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Mississippi  is a beautiful state, no doubt.  It offers a slower-paced life, complete with everything others associate with southern living: sweet tea, too-hot summers and mosquitoes that you swear are on steroids.  Still, for so many who were born and raised in the Magnolia State, to even consider somewhere else home would feel like a betrayal.

Unless, of course, you’re one of the scandalous legal minds who are now calling a federal prison home.  In a post a year ago, Dickie Scruggs had just been sentenced to five years in federal prison for bribery and other crimes.  Today revealed yet another player in this convoluted scheme who’s anticipating a portion of his own life being spent behind bars.  Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obstruction of justice.  It all stems from former Pascagoula attorney Dickie Scruggs receiving an unfair advantage in a case that went before DeLaughter where millions of dollars were at stake.  Scruggs, along with Joey Langston, another Mississippi attorney, teamed up with a former Hinds County, MS district attorney who was also once DeLaughter’s boss.  Ed Peters agreed to approach DeLaughter on Scruggs’ behalf and promise him an appointment to the federal courts if he would rule in favor of Scruggs.  Former Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) is Scruggs’s brother-in-law and his name was used in the negotiations.  It should be noted Senator Lott played no role in this and was not aware of his name being used to further another’s career.  Lott recommended another candidate for that position.

The case before DeLaughter was between Scruggs and his former partner, William Roberts Wilson, Jr.  Wilson claimed Scruggs stole money the two earned in the multi-million dollar asbestos lawsuits.  He further accused Scruggs of using the stolen money to finance the historical tobacco lawsuits that resulted in new laws being written across the country.  Although Wilson had a solid case, it did no good and DeLaughter ruled in Scruggs’s behalf. 

He was charged last year and has been on administrative leave with pay, which is more than $104,000.00 per year.  That all changed this week and he’s now facing up to twenty years in prison.

If the name Bobby DeLaughter sounds familiar, it’s likely because he was the prosecutor who was responsible for ensuring Byron De La Beckwith was finally held responsible for the 1963 murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers.  In the film “Ghosts of Mississippi”, Alec Baldwin portrayed him.

Governor Haley Barbour is now in the process of appointing another to serve out the remainder of DeLaughter’s term.

There’s a difference in boycotting an illegal activity and boycotting something’s that’s protected by free speech.  The NAACP is again attempting to stop an act that’s both legal and protected by free speech.  Specifically, they’re threatening to boycott Miami Motor Speedway’s hosting of November’s NASCAR race unless it bans Confederate flags.  NASCAR officials argue they can’t control what 65,000 fans wear or

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display and even if they could, they’re not the owners of the speedway.  Further, none of NASCAR’s drivers or marketing materials display any symbol associated with the Confederate flag.  A spokesman for NASCAR has said the organization would be happy to meet with officials from NAACP to explain the situation, but anything further than an explanation isn’t warranted.

The only enforcement the speedway can possibly ensure is that no flag be waved in the stands since it blocks other fans from viewing the race.  That said, it can’t legally prohibit anyone from entering the raceway who’s wearing shirts or other clothing that reference the Confederate flag.  The ACLU has weighed in as well.  Its spokesperson has said bringing the flag into any event is protected as free speech.

So what exactly does the NAACP want the raceway to do?  Clearly, attempting to dictate what’s acceptable (within reason, of course) in terms of clothing leads to nothing good and leaves it open to lawsuits for lawyers.   It seems a protest held onsite will only hamper everyone’s enjoyment who arrives there to witness the final race of the season.  Still, there’s a letter in draft form that’s being prepared to send to the speedway in an effort to have any images of the Confederate flag banned and warnings that failure to do so will result in a protest and boycott if the speedway or NASCAR refuse to support the group’s efforts.

The potential exists for groups that support the Confederate flag to host their own counter protests should it come to that, specifically the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, based in Tennessee.

Brian France, who is the CEO of NASCAR said it best in a 2005 interview, “…I can’t tell people what flag to fly.  I can tell you the flag we get behind - it’s the American flag.”