Plaintiffs' lawyers admit the existence of magnet courts. Dickie Scruggs, one of the nation's foremost plaintiffs' lawyers, who pocketed hundreds of millions in the tobacco settlements, described it best at a conference last June: "[W]hat I call the 'magic jurisdiction' . . . [is] where the judiciary is elected with verdict money. The trial lawyers have established relationships with the judges that are elected . . . . They've got large populations of voters who are in on the deal . . . . And so, it's a political force in their jurisdiction, and it's almost impossible to get a fair trial if you're a defendant in some of these places . . . . Any lawyer fresh out of law school can walk in there and win the case, so it doesn't matter what the evidence or the law is." So "magnet court" and "magic jurisdiction" are simply other ways to say "den of thieves." I will remember that the next time someone talks in hushed and reverent tones about the jury system.
Do you suppose that a President John Edwards would do anything to clean up this mess?
Do you suppose that a President John Edwards would do anything to clean up this mess?He's the grinning fool (usually photographed being touched and founded by the swift boat veteran with three puple hearts) who is in the ranks of those who have ruined the country.
Thompson is a lawyer, but he would be a better president than most of the other candidates, save Tancredo.