In this October post, I discussed the vacant 5th Circuit Court of Appeals slot and mentioned Justice James Graves as a candidate to fill the position. Since then, President Obama’s administration has moved at its typical slow pace in filling the position. With the President’s White House Counsel leaving the administration at the end of the year, it appears unlikely that the announcement of a nominee is imminent.
It’s my understanding that Justice Graves remains on a growing list of candidates. Other names mentioned as candidates, in no particular order, include:
- Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd,
- Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Denise Owens,
- former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Robert Gibbs,
- Jackson attorney Doug Minor,
- Assistant U.S. Attorney Felicia Adams, and
- Circuit Court Judge Margaret Carey-McRae.
It sounds like Judge Winston Kidd is Congressman Bennie Thompson’s candidate. But each of the other candidates have their own supporters in political circles or the bar. I have not heard of Congressmen Gene Taylor or Travis Childers supporting a candidate. Taylor is known to stay out of appointment debates. Childers is rumored to have focused on pushing for Oxford attorney Christi McCoy to be named U.S. Attorney for the Northern District. But McCoy is unlikely to get the nod.
It is believed that some of the 5th Circuit candidates have been interviewed over the phone by the White House.
A huge question is when will the White House make an announcement. To see how long this could go on, look at the vacant U.S. District Court seat that has long been presumed to be going to Jackson attorney Carlton Reeves. The seat has been vacant for years and Reeves has been the only known candidate since Obama’s election more than a year ago. But the White House has yet to make an announcement and appears to be in no hurry to make an appointment.
If the White House follows a similar pace with the 5th Circuit nominee, we will be still be talking about this vacancy this Summer, and perhaps later.