While Forest attorney and longtime civil rights activist Constance Slaughter-Harvey firmly but politely declined to confirm or deny reports circulating like wildfire, the veteran lawyer is indeed under consideration by key Democratic Party figures and the Obama administration as the new U.S. attorney in Mississippi’s Southern District.

“It would be inappropriate for me to confirm or deny any discussions of that nature, said Slaughter-Harvey. “What I will say is that if I were under such consideration, I would count it a great honor to serve my country.”

Along with Slaughter-Harvey, other attorneys said to be under consideration for the post include Cliff Johnson of Jackson — a former assistant U.S. attorney and the law partner of former U.S. attorney Brad Pigott — and current assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Gee. There are others as well.

Thompson will choose

Clearly, 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson will be the key Mississippian who will sign off on the vast majority of federal patronage jobs in the administration of President Barack Obama. Thompson’s chief of staff, Lanier Avant, made that clear in a Jan. 15 interview.

“I think Congressman Thompson is looking for a more progressive government, particularly in terms of the federal judiciary as it relates to the federal district courts and the federal marshals,” said Avant.

Slaughter-Harvey, 62, has a significant legal and political pedigree that fits the scenario Avant outlined. Thompson and Slaughter-Harvey have a long history together when it comes to the civil rights struggle.

The 1999 book Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement by Townsend Davis offers this account of a May 1967 incident in Jackson: “Two Tougaloo students were disciplined for using a school bus to retrieve their classmates from a rally at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University), and this only spurred more protests. It prompted Tougaloo students to boycott classes and block the campus gate.”

The two Tougaloo students who commandeered the school bus for the protesters? Slaughter-Harvey and Thompson.

Thompson went on win the seat he’s held in Congress since 1993.

Life after bus

escapade

In 1970, Slaughter-Harvey was the first African-American woman to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi Law School.

Later, she filed a desegregation lawsuit against the Mississippi Highway Patrol which resulted in the hiring of African-American patrolmen.

In 1980, she joined former Gov. William Winter’s staff as director of human development, and later served as assistant secretary of state in Mississippi under Dick Molpus. She also served as adjunct professor at Tougaloo College from 1970-2005.

Slaughter-Harvey isn’t the only lawyer under consideration as the new Southern District U.S. attorney in Mississippi. But by her impressive legal career, her tenacity and her life experiences, she may well strike the best balance of devotion to the law and color-blind political pragmatism to break yet another racial and gender barrier in a long career of breaking barriers that mattered in Mississippi.

(Contact Perspective Editor Sid Salter at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail ssalter@clarionledger.com. Visit his blog at clarionledger.com.)