The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two interesting opinions today. One dealt the final blow in a lawsuit a former judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals filed against a sitting US Congressman. The other is a case of first impression dealing with the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
James v. Thompson, 2021-CA-00458-SCT (Civil – Other)
Affirming dismissal of a lawsuit against a U.S. Congressman, holding Mississippi law does not provide relief for the plaintiff’s claims of tortious interference with the election and her job as a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
(4-0: Justice Kitchens, Justice King, Justice Coleman, and Justice Griffis did not participate)
NOTE – The plaintiff’s claim stemmed from a “sample ballot” distributed by Congressman Thompson:
Carr v. Mississippi Lottery Corporation, 2021-CA-01304-SCT (Civil – Other)
Affirming the trial court’s decisions in a case of first impression interpreting and applying the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, holding that the plaintiff failed to prove that he lawfully registered and used five domain names that infringed on the Mississippi Lottery mark under the ACPA and that the trial court did not err in consolidating the hearing for preliminary injunction with a trial on the merits, by denying the plaintiff’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint, or by denying the plaintiff’s motion to dissolve or modify the permanent injunction.
(9-0)
Other Orders
In Re: Advisory Committee on Rules, 89-R-99016-SCT (authorizing and directing the disbursement of $20,000.00 from the Court’s Judicial System Operation Fund to the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules for its necessary work through September 30, 2023)
Manning v. State, 2020-CA-01096-SCT (denying rehearing)
Wall v. Wall, 2020-CT-01096-SCT (denying cert)
McGee v. Neel Schaffer Engineers and Planners Inc., 2020-CT-01277-SCT (denying cert)
Wofford v. State, 2020-CT-01341-SCT (denying cert)
James v. Thompson, 2021-CA-00458-SCT (denying motion for sanctions for frivolous appeal)
Unifund CCR Partners v. Estate of Jordan, 2021-CT-00761-SCT (denying cert)
Harris v. State, 2022-M-00417 (vacating sentence to serve a term of life without parole and remanding to the trial court for resentencing)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 