Michael Brunson Wallace (born January 1, 1951) is an American lawyer from

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

and a former nominee to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

Background

Michael Wallace was born January 1, 1951, in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1973. In 1976, he graduated from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

, where he served on the ''

Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revi ...

'' and was named to the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

. Wallace then clerked for

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

Justice Harry G. Walker from 1976 until 1977 and then-Associate

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

from 1977 until 1978. From 1980 to 1981, Wallace worked as a research analyst for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

House Republican Research Committee. From 1980 to 1983, he worked as the counsel for the Office of the Republican Whip in the U.S. House under future Mississippi senator

Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the ...

. Wallace was a legislative consultant to the

Administrative Conference of the United States The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent agency of the United States government that was established in 1964 by the Administrative Conference Act. The conference's purpose is to "promote improvements in the effi ...

from 1984 to 1994. The Conference's primary responsibility was to examine administrative processes in Congress and federal agencies for the purpose of recommending improvements. From 1984 to 1990, Mr. Wallace served as a board member of the

Legal Services Corporation The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is a publicly funded, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing funding for civil legal ...

, a private, non-profit corporation established by Congress to promote the availability of legal services to the

indigent Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

. He served as board chairman from 1988 to 1990. From 1983 to 1986, Mr. Wallace was an associate at the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

of Jones, Mockbee, Bass & Hodge. For a substantial time he was a partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP, also in Jackson. In 1992, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

considered Mr. Wallace for nomination to the federal bench. His name was submitted to the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

for review, and some civil rights organizations expressed their opposition. The nomination never came before Congress. He is currently a shareholder with the firm of Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway in Jackson, Mississippi.

Fifth Circuit nomination under Bush

On February 8, 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

nominated Wallace to the

to fill the seat vacated when

Charles W. Pickering Charles Willis Pickering Sr. (born May 29, 1937) is an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and, briefly, of the Unit ...

, a recess appointment to the Court in January 2004, retired at the end of that year. Wallace was opposed by the Senate Democrats and various advocacy groups, who asserted Wallace had tried to undermine meaningful enforcement of the U.S.

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

laws. In addition, as chair of the

, Wallace had been criticized by from Democrats and a few moderate Republicans for seeking to undermine the agency. He authorized the use of LSC funds to lobby Congress for cuts in LSC's budget and to pay lawyers to prepare a memo arguing for LSC's abolition. Republican Senator

Warren Rudman Warren Bruce Rudman (May 18, 1930November 19, 2012) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as United States Senator from New Hampshire between 1980 and 1993. He was known as a moderate centrist, to such an extent that Pres ...

characterized Wallace's appeal to Congress as "absolutely bad faith." The

's judicial-evaluations committee determined that Wallace "has the highest professional competence" and "possesses the integrity to serve on the bench," but gave him a "not qualified" rating, finding him lacking on the element of "judicial temperament." Senate Republicans blamed the "not qualified" rating on liberal bias within the

's leadership and judicial-evaluations committee. In December 2006, Wallace announced that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the Fifth Circuit. In September 2007,

Leslie H. Southwick Leslie Harburd Southwick (born February 10, 1950) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and a former judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Early life and education Born in Edinburg, T ...

was confirmed to the seat.

External links

Official White House Biography
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/opinion/15tues1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin Help Wanted: Qualified Judgesat the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Report on Nomination of Michael Wallace
at People For the American Way

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Michael Living people 1951 births American lawyers People from Biloxi, Mississippi Harvard University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Mississippi Republicans

Background

Fifth Circuit nomination under Bush

See also

External links

Notes