Supreme court to hear tobacco gripe

The state Supreme Court is set to hear another tobacco lawsuit, this one from State Senator Peter Kinder who is challenging Missouri’s contract with private lawyers who worked on the state’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry. He complains Nixon awarded lucrative contracts for outside counsel to campaign donors, instead of seeking legislative approval. He says the arrangement holds “enormous potential” for abuse. Kinder says at the very least, there is an appearance of political favors being handed out.