Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Nearly two years since I first blogged about Mississippi U.S. Attorney appointments, Ya'll Politics links this Patsy Brumfield blog article about renewed speculation that President Obama may be about to appoint state Sen. Gray Tollison as the Northern District U.S. Attorney. Tollison's name first surfaced as a possibility in July.

Ms. Brumfield sounds tired of the speculation:

So, I wont' say it's a sure thing.

But I'm told from a very reliable source, with Washington perspectives, that state Sen. Gray Tollison of Oxford will be The Guy. Tollison is mum on the subject.

Of course, that comes after months and months of on/off/confused, and yea even no reports that it was Oxford attorney Christi R. McCoy or Felicia Adams, who's an assistant U.S. attorney in Jackson.

But maybe this time, it's right. We'll see.

My reaction is the same as I perceive Brumfield's to be: fatigue.

It reminds me of the scene from the movie Invincible where Mark Wahlberg tells the Eagles manager that they have his name spelled wrong on his locker. The manager's unenthusiastic response is that he is sorry, but does it really matter?

That's how I'm going to feel if and when Obama ever gets around to appointing U.S. Attorneys in Mississippi. It will be very anti-climatic because it is something that he should have done a long time ago and has totally botched.   

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In July I mentioned in a post that Jackson attorney Greg Davis is under consideration for appointment as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. That is still the case.

I am hearing that DOJ is conducting a standard background investigation of Davis. The investigation includes calling lawyers around town and asking them what they think of Davis. Lawyers have been taking these phone calls in the last few weeks. This probably means that Davis in the current favorite to be named U.S. Attorney for the Southern District.

President Obama and the Justice Department have been asleep at the wheel on the Mississippi U.S. Attorney positions for the entire 2–year Obama administration. A review of the Main Justice Web Site's U.S. Attorney chart shows that the vast majority of positions around the county have been filled. The current rumblings surrounding Davis is no strong indication that Obama is waking up on this.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Felicia Adams is thought to still be the leading candidate in the Northern District, despite more recent rumors focusing on Senator Gray Tollison.

Frankly, Obama has taken so long to fill these positions that interest on the subject seems to have waned. Obama will be in a dog fight to keep his job two years from now, so any appointments at this late date may be short term. Filling judicial and U.S. Attorney positions is an area where the Obama administration has underachieved and disappointed its supporters.

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As reported yesterday on Ya'll Politics and other sites, it appears that Gray Tollison will be the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi. Tollison is a great choice. But why hasn't he emerged as a candidate sooner?

I have not called around looking for U.S. Attorney rumors in a while, so Tollison's name caught me by surprise. The last I heard was that Felicia Adams was likely to be the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District. Perhaps she is now in the mix for the Southern District post. I've also heard that Jackson attorney Greg Davis is a possibility for the nomination. But that was not a rumor with much conviction, so I am not making a prediction there.

No matter how you cut it, President Obama and the Justice Department have totally botched the two U.S. Attorney nominations in Mississippi. We are a year and a half into what may be a one term presidency and we are still waiting on both nominations. Alan Lange nailed it on this issue in April and I'm just going to quote from his take:

 Whether you are a D or R, this is a big deal. Given our lack of ability to police our own in Mississippi, we have historically disproportionately depended on US Attorneys to help deal with matters like public corruption. Steady hands with a quality backgrounds are needed to fill those seats. There is certainly no shortage of quality lawyers in Mississippi who could handle these jobs, and it's a bit of an affront to the legal community that this hasn't gotten done. With confirmation usually a few months down the road from nomination, it may legitimately be year end before Mississippi can get someone confirmed even if nominees were settled on pretty quickly. We are now running up to the point where good people may not consider taking an appointment for what would effectively be only a two year term (as one would not think that a second Obama term would be a guarantee). That's a big ask of someone to give up their entire law practice for just two years and assume all of the restrictions that a US Attorney takes on after stepping down.

That was in April. The further that we go without nominations, the more this applies.