Democrats upset with White House appointments

By By Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene
Alabama Democrats are becoming increasingly upset with the Obama White House over federal appointments here and are fearful the President is about to nominate a person who does not hold a license to practice law in the state as the U. S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama.
Alabama has three federal judicial districts, the Northern District, based in Birmingham; the Middle District, based in Montgomery; and the Southern District, based in Mobile. Each has a United States District Court and a U. S. Attorney and staff who prosecute cases before the District Courts.
The administration quickly named a chief federal prosecutor for the Northern District, Joyce Vance, who replaced Bush appointee Alice Martin several months back. Also a replacement for U. S. District Judge U. W. Clemon, who retired in January, was quickly made with Abdul Kallon, who has now been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Kallon, 40, was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings where he represented employers in labor and employment cases and was a former clerk for Clemon.
In the Southern District in Mobile Capitol Hill staffer Kenyen Brown, an African American, has been nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Brown would be the first African-American to hold a top federal prosecuting position in Alabama. He didn’t lobby for the job and wasn’t one of the two candidates formally recommended to the White House by Alabama Democrats.
But things haven’t moved so quickly in the Middle District in Montgomery as holdover U. S. Attorney Leura Canary remains in office as competing Democratic factions, the state’s two Republican U. S. Senators and the Obama White House can’t get together on a selection.
It has been reported that Sen. Richard Shelby has held up the appointment of former public defender Joseph Van Heest of Montgomery, while Sen. Jeff Sessions objected to Michel Nicrosi, a Montgomery native and former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District, as well as attorney George Beck, some of the names floated for the job. The moves by Shelby and Sessions perhaps came because the White House had a fleeting thought one of the two might vote with them on health care. It wasn’t just a fleeting thought it was also certainly an unrealistic one.
There is also the speculation that either Shelby or Sessions is attempting to keep Canary on until she can draw full retirement, which is reported to be In recent weeks it has come to light that one or more White House staffers have been pushing for an assistant prosecutor in the Northern District, hired by Martin five years ago and who has been on the prosecution teams which have successfully prosecuted several Democratic office holders, including Don Siegelman and Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, to be Canary’s replacement in the Middle District in Montgomery.
Her name is Tamara Matthews Johnson. Very little is known about her except that she is African American, a graduate of Duke Law School, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and is reputed to be a “rabid, right-wing Republican.” She was not on any list proposed by committees selected by the State Democratic Party or Congressman Artur Davis for appointments to federal positions in the state. Some, however, suggest that since she is being pushed by a “friend in the White House,” she might garner the support of Davis.
While there is no apparent requirement that U. S. Attorneys or Assistant U. S. Attorneys be licensed to practice law in a state, a check of the Alabama State Bar’s website does not show Johnson as a licensed member of the Alabama Bar. I did not have the time to search every state, but it would be surprising, or maybe it wouldn’t. that the White House would appoint a chief prosecutor in a federal district who could not even appear as an attorney in state court.
GOP Candidate Johnson gets threatening mail
Gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson says he has gotten threatening mail since he announced that he was resigning his position as director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs in June to run for governor.
Recently, someone sent a piece of mail that had a picture of Johnson with a soldier holding a gun to his Johnson’s head, with the phrase “Say Goodbye to Bill” underneath it.
The most recent letters had return addresses from the Montgomery County Republican Party, the State Department of Mental Health and Alabama Medicaid. Previous letters had return addresses from the Alabama Democratic Party.
Johnson says he believes the letters have been sent in connection with statements he has made about his concerns that Mississippi Indian casino money is influencing Gov. Bob Riley’s public policy with regard to gambling in Alabama.
Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. Email him at: bob@montgomeryindpendent.com