JACKSON – Rickey Thompson of Shannon will never be allowed to serve as a judge again, according to a split decision handed down Thursday by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The former Lee County Justice Court Judge argued that his removal from the bench by the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance only applied to the current term. Thompson argued that he was not disqualified from running for office again in the future.
In a 6-2 decision, the state’s highest court did not agree.
“We hold that the phrase ‘remove from office’ ... means a permanent separation from office,” Associate Justice Josiah Coleman wrote in the majority opinion. “A removal from office that is not permanent is a suspension.”
The commission began investigating Thompson in November 2013 and eventually determined he engaged in judicial misconduct in several areas. In September 2014, the commission recommended that Thompson be removed from the bench and pay more than $11,000 in fines and costs.
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While the supreme court was reviewing the case, Thompson ran for re-election and garnered 55 percent of the vote in the August 2015 Democratic primary. Nine days later, the supreme court ordered Thompson removed from the bench. The Lee County Democratic Executive Committee then removed Thompson from the general election ballot, replacing his name with Marcus Crump, who finished second.
In response, Thompson and Tupelo attorney Jim Waide filed an appeal with the supreme court and a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Hinds County.
“We still have the case before a three-judge panel in federal court where we argue that they violated the Voting Rights Act,” Waide said. “They stayed that case, pending a decision in state court.
“We argue that the provision to remove a judge from office was approved while Mississippi was still under a pre-clearance requirement. That provision was not pre-cleared by the Department of Justice as required.”
The 2013 case was not the first time the commission investigated Thompson or sanctioned him. Thompson was publicly reprimanded in 2008 and 2012. He also was fined $2,000 and suspended for a month in the 2012 case.