Mississippi Supreme Court won't remove Favre from lawsuit over misspent welfare money
CTV
The Mississippi Supreme Court says it will not remove former NFL quarterback Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money meant to help some of the poorest people in the United States.
The Mississippi Supreme Court says it will not remove former NFL quarterback Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money meant to help some of the poorest people in the United States.
A panel of three justices issued a brief ruling Wednesday, denying an appeal from Favre.
His attorneys said in written arguments in May that the Mississippi Department of Human Services is making "utterly meritless" legal arguments in suing the Pro Football Hall of Famer.
On April 24, Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson denied Favre's request to be removed from the lawsuit, which has more than three dozen people or businesses as defendants. Favre asked the Supreme Court to overturn Peterson's decision.
Millions of federal welfare dollars for low-income Mississippi residents were squandered on projects supported by wealthy or well-connected people from 2016 to 2019, prosecutors say.
The Department of Human Services' lawsuit, filed in 2022, says money from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program was improperly spent, including on projects Favre supported: US$5 million for a volleyball arena at the university he attended and where Favre's daughter played the sport, and $1.7 million toward development of a concussion treatment drug.
No criminal charges have been brought against Favre, although a former department director and other people have pleaded guilty to their part in the misspending.
