About Us
Introduction
Based on A Brief History of the United States Attorneys in the Southern District of Mississippi, by Daniel E. Lynn. Lynn served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and as the first Chief of the District's Civil Division (1968-95). The western lands of colonial Georgia became the Mississippi Territory on April 7, 1798. At that time, President John Adams appointed a governor and three superior court judges to govern the new territory. Before long, the governor pleaded with the President to appoint a United States Attorney who was, as the Judiciary Act of 1789 required, "learned in the law." Congress granted the governor's wish and, in 1813, a District Court for the territory was created. Thomas D. Anderson was commissioned as its first U.S. Attorney on July 29 of that year.
In 1817, Mississippi entered the Union as the 20th State and on April 3, 1818, was organized as a single judicial district by Act of Congress. Sessions of the court were held at the State Capital of Washington in Adams County. The District Court was moved to Natchez in 1822, and to its present location of Jackson in 1835.
Early United States Attorney's
Bella Metcalf became the first United States Attorney following Mississippi's statehood. He had been educated by his older brother, "Old Stone Hammer" Metcalf, the tenth Governor of Kentucky. After leaving the district, Metcalf was commissioned as Judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court. His successor, William Griffith, also left the Office of the United States Attorney to become Justice of the State's Supreme Court.
Mississippi Divided Into Two Districts
In 1838, Mississippi was divided into the Northern District and the Southern District. Although the districts had separate U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals, they shared a District Judge until 1929.
Richard M. Gaines was U.S. Attorney for the District of Mississippi when the state was divided into two separate districts. Still in office after the division, he became the first U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. Gaines served in that post for more than a decade. An 1843 newspaper article described him as "energetic and rigidly conscientious in the discharge of his duties," which may account for the article's further description of him as "now scarce forty and ... gray as a Norwegian rat."
Carnot Posey was United States Attorney when the civil War broke out. He resigned his office and was reappointed by Jefferson Davis to the same position under the Confederacy but soon resigned again in order to join the war effort. His bravery made him a local hero. Posey attained the rank of General before dying from battle wounds in 1863.
Another U.S. Attorney who greatly influenced life in the region was A.H. Longino. Longino, commissioned on February 6, 1888, resigned his office one year later to run for the Office of Governor which he won. Under his leadership, Mississippi began construction of a new statehouse with a rather substantial appropriation for that time of $1 million.
Julian P. Alexander served as U.S. Attorney from 1919 to 1921. Unable to qualify for active service during World War I, he became a member of the Four-Minute Men Organization and delivered many speeches on war causes. As U.S. Attorney, Alexander became known for locating and placing into active service, hundreds of draft dodgers. In 1941, he became an Associate Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court where he gained a reputation for the humor contained in his opinions.
Edward Hindman dubbed an "able and fearless prosecutor" by the local newspaper, served as United States Attorney from 1921 to 1929.
United States Attorneys (1929 - 1954)
From 1929 to 1933, Ben Cameron served as U.S. Attorney. A former school teacher and football coach from Meridian, he found his true calling and achieved immediate recognition in the practice of law. He was greatly admired and respected for his integrity and his strong and loyal devotion to Mississippi. Cameron went on to become a Judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, appointed by President Eisenhower in 1955.
Another favorite son of Meridian, Robert Bourdeaux, succeeded Ben Cameron, and served as U.S. Attorney from 1933 to 1938. An honors graduate of Ole Miss Law School, and a former County and Circuit Court Judge, Bourdeaux presided over a staff of two Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
From 1938 to 1947, one of the most beloved Mississippians of his day, Toxey Hall, served as U.S. Attorney. Spectators would fill the courtroom just to hear him speak, and it once was determined that Hall was so popular that more than 300 people had been named in his honor.
Joseph Brown served as U.S. Attorney from 1947 to 1954. A former District Attorney from Adams County, he was the last U.S. Attorney permitted to maintain a private law practice during his tenure.
U.S. Attorney Robert E. Hauberg (1954 - 1980)
In January 1954, Robert E. Hauberg took the oath-of-office as U.S. Attorney, a position he held for 26 years, setting the record for the longest tenure of any U.S. Attorney. An impressive figure, he stood six & a half feet tall and used this to full advantage in prosecuting criminals or hitting home runs in the annual "Sawbones versus Shysters" softball game.
Under his guidance the District gave priority to voting rights and school desegregation suits under the Civil Rights Act. Hauberg and Department of Justice attorney John Door were successful in the prosecution of seven defendants charged with conspiracy to violate the civil rights of three civil rights workers murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Observers cite this, and related cases, as the point at which the federal courts broke the strangle hold of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi.
United States Attorneys: Later Years
Hauberg's successor, George Phillips, began in 1980 as the Nation's youngest U.S. Attorney, and concluded as its most senior in 1994. He once declared he'd rather have been a cowboy, and proved as proficient at rounding up criminals, as he was at rounding up horses in private life. One of Mississippi's "Untouchables," he earned the reputation as tough on public corruption by helping convict over 50 county supervisors in "Operation Pretense." He also received national recognition for his work with the District's Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee. Phillips' statement to prospective Assistants characterizes the history of the Office: "If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness."
From 1994-2001, Brad Pigott served as U.S. Attorney. Noted for his community outreach, Pigott established a nationally recognized "Weed & Seed" and "Safe Streets" program to both reduce and prevent crime. An advocate of proactive civil enforcement, he worked to add resources for the District's civil division. Under his leadership, a strong program of affirmative civil enforcement, such as housing discrimination suits and healthcare fraud cases, produced significant recoveries by the government.
A career Justice Department prosecutor, James B. Tucker served as U.S. Attorney from January 2001 through September 2001. He served under four U.S. Attorneys and was the District's first Criminal Division Chief. A legend in the courtroom, he was a primary prosecutor in such high profile trials as "Operation Pretense," and conviction of the Mayor of Biloxi for his role in the "Dixie Mafia" murder-for-hire of a councilwoman and local judge. A retired Captain in the Naval Reserve Judge Advocate General's Corps, and an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, Tucker retired in January 2002, after 31 years of service.
On September 14, 2001, the week of the infamous September 11th terrorist attacks, Dunn Lampton was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. Former District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District, and Army National Guard Staff Judge Advocate, Lampton faced a new chapter in law enforcement requiring an active campaign to ensure homeland security. Having served 25 years as a career prosecutor, he focused on coordinating federal, state and local resources to build professionalism and to use all tools available for vigorous criminal prosecution and for affirmative civil enforcement.