Immunity Doesn’t Bar Former Justice’s Suit Against Ex-US Attorney, 5th Circuit Rules

A federal appeals court has refused to block a lawsuit contending that former U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton improperly released tax information to an ethics commission about a one-time justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Lampton does not have absolute prosecutorial immunity for forwarding the federal tax records obtained during his unsuccessful prosecution of Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. The Clarion Ledger and the Associated Press have stories on the decision by the New Orleans-based court. Lampton gave the tax records to the state Commission on Judicial Performance, which dismissed Lampton’s complaint in 2008. Lampton had argued he…