George Carlson
George Clarence Carlson was a presiding justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, representing District 3, Place 3. He was appointed to the court by Governor Ronnie Musgrove and took office on November 1, 2001. He retired on December 31, 2012.[1][2][3]
Education
Carlson received his B.S. Mississippi State University in 1969 and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1972.[4]
Career
After graduating from law school, Carlson spent 10 years in private practice. In 1982, he was elected to the 17th District Circuit Court. He was re-elected to this position in 1989, 1990, 1994, and 1998. He was appointed the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2001.[5]
Awards and associations
- 2003 Chief Justice Award
- Supreme Court Representative, Board of Governors of the Mississippi Judicial College
Noteworthy cases
Court rules Judge's remarks protected
The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects comments of a George County court judge who said he believed homosexuals should be put in a mental institution. The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance last year asked the Supreme Court to publicly reprimand and fine Judge Connie Glenn Wilkerson, citing him for judicial misconduct. The Supreme Court, in a 5-2, said it would not punish Wilkerson for the remarks.
Carlson dissented, stating; "There can be no doubt that the judge in today's case made demeaning remarks in a public letter ... expressing bias or prejudice against a targeted sector of the population which includes individuals who may be expected to come before his court,".[6]
Mississippi's only woman on death row
A woman lost appeal to commute her death penalty sentence for the murder of her husband. For the majority, Carlson wrote:
- "We have found in this case that, during this trial, there were instances of error committed by the trial court. With the numerous difficult decisions — pretrial, trial, and post-trial — which the learned circuit judge was called upon to make, many of which had to be made with only a few seconds of deliberation, errors will be made. That is a fact of life. However, we have never held that a criminal defendant was entitled to a perfect trial, even with our heightened scrutiny in death-penalty cases. A perfect trial is simply impossible."[7]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Carlson received a campaign finance score of 0.84, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.69 that justices received in Mississippi.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
See also
- News: Justice Carlson receives Mississippi State University award prior to retirement, March 30, 2012
- News: Justice Carlson to leave Mississippi Supreme Court, November 15, 2011
External links
- State of Mississippi Judiciary, George C. Carlson, Jr.
- Project Vote Smart, Presiding Justice George C. Carlson, Jr. (MS)
- State of Mississippi Judiciary, "George C. Carlson Jr. takes oath as Supreme Court Justice," November 1, 2001
- Magnolia Report, "Five questions with Justice George C. Carlson"
Footnotes
- ↑ WDAM.com, "Justice Carlson announces plans to retire at end of term," November 14, 2011
- ↑ The Northwestern, "Carlson to be honored by Mississippi State," March 25, 2012
- ↑ Mississippi Courts, "Supreme Court says farewell to Justice Carlson," December 14, 2012
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, Presiding Justice George C. Carlson, Jr. (MS)
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, George C. Carlson, Jr.
- ↑ First Amendment Center, "Mississippi high court: Judge's remarks about gays are protected," July 6, 2004
- ↑ Prison Talk, "Condemned woman loses bid for retrial," October 17, 2003
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
