McCoy’s name submitted for U.S. attorney
McCoy declined to discuss the matter, and spokesmen for Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton have done the same.
Thompson, a strong Obama ally, submitted McCoy’s name for the job, an attorney close to the appointment process told the Daily Journal. It’s unclear who the choice will be in the Southern District, although Forest attorney and longtime Thompson ally, Constance Slaughter-Harvey, is mentioned frequently.
U.S. attorneys across the country enforce federal criminal and some civil laws. Mississippi has two, but some large cities have their own.
Mississippi has never had a female U.S. attorney. McCoy is white and Slaughter-Harvey is black.
The mother of two, McCoy is married and has practiced solo in Oxford for several years specializing in criminal defense.
She’s the daughter of Ernie and Sandra McCoy of Booneville and early in her career practiced in her hometown.
The nominations must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Traditionally, appointments like this come from home-state senators, but since Obama is a Democrat and Mississippi’s senators are Republicans, the president was expected to seek nominees from Thompson after consultation from fellow Democrats Rep. Travis Childers of Booneville and Rep. Gene Taylor of Bay St. Louis.
McCoy, 40, earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. She joined the Mississippi Bar soon after her graduation in 1994.
A former Booneville municipal judge, she also worked with the firm Langston Frazer Sweet & Freese.
NE MS Daily Journal
6/15/9
