip about the lack of a functional Opinions Division.

The office is now a disaster.

Can I donate my $2 to the paupers in Belhaven?

Prolly 2 mil to lawyers

11:29AM -- I think you missed my point...granted I have only been out of law school a decade or so, but I have never seen anyone cite to an AG opinion in the courtroom or in any filings. The only time I have heard a lawyer talk about the opinions issued by the AG it was in a joke.

Cheap price tag for the misery they have caused. Damn cheap .

the attorney fees to be paid are not disclosed anywhere online. interesting. they're trying to hide the ball. wonder why?

Was this settled by Mike Moore and his guys?

@11:49 you just admitted to attending law school and not understanding the value of AG opinions. Is this a joke?

The entire point is to clarify ambiguous or vague statutory language without litigation. Generally, AG opinions are generally requested by attorneys representing State actors (or legislators themselves).

Legal work often requires subspecialties today, but this is basic stuff. Go get some CLE.

The significance of the opinions division to attorneys probably depends on their practice areas. For any attorney advising an elected official at any state or local level, or advising an elected board (city, town, county, etc.) -- or for those elected officials themselves (who also have the right to request an opinion, not going through a lawyer) -- AG's opinions are very important as they not only provide guidance to the elected officials on what actions to take if there is a need for clarity in the applicable law, but they can act as a shield from liability. For any other lawyers, it's not surprising it's totally off their radars. It's either something you deal with every week or not at all. Additionally, the AG does have a statutory duty to produce opinions.

11:49, if you have been out of law school a decade or two, and never seen or read where someone cited an AG opinion in court, or in filings, then you must be practicing some weird, or non-litigeous area of law.

I haven't entered law school yet, but have been in court on several occasions over the past decade and have seen AG opinions cited several times, have read them in pleadings, and have referenced them while testifying.

Yes, they do not carry statutory authority. We all know that. But that doesn't mean that they have no value, or cannot be referenced as a clarifier to a vague or undefined statute or precedent.

Maybe come back and tell us during your decade or two out of law school, how many times you have read court pleadings, or been in court yourself.

Where the hell was Fitch when Angelique Lee was gaming the system a few short weeks ago?

You fooled us Lynn! We hope you and your crew know that 2023 is the year we get y’all out! Thanks for showing us how fake you are and how you can’t handle power! We should’ve sent you home after you didn’t want the state treasure job anymore!

12:21 -- Of course I know the basic definition/purpose of the opinions division. Use your brain....
AG Opinions...the AG is an attorney, no more gifted or blessed with inherent legal knowledge than the next person that attended law school and passed the bar. So why would an AG "opinion" hold any more precedential value than the next attorney that gives their opinion on the matter? Once elected AG, do you get some sort of secret Westlaw account that tells you the super secret stuff for opinions? I agree with 1:11, thank you. But for you 12:21, I'll just stick to the courtroom work and leave that thing that everyone has and stinks to you -- opinions ;)

February 4, 2021 at 1:26 PM = Fake comment

2:02 - keep digging that hole deeper and see if it gets easier to get out of.

No, the AG is not just any attorney; yes, oftentimes the AG him/herself is actually not nearly as gifted or blessed with inherent legal knowledge. But, the AG is 'gifted' with statutory authority and requirement to issue opinions - and of course those opinions are not necessarily the opinion of the individual who wears the title but of the members of the AG staff that have some experience or practice in the area being asked about.

The 'gift' that the AG has is to either take that advice from his/her staff and offer the opinion as developed or to reject it and instruct the staff to try again.

Being elected doesn't give you and super secret Westlaw account, but it does give you one might big law firm of lawyers with some, often a lot, of experience that oftentimes is not in areas that most attorneys spend much time practicing.

And, AG opinions are cited in the courtroom, just as precedent cases from other jurisdictions often are. Neither carry the weight of statute, but they do carry some degree of weight when judges 'weigh; the evidence and the law.

Nearly 60% of drug overdose deaths in Mississippi in 2018 involved opioids. No... 60% of drug overdose deaths in Mississippi involved idiots who didn’t take opioids to control pain. Swallowing huge quantities of any drug to get high involves risks that can shut down organs or breathing. Addiction will always be a dangerous pass time but it doesn’t have to be fatal. Guns don’t kill, neither do opioids. It’s the individual who decides to use them the wrong way that turns them deadly. Go ahead ... open fire

Read for a change instead of opining first.

