My colleague Tony Alfieri had a nice column in the Miami Herald about what sort of person should replace the departing US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Marcos Jiménez, the incumbent, is due to resign tomorrow. Time for a woman in this job?:
… history teaches that since 1828 the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District has been led by a woman only once, in 1962, when Edith House served for eight months as acting U.S. attorney by court appointment.
A career prosecutor, House served as an assistant U.S. attorney for 34 years both in Jacksonville and Miami. …
By rough count then, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District has been led by men for 176 of the last 177 years, give or take eight months.
Meanwhile, however, the White House has let it be known that it plans to name Alexander Acosta, a Miamian who now heads the Civil Rights Division in main Justice, as the interim US Attorney. It's an odd appointment for two reasons: Jiménez, the incumbent, was lobbying for his deputy (with about 20 years of experience) to get it, and while Mr. Acosta has a sterling record any Federalist would be proud of, he's only 36 and has very little relevant experience.
The Herald reports that Acosta will likely be a candidate for the permanent appointment; I see this move as being a stepping stone to a local judgeship.
