A Jackson lawyer who's considering running for governor next year has filed a federal lawsuit against oil companies and distributors over the increase in gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina.
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Prem Nair said in an e-mail Friday that she could not comment on the lawsuit because company officials had not had a chance to review it.
Another obstacle to her commenting on the lawsuit may have to do with her unwillingness to utter such words as "dumbass", "bullshit" and "brain-dead lawyer" in a public statement, since it's nearly impossible to comment on the lawsuit without using those words.
The lawsuit says gasoline prices in Mississippi were at or near $3 after Katrina "and it was only two years ago that Mississippians were paying less than $1.50 a gallon."
Gasoline prices in Texas were at or near $3 during that time as well. Gas prices all around the country were around that level, except in California, where prices were even higher.
One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Randy Beesley of Ovett, told The Associated Press on Friday that two days after Katrina, he sat in a gasoline line for four hours in Hattiesburg. He said purchases were limited to $50, and that was barely enough for his 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck.
Barely enough? Is a $50 limit really that unreasonable when there were people lined up to buy gas?
Eaves said he will ask a federal judge to allow the case to be tried as a class-action lawsuit on behalf of anyone who has purchased gasoline in Mississippi since Katrina. 5:27 PM
