Eagle Story about the Lange/Dawson Scruggs book
Yesterday’s Eagle had a story about the upcoming Alan Lange & Tom Dawson book about the Scruggs and Paul Minor case.
Attorney Tom Dawson and Alan Lange, who manages the political blog Y’all Politics, met last year at an Ole Miss football game.
Dawson, who was one of the lead prosecutors in the Scruggs judicial bribery scandal, retired in January from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Alan reached out to me and said he was thinking of doing some writing,” Dawson said Tuesday. “I told him I was thinking the same thing.”
The book will document Scruggs’ rise to fame during his tobacco and asbestos lawsuit and then his fall from grace when he pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey and his involvement in corruptly influencing Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter. …
The book also examined the case of Minor, who was convicted of mail fraud in 2007 for having helped Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz Jr., and his family secure loans to fuel Diaz’s election campaign by providing personal guarantees.
Minor also allowed Diaz to use an apartment he owned. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence.
Lange announced the book on the Paul Gallo show on Supertalk radio on Tuesday. Later on his blog, he wrote: “As any reader of Y’all Politics would expect, all of the political intrigue and campaign finance dots will be connected.”
Lange said although there is some unfinished business related to the Scruggs case — mainly the sentencing of Judge DeLaughter, who pleaded guilty earlier this year — the two authors felt the saga had come to enough of a close to finish the book.
“We wanted to get the book out there,” Lange said. “There’s not much left.”
The story notes that Wilkie expects his book to be out next year.
“There’s not much left.” There’s not much new in the book either.
No No there is allot left. Connecting the dots will be a complex process.
It looks like it’s self-published. Maybe more money in it to do it this way – with a topic that is primarily for an in-state audience? Any opinions, booksellers?
Way to go guys for getting in hardback what has been on the internet alone until now. These two crooks need to be behind bars and stay there. It will be such a travesty of justice if the appeals court were to overturn Minor’s conviction or to reduce his sentence. Here’s hoping your book will get public opinion to see that they are both low-lifes and deserve to be in prison.
I’ll bet there would be a lot left if someone could squeeze P.L. Blake.
If they could acquire some of his “newspaper clippings” from the tobacco days, I’ll bet that would be interesting to put in the book also.
Self-published books mean they aren’t good enough for real publishers.
The only folks who truly believe that “There’s not much left” are the sheep in society who will believe almost anything.
There is plenty left involving these players. But, the political will and courage to pursue the complete truth and more justice is simply not there. The further you go in these matters, the higher you go up the food chain. And the political class will not allow this to happen easily.
So, what is really meant is that there is not much left that will be relatively easy. And there is plenty left at the state level —–asuming we had an AG that was not part of the criminally corrupt political “family”. But, he won’t be AG forever —likely not even another term — and there is an incredible opportunity for an enterprising future AG to make a name for him/herself.
This also leaves the door open for some truly in-depth, investigative reporting by some courageous journalists willing to get “old school” and truly be part of the intended “check and balances” on our government and its politicians.
And unless someone soon rises to the occasion —to delve into whether there is truly “not much left” — we will likely read all about what is left many years from now in the inevitable “tell-all” type books that will likely be penned by those engaged and ensnared in the corruption — misery likes company.
Whatever happened to you writing a book, NMC? And whatever happened to that lawsuit to un-seal the settlement between State Farm and Hood? And P.L. Blake — whatever happened to him? And Ma Lobrano and Kerri and Cori?
I answered about the book– in the last year, roughly, work has overtaken the time I was spending on the book. I’ve am still accumulating materials.
I don’t know what Judge Bramlette has done with the unsealing, other than nothing, and last I heard about Kerri and Cori, Judge Senter was moving forward on the qui tam suit, although I need to check back.
I had the pleasure of seeing Judge Lackey in the MC Homecoming parade yesterday being honored as Alumni of the Year. If there was ever a man who deserved a parade…
http://www.mc.edu/about/offices/public_relations/news/?story=1219
Also, how smart was that move by P.L. Blake to hire Tom and affectively muzzle the best source of news and reporting on his acts of corruption.
Sound like a mafiosa move to moi
On the book, NMC, don’t you run the risk of a couple of books coming out before yours and losing the attention of the few of us who still buy books?
Yes, NZS, that’s a risk I run.
Do you have a title for it, NMC?