For the past two months we have all witnessed a massivepolitical struggle of trial lawyers vs. the medical and businesscommunity. The medical community finally got some relief in theform of medical tort reform, and the business community is waitingits turn as debate continues at the special session in Jackson.Only time will tell if the med reform that has passed, and thebusiness reform that hopefully will be passed, have anysubstance.

While it was easy to generate public outcry for the statemedical community as the public can see and feel the urgency ofdoctors cutting back on their medical care, it is not quite so easyto see and feel the urgency of the business community. But, it isevery bit as serious in that wages, jobs and the cost of goods andservices are being affected, which will eventually hurt theeconomic development of the state.

The trial lawyers are painting a picture of the greedy andpowerful corporations as the villains in this case. They do nothave to look further than WorldCom to make their point. The problemis that the picture trial lawyers are painting also covers smallbusiness, such as mom and pop stores, that make up the majority ofcompanies across the state. It is these small businesses that areon the tightest of budgets and can ill-afford even the threat of afrivolous lawsuit.

While all the attention has been played on the civil justice –or tort reform — debate going on in Jackson, there is another evenmore important stage for the debate: the Mississippi Supreme Courtelection in November pitting Justice Chuck McRae againstchallengers Jess Dickinson and Larry Buffington.

McRae, of course, is the darling of the trial lawyers and isfirmly entrenched with those who have made suing a cottage industryin Mississippi. His other escapades with his personal DUI problemshave made him the poster child for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers,and deservedly so.

A study released recently by the Business & IndustryPolitical Education Committee (BIPEC), a lobbying group sponsoredby Mississippi’s business community, shows the leaning of thestate’s highest court attributes to the growth in lawsuits acrossMississippi.

The study conducted by a Washington-based research group foundthat opinions of four justices (Justice Chuck McRae, Justice ChuckEasley, Justice Oliver Diaz and Justice James Graves) added to theexpansion of liability lawsuits in local courts and thus help fuelthe explosion of multi-million dollar jury awards.

One local judge told me recently that, in his opinion, tortreform was unnecessary in that the real problem lies in the judgesacross the state who refuse to stand up and make the properdecision.

That is one of the problems with having elected judges — theyare also politicians who are subject to special interest pressure.But since that is the system we have in Mississippi, it isimperative that voters understand the importance of electing judgeswho are fair and impartial and not beholden to groups such as thetrial lawyers.

It all starts at the top with our Supreme Court Justices, andthat is why the election this year is so important.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602.