Friday, March 2nd, 2007 — A federal judge in Gulfport, Miss. has refused to disqualify himself from hearing a bid to certify a class-action lawsuit against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. over the insurer’s handling of claims after Hurricane Katrina. Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm had questioned whether U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. can be impartial in the case because a federal magistrate judge and a federal court clerk in Mississippi could be plaintiffs in a class action against the company.