On Thursday, Columbus attorney John Brady asked members of the Columbus Exchange Club to vote for him for Mississippi Supreme Court Justice in the November election.
John Brady announced his candidacy for the District 3, Place 1 seat on the Supreme Court, replacing Ann Lamar. He is running against long-time 16th Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens.
Brady said that until the election in November, he will travel around the 33 counties in North Mississippi that can elect him to give voters the opportunity to get to know him.
Brady has worked as an attorney for over 20 years, usually defending businesses against law suits around the state. He is currently a shareholder in the North Mississippi law firm Mitchell, McNutt and Sams.
In his talk to the Exchange Club, Brady said that after 22 years of practicing law, he has decided Supreme Court is the best decision he could make for himself and his family.
“I’m ready to do something for our state and the way that I can do it and continue to practice law is by running for the Mississippi Supreme Court,” he said.
Brady promised to apply already existing laws and to persuade other justices to understand those laws and how they applied to cases as he sees fit.
“One of the things that you have to do on the Supreme Court is convince people to see things the way that you see them because it takes five,” he said. “Five people have to agree to render a decision. And it takes a special skill set to be able to do that, and I think I’ve developed that skill set over the past 22 years of trying to convince judges, juries and others.”
The state Supreme Court — which Brady called the “final decision-making body of litigated matters in Mississippi” — needs justices who can look at both sides of an issue and make decisions based on law, Brady said. He added that he would not try to change the law.
“Some judges do that,” he said. “That’s not the type of judge I would be. And I would be someone who would try to build consensus on the court so that the ultimate outcome would be the way that I think it should be.”
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