The Mississippi Supreme Court put the future of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi in grave doubt this week, ruling that a lower-court judge erred in giving the smoking-prevention group $20 million from the state's share of the nationwide tobacco settlement.

The Associated Press reported June 14 that the state's highest court said that Chancery Judge Jaye Bradley had no right to direct the money to the Partnership in 2000 without the consent of the state legislature. The ruling upheld a 2006 order from another chancery judge.

The Partnership shut down after the ruling in December but had appealed to the Supreme Court.

The lawsuit pitted Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco industry lawyer, against former Attorney General Mike Moore, who led the legal team that crafted the tobacco settlement and established the Partnership.