Like most of those 50+ amicus briefs which went to the Rhode Island Supreme Court in support of the lead paint plaintiff, those 400+ letters to Judge Neal Biggers on behalf of Dickie Scruggs don't quite pass the smell test. All that rallying around the RI plaintiff seemed to have a not-so-secret funding agenda. They are primarily nonprofits which get money from the state and entities linked to the state.
With the 400+ letters, there was also the rancid odor of self-interest, only more bizarre. As Ashby Jones reports on these letters in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Law Blog and as Anita Lee notes in the SUN HERALD, the motivations seem to range from pandering to a man who has no more power to actually coming to praise Caesar to goofy.
For instance, Ole Miss' Chancellor points out that Dickie "has much to offer society." Well he can offer that behind bars, just as educator Jean Harris did.
Tobacco whistleblower Wigand asks, "How could a man with such a strong moral fiber err like this? [Hey, Jeffrey, the answer is usually greed and ego.]
A local retired accountant, who is very familiar with Dickie's generous contributions to Ole Miss, reminds the court that the man's wife and his fully grown daughter will have no one to look out for them when the man of the house is in the big house. [Toddlers go without mothers while the women are in prison].
I have a hunch these kinds of letters and the sheer volume of them will do more harm than good. Judge Biggers, a no-nonsense guy, has to be ripped.
