KINDER TOBACCO LAWSUIT SET SEPT. 7

The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 7 in state Sen. Peter Kinder's lawsuit challenging Attorney General Jay Nixon's deal with private attorneys to sue the tobacco industry on the state's behalf.

The court, which last Wednesday agreed to hear the case, is expediting Kinder's lawsuit so it can be heard the same day as a previously scheduled case related to the state's settlement with the tobacco industry. That case was brought by parties seeking a share of settlement, which is estimated at $6.7 billion over 25 years.

Five members of the court -- all appointees of Republican former Gov. John Ashcroft -- have recused themselves from both cases. The two remaining Supreme Court judges -- both appointed by Democrat Gov. Mel Carnahan -- along with five lower court judges will comprise the high court for the cases.

Judge Ronnie White, the senior remaining judge, selected five replacements -- three based in the St. Louis area and two based in Kansas City -- to sit on the bench for the case involving the intervenors. White has not yet picked the judges who will hear Kinder's case, court spokesman Tracy Synan said.

Kinder expects all five previously assigned judges to be on the bench for his case.

Kinder, a Cape Girardeau Republican, and Rickey Jamerson, a political activist from St. Louis, sued Nixon and the attorneys he hired last September.

Kinder and Jamerson alleged Nixon's contract with private attorneys was illegal and unconstitutional.

A Cole County Circuit Court judge in Jefferson City and a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District in Kansas City both upheld the contract.

Kinder is confident the state's highest court will overturn the lower courts' rulings.

"We will go suit up, snap on our chin straps and make our arguments," Kinder said. "Hopefully, we will prevail for the taxpayers of Missouri."

mppowers@socket.net