When I heard the news that Chancery Judge Larry Buffington of Collins had ordered the Simpson County Board of Supervisors to hire defeated former state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz as a Simpson County Youth Court public defender, I wasn't at all surprised. Buffington told the Clarion-Ledger that he ordered the supervisors to hire Diaz because the board had cut out of their county budget a public defender post he wanted filled — AND — because Diaz told him he needed one more year to qualify for his state retirement benefits.Dozens of comments have been posted, and again, here are a few of the choice ones.
The move will cost the Simpson County taxpayers about $4,300 in the current fiscal year and $5,750 over the next calendar year - money that Simpson County had cut from the budget in a lean budget year. Mississippi Adequate Education Funds have already been cut for the Simpson County public schools for kids who aren't in trouble. The county already has two other appointed public defenders. But Buffington is going to force the Simpson County Board of Supervisors to pay Diaz and there's nothing they can do about it.
But who should be surprised. Buffington, in 2006, sought re-election to his chancery judgeship while simultaneously running for an open seat on the state Court of Appeals. Had he won the Court of Appeals race - which he didn't — his constituents in Covington, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Simpson and Smith counties would have had to turn around and pay for a special election. But he didn't care. It was legal, so he did it.
Forcing Simpson County to help Oliver Diaz finish out his retirement - or forcing them to pay for another public defender their elected representatives didn't believe they could afford - isn't a great leap from not caring if you make the taxpayers pay for a do-over election so you can run for higher office with a safety net.
But I suspect Simpson County voters will remember this come the next judicial election...or at least they should.
GeneFrenkle wrote:
It is not incumbent upon the people of Simpson County to ensure that Justice Diaz has a soft place to land now that he is off of the court, nor is it Judge Buffington's place to guarantee that Justice Diaz will be provided the generous benefits provided by state retirement.spencerg wrote:
Consider this: Buffington has been rejected by voters from large districts TWICE -- once in 2006 for the 4th Dist. Appeals Court seat and once in 2002 for Southern Dist. Supreme Court Justice. Meanwhile he keeps getting elected to his local post.BillT wrote:
Wait a minute. A judge not only gets to tell a county to fill a position, but also gets to pick who gets hired? When a head hunter puts you in a new job they get a cut of your salary. Does the judge get his cut?spencerg wrote:
Not only is Buffington going to force the county to fill a position but then to dictate who gets that position, it had better be for more that just doing a political buddy a favor. So I repeat my question: Was either criminal law or Youth Court ever a significant part of Oliver Diaz's Harrison County legal practice?spencerg wrote:
My original argument was that despite two full posts of Larry Buffington ranting in a manner that shows a complete lack of judicial temperament he had failed to offer ANY evidence that Oliver Diaz has the skills needed to provide effective counsel to clients facing criminal charges in a Youth Court. If your argument is that the only qualification needed to fill the position is a law license then you are right. But that means that ANY attorney would do and therefore the ONLY reason that Diaz, a man who doesn't even live in the affected jurisdiction, was selected by Buffington was as a result of political cronyism.Clayton wrote:
The point is, if this was a pressing issue, why didn't Judge Buffington make the appointment earlier? Because it wasn't important to him until his friend Oliver Diaz needed to finish out his retirement. Then he orders, not that the position be filled, but it be filled with his pick so his friend can finish out retirement.SharonD23 wrote:
When a judge decides to appoint people like this, how does he go about it? Does he take resumes? Does he announce the position and ask for applications? What rules do they have? Can they just pick their friends and set their salaries?
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