Jim Kitchens

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Jim "Kitch" Kitchens is a candidate for the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2008. He is running for the District 1, Place 3 seat on the court currently occupied by Chief Justice James Smith. Ceola James is also in contention for the seat.

Kitchens is a Sunday school teacher and a Baptist deacon. He has been married for nearly fifty years.

Contents

Legal Education and Experience

Jim Kitchens received his undergraduate degree in 1964 from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi in Oxford in 1967.

Kitchens served as D.A. to Mississippi's 14th district, which encompasses Copiah, Lincoln, Pike, and Walthall counties, for three terms beginning in the early 1970's. He received his undergraduate degree in 1964 from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi in Oxford in 1967. He is licensed to practice law in Mississippi and the District of Columbia, as well as in all state and federal appellate courts. Early in his career he was the court-appointed attorney for Byron De La Beckwith.[1]

Awards and Associations

Jim Kitchens has been active in the National District Attorneys Association and the Mississippi Prosecutors Association. Since returning to private practice, Jim Kitchens has served in leadership roles for the American Association for Justice and the Mississippi Association for Justice, including on the boards of governors and executive committees. In 1998, Jim Kitchens successfully litigated an heirship paternity proceeding on behalf of the only child of blues legend Robert Johnson, more than 60 years after the musician’s death. Kitchens has appeared in Rolling Stone magazine and will be portrayed in an upcoming HBO movie about the case.[2]

Judicial Philosophy and Campaign Contributions

Kitchens describes himself as "an old country lawyer", but is running a tech-savvy campaign, with a campaign blog, MySpace account and active outreach to bloggers in the state.

  • Kitchens "is a stout supporter of an elected judiciary". He says that he "respectfully disagrees" with opponent James Smith's idea that supreme court judges in Mississippi ought to be appointed by the governor rather than elected. "The people of Mississippi cherish the right to vote for their officials. I don't think they want to give up the right to elect one third of our government."[3]
  • Campaign disclosure: "We need to improve the way we select judges. Judges should be elected, but they shouldn't have the ability to know who contributed to whose campaigns."

The people, he said, should "know that there's a judge sitting on the bench who won't be affected by campaign contributions."

  • “In the last several years, a disturbing trend has emerged from our courts, one where the people of Mississippi are routinely overlooked for the benefit of large corporations and out-of-state interests,” Kitchens said recently.[4]

2008 Campaign

Kitchens adds levity to campaign

In a recent interview with Associated Content, Kitchens said he was pleased with his campaign's progress, but would be even more happy if this year's race included a larger territory. "The district touches Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama, and I think I'm running way ahead in all those states. But, as far as the district itself is concerned I think we're gaining ground. We're sure working hard, seeing a lot of folks, and people have been mighty receptive."

Kitchens also took the opportunity to stress his distaste for Chief Justice Smith's call for an appointed judiciary. Kitchens disagrees with the Justice's contention that taking money out of judicial campaigns will weaken the political hold (i.e. special interest) on justice. "The issue is one of accountability of the Judges to the people. Here Judges are much more in touch with the people. [With appointments] you really just shift the emphasis; those who are interested in who's on the bench will shift their focus more to the executive that does the appointing. You can't depoliticize it no matter what you do. It's still going have a political element to it."

He additionally endorsed expanding legal services to those who cannot afford them.

[Kitchens] said he thinks the discussion of doing away with contingency fees and having the Attorney General's office enlarged to handle the workload "would be a mistake" and would lead to higher taxes. "If the public is willing to pay for that, well, okay," he said. "The only way to expand the Attorney General's office is to get more tax revenue somewhere. But, it's a trade off."[5]

Fundraising good for some

There are four months left in the Supreme Court races, and as 10 candidates seek four seats on Mississippi's Supreme Court, five of them have raised more than $100,000 each. Two candidates report raising no money. Ann Lamar reported raising $31,100 during June, while Gene Barton's report shows he borrowed $42,000 from himself and $75,000 from credit cards until campaign contributions roll in to pay them off.

Statewide, the top judicial race fundraisers so far are: James Smith of Brandon - $211,999; Jim Kitchens of Crystal Springs - $186,659; Gene Barton - $142,445; Chandler - $125,838; Randy Pierce of Leakesville - $115,718. For the month of June, Chief Justice Smith of Brandon is the money leader - raising $142,449. After expenses, he reported cash on hand at $139,673.86.[6]

Rivals outraise Incumbents

Some opponents of three Mississippi Supreme Court justices are far outpacing the incumbents in campaign contributions in their quest to gain a seat on the nine-member court, based on initial campaign finance reports. In District 1, Chief Justice James Smith, who has been on the court since 1993, has raised $69,550 this year. His opponent, Crystal Springs lawyer Jim Kitchens, has raised $125,000. Smith and Kitchens couldn't be reached for comment. The third person in the race for Smith's seat, former Chancery Judge Ceola James of Vicksburg, reports no campaign contributions or distributions in the campaign finance report filed with the Mississippi secretary of state.[7]

See Also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Kitchens for Justice
  2. ↑ Kitchens for Justice
  3. ↑ Meridian Star, Kitchens running on judiciary campaign reform, May 29, 2008
  4. ↑ Kitchens Challenges Smith To State Supreme Court Post
  5. ↑ Supreme Court Candidate Kitchens Makes Stop in Flora
  6. ↑ The Daily Journal
  7. ↑ [http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080629/NEWS/806290367/1001/news The Clarion Ledger
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