This is not the only opioid money. One consulting firm settled.

Before all of you armchair legal scholars start f*cking the "how much did the lawyers make" chicken, you may want to understand whether Mississippi opted to associated any outside counsel in its action against the companies or whether it opted to proceed through the AG's office solely.

I am involved in the opioid MDL in Colorado and Arizona. Many states chose to retain private counsel, like Motley Rice, or local legend Don Barrett, to file suit on their behalf. Many counties, cities, municipalities chose to file when their AG's were sitting on the sidelines. This led the AG's of those states to eventually file suit to do an end-run around the early adopters like counties in Ohio and West Virginia.

Other states, like dear ol' Mississippi, didn't want to hire dirty old Plaintiffs' lawyers and decided to go it on their own. As a result, Mississippi will get $5 million for a problem that will take literally hundreds of millions of dollars to solve through diversion programs, detox education and outfitting for frontline healthcare workers, and many other programs.

So, if you're wondering how rich the Plaintiffs' lawyers got off of Mississippi, the amount is $0.00. But, they also could have gotten the state an adequate amount to begin to address the problem.

Also, for you scholars of the law, the attorneys' fees in these large MDL cases are negotiated SEPARATELY from the damages awards to the parties. So, again, you're showing your asses when you think lawyers take portions of the awards in this case.

Again, I have actually filed pleadings and participated in the Ohio MDL litigation, but I'm sure the big brains here will be able to tell me how I'm wrong.

To Wiseacre @4:52
Not everyone has your superhuman genes. Unfortunately some are more susceptible to addiction than superheroes such as yourself. Once introduced to painkillers in the hospital by doctors being paid to promote the opioids it can be hard to overcome. Go ahead and fire away once you’ve lost a love one to this epidemic. Until then go sit on your thumb. Opioid manufacturers and their supporters are steadily going down. Piss #ff.

I’m no political expert, but it appears that Mississippi’s AG is very unpopular? Can someone explain why she is so awful or how someone who is apparently so incompetent stays in office?

Note: I don’t practice in MS but live there during college. Must say, for the “attorneys” feigning of ignorance of the importance of AG opinions to any jurisdictions functioning governing, you are either not an attorney or disingenuous. The mere fact that opinions are utilized in every state, territory, and common law jurisdiction should tell you something. How are your counties and municipalities functioning without?

We need a Jim Hood, Andy Targart or Mike Hurt to be the attorney general of that Office! A woman such as Lynn should have never been considered! She fooled the people making us think she had what it took! Never again Lynn! Bye bye!

2:51 - At the end of the day, it is still an opinion of an attorney. I'd venture to say in most courtrooms around the state, these opinions hold about as much precedential value as your/my opinion on a matter. Maybe its a goldmine for regulatory issues and State Actors (bc that's what they seem to be doing -- acting), but its just really not that big of a deal in my "opinion."

Lets see if he falls for it.....

@8:22 and @ everyone else who is too dense to understand how our legal system functions.

Mississippi Code Annotated section 7-5-25 provides:

The Attorney General shall give his opinion in writing, without fee, to the Legislature, or either house or any committee thereof, and to the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Auditor of Public Accounts, the State Treasurer, the Superintendent of Public Education, the Insurance Commissioner, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, the State Geologist, the State Librarian, the Director of Archives and History, the Adjutant General, the State Board of Health, the Commissioner of Corrections, the Public Service Commission, Chairman of the State Tax Commission, the State Forestry Commission, the Transportation Commission, and any other state officer, department or commission operating under the law, or which may be hereafter created; the trustees and heads of any state institution, the trustees and heads of the universities and the state colleges, the district attorneys, the boards of supervisors of the several counties, the sheriffs, the chancery clerks, the circuit clerks, the superintendents of education, the tax assessors, county surveyors, the county attorneys, the attorneys for the boards of supervisors, mayor or council or board of aldermen of any municipality of this state, and all other county officers (and no others), when requested in writing, upon any question of law relating to their respective offices.

