Judge Notes "Pay to Play" in a Hood Case

NMissCommentor.com and Y'allPolitics both bring us this sad recognition that the Court recognizes "pay to play" scernarios between plaintiff firms and attorneys general, in a case which Jim Hood is participating along with his special counsels, who happened to contribute more than $30,000 to his campaign.

From a footnote in the US District Court Judge Jed Rakoff's opinion:

The Court in not unaware of disturbing allegations that state entities not unlike MissPERS [the Mississippi state retirement system], and law firms not unlike Bernstein Litowitz, have engaged in “pay-for-play” arrangements, by which such an entity will not even consider hiring such a law firm unless the law firm has contributed to the campaign fund of the relevant state elected official, such as the attorney general. See, e.g. John C. Coffee, Jr., ‘Pay-to-Play’ Reform: What, How, and Why, New York Law Journal, May 21, 2009, p. 5. But no such allegations are presently before the Court in this case.

Check NMC and Y'all for the full story.