Cracks in the Closed Society

Any time a president of the Mississippi Bar Association makes a speech, most Americans might give odds that he would include a blast at the U.S. Supreme Court. But Earl T. Thomas, partner in a top Jackson law firm, produced something quite different last week in a talk to Mississippi judges on "how to improve the administration of justice."

A key problem is loss of public faith in courts, said Thomas, and one big reason is "backwash from the irrational, intemperate and emotional criticism of the United States Supreme Court. Fair, objective and rational criticism of said court, as of all courts, is not only healthy and to be commended, but also to be continued. When criticism, how ever, not based on rational or reason able bases, becomes solely vitriolic and emotional, then all courts are bound to suffer in the consequent loss of respect, prestige and the confidence of citizens. For the layman is unable to differentiate or becomes forgetful of the difference between the courts."

Thomas, a native Mississippian and graduate of the Ole Miss law school, went on to criticize Mississippi's own courts for archaic customs and "adherence, by acquiescence, inertia or other wise, to the 'sporting theory of justice,' which makes justice a game instead of a quest for truth." He even urged the state to emulate federal courts and catch up with other states by approving modern pretrial discovery techniques and summary judgments (where there are no real factual issues) "for the removal of sham actions from the trial calendars." If Thomas surprised his listeners, who included the entire Mississippi Supreme Court, they also surprised him. "Earl, that's just what we need," said one admiring judge.

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