When any officer, board, commission, department or person authorized by this section to require such written opinion of the Attorney General shall have done so and shall have stated all the facts to govern such opinion, and the Attorney General has prepared and delivered a legal opinion with reference thereto, there shall be no liability, civil or criminal, accruing to or against any such officer, board, commission, department or person who, in good faith, follows the direction of such opinion and acts in accordance therewith unless a court of competent jurisdiction, after a full hearing, shall judicially declare that such opinion is manifestly wrong and without any substantial support. However, if a court of competent jurisdiction makes such a judicial declaration about a written opinion of the Attorney General that applies to acts or omissions of any licensee to which Section 63-19-57, 75-67-137 or 75-67-245 applies, and the licensee has acted in conformity with that written opinion, the liability of the licensee shall be governed by Section 63-19-57, 75-67-137 or 75-67-245, as the case may be. No opinion shall be given or considered if the opinion is given after suit is filed or prosecution begun.


Don't run for the office if you are unable or unwilling to do the work State law requires of the office.

Also see § 25-4-18:

(1) The appropriate committee designated by the Senate or the House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi to deal with ethical matters of their respective body may request, in writing, an opinion from the Attorney General as to real or hypothetical situations concerning a member of their respective body, but only upon request of such member. The Attorney General shall issue his opinion, in writing, in response to such request.

(2) When a request pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall have stated all the facts to govern such opinion and an opinion shall have been prepared and delivered with reference thereto, there shall be no liability, civil or criminal, accruing to or against the member requesting the opinion who, in good faith, follows the direction of the opinion and acts in accordance therewith unless a court of competent jurisdiction, after a full hearing, shall judicially declare that such opinion is manifestly wrong and without substantial support. No opinion shall be given or considered if such opinion is requested after suit is filed or prosecution begun.

(3) All requests for opinions and all opinions issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be confidential and neither the Attorney General nor the committee shall publicly disclose any opinion issued or the fact that an opinion has been requested or issued unless the member requesting the opinion gives his permission, in writing, to the appropriate committee of his respective house.

(4) The provisions of this section shall be supplemental and in addition to any other statute.

Also see § 7-5-23:

The attorney general shall keep an “opinion-book”, in which he shall record or cause to be recorded each and every opinion given by him, or by his assistants, in pursuance of law. Each of his opinions shall be prefaced with a clear and concise statement of the facts upon which it is predicated. The “opinion-book” shall be kept well indexed, both as to subject matters and parties.

Damn y’all some smart folks here on the JJ. And @8:29 your right up there on that totem pole. Hell yeah there’s more who are susceptible to addiction. In fact the whole fucking country is addicted to something or the other and yep some of it is fatal. Unlike that superhuman guy you were talking about most people are either to depressed, to stressed to mad or just plain ignorant to the danger that living causes. So they play with dangerous drugs.

And them opioid manufactures and doctors that push these drugs on poor unsuspecting addicts need to be taken down. Did you know that 70000 people died from overdose in 2019. But most weren’t killed by those nasty opioid manufacturers. About half were killed by Chinese fentanyl that pours unchecked across the southern border. Then there is heroin, meth and a host of other drugs. For some reason I don’t think they will to be steadily going down though because the Biden administration is opening the door. They need those democrat voters. And then there’s the 14000 people died from prescribed opioids in 2019 does anyone know why that is so low?

Do you @8:29? Well It’s because the CDC, the DEA, the FBI and the Justice Department have their hands so far up the asses of Doctors who prescribe and the patients who receive the medications that they cough fingers. Yep because 14000 morons who suffer with fucking numbskulliosis kill themselves I get treated like a convicted felon every month.

Not to worry though because people will always make excuses for those not strong enough to just take the goddamn pills correctly. So tell you what @8:29 why don’t you go sit on your thumb and piss off. Save your sad story of those who can’t cut the gene pool. I bet that’s where you do your best thinking

Big Pharma makes the Mexican and Columbian Cartels look like chumps.

3:13 sounds like another superhuman who likes his pills and his thumb.
Just more angry and half illiterate. Geez slow down some on them thar pills.