JACKSON, Miss., September 26, 2017 (Newswire.com) - In March, longtime 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge E. Grady Jolly informed President Donald Trump of his intentions to step down and retire from the federal bench.
The letter, dated March 1, informed President Trump of Jolly's intent to retire on Jolly's 80th birthday, which is in October. The opening will set up the Trump administration's first judicial appointment for the state of Mississippi.
Attorney Eduardo Flechas has endorsed U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to replace Jolly. Flechas has personally reached out to Senator Thad Cochran to make his endorsement known and hopes his recommendation comes to fruition in October.
Jolly, a Winston County native, has enjoyed a 35-year federal judicial career since succeeding the late Judge James Plemon Coleman on the 5th Circuit bench in 1982.
The reason for Eduardo Flechas to endorse Judge Jordan with the Mississippi senator is because the U.S. Constitution gives the U.S. Senate "advice and consent" over judicial nominations of the president.
While this is stated in the Constitution, it is also senatorial courtesy, whereby senators from the sitting president's party strongly recommend a nomination or kill it by objecting. The custom is usually enforced by the senators their power of the confirmation process of new nominees.
Eduardo Flechas wanted to share his endorsement with Senator Cochran because many other candidates are being mentioned by other high-profile judicial members and the media.
Those include:
- State Supreme Court Justice James D. Maxwell, a former state Court of Appeals justice and former assistant U.S. attorney appointed to the state high court in 2016.
- State Court of Appeals Justice Jack Wilson, appointed by the court in 2015, then elected to an eight-year term in November.
- Former assistant U.S. attorney Mike Hurst, who prosecuted high-profile government corruption cases. Hurst made an unsuccessful but noteworthy run for attorney general in 2015.
Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Judge Jordan received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Mississippi in 1987 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School in 1993.
On April 24, 2006, Judge Jordan was nominated by then-President George W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, which was vacated by Judge Tom Stewart Lee.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Jordan on July 20, 2006, and he then received his commission on August 7, 2006.
Senator Cochran holds a strong and respected voice when it comes to voicing his recommendations, which is why Eduardo Flechas has tugged the ear of Cochran.
In the early days of the Republican administration of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Cochran was the junior senator from Mississippi and the only GOP senator from the state. Cochran made it clear his nominee to succeed Judge Coleman would be Jolly.
President Donald Trump's administration has been anything but traditional and some pundits suggest his administration's judicial appointment process may likewise break tradition.
But when it comes to the U.S. Senate and their likeliness to surrender either its constitutional "advice and consent" right or its senatorial courtesies on judicial appointments to President Trump? No. Neither will Senator Cochran and fellow Mississippi GOP U.S. Senator Roger Wicker.
There will clearly be many Mississippi Trump supporters who believe they will have great influence over who gets the judicial nomination to replace Judge Jolly.
But history suggests we can expect Jolly's successor, as was Jolly in 1982, to be an appointee approved by Senator Cochran. This would make attorney Eduardo Flechas pleased and make Judge Daniel Jordan the man to replace Judge Jolly for many years to come in the state of Mississippi.
Source: Web Presence LLC
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