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

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The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that President Obama nominated Jackson attorney Greg Davis to become U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi:

President Barack Obama has nominated a Jackson lawyer as the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Gregory Davis is a member of the law firm Davis, Goss & Williams PLLC, which he co-founded.

Davis graduated from Mississippi State University in 1984 and Tulane University School of Law in 1987.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Davis will succeed Dunn Lampton, who retired. First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Dowdy Jr. has been the office's interim leader since January. 

President Obama [a.k.a. The Tortoise] nominated Davis nearly a full year after his name first surfaced as a candidate for the position.

My Take:

Finally, one of my own people gets nominated to an important federal position. That's right. Davis is……..a golfer.

When Davis walks into the federal courthouse, the U.S. Marshals will say: “now there goes a man who knows the humiliation, degradation, frustration, anger, and total injustice of…..slicing a ball into the drink on 18 with the match on the line.” 

Davis is a shining beacon for golfers everywhere that there is hope for overcoming that devilish past time.  

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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.