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Scott Colom

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Scott Colom
District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2016
Preceded byForrest Allgood
Personal details
Born
Scott Winston Colom

(1982-12-24) December 24, 1982 (age 41)
Columbus, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Education

Scott Winston Colom[2] (born December 24, 1982)[3][4] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the district attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi. He is a former nominee to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Early life and education

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Colom is a native of Columbus, Mississippi. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Millsaps College in 2005 and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2009.[5]

Career

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From 2009 to 2011, Colom worked as a staff lawyer at the Mississippi Center for Justice. From 2011 to 2016, he operated the Colom Law Firm. In 2011, Colom, then aged 28, was appointed the youngest and first black justice court judge in Lowndes County history. From 2012 to 2013, Colom served as a municipal court judge in Aberdeen, Mississippi, and interim justice court judge in Lowndes County, Mississippi.[6] From 2013 to 2016, he served as the part-time city prosecutor of Columbus, Mississippi. He was the first Black city prosecutor for Columbus.[7] Colom was elected district attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi in 2015,[8][9] defeating a nearly 30-year incumbent, Forrest Allgood.[10] Colom was sworn in on January 4, 2016.[11] He was the first Black elected district attorney for the 16th Circuit and the first Black elected district attorney to a majority-white voting district in the history of Mississippi.[12][13] He ran unopposed in 2019 and was re-elected.[14] He ran for reelection in 2023 and was unopposed in the Democratic primary.[15]

Notable cases

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In 2012, Colom represented Taylor Bell, a student at Itawamba Agricultural School who was disciplined by the school for publishing a rap song on Facebook that contained vulgar lyrics and criticized two coaches at the school.[16] The district court dismissed Bell's challenge, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the dismissal, finding that the disciplining of a student for purely off-campus activities violates the First Amendment.[17]

In 2016, Colom supported the release of Steven Jessie Harris to a state mental health facility. Harris had been held for 11 years without a trial.[18][19]

In 2021, Colom dropped murder charges against Eddie Lee Howard. Howard spent 23 years on death row, after his conviction was based on debunked bite mark evidence.[20][21]

Nomination to district court

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On October 14, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Colom to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.[5] On November 15, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Colom to the seat vacated by Judge Michael P. Mills, who assumed senior status on November 1, 2021.[22] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. He was renominated on January 23, 2023.[23] Congressman Bennie Thompson initially recommended Colom for the role in a November 2021 letter to the White House.[8][24] He received support from Senator Roger Wicker, who returned his blue slip, but on April 4, 2023, it was announced that Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith would not be returning her blue slip, effectively blocking his nomination.[25][26][27] Hyde-Smith cited Colom's support for letting transgender students participate in girls' and women's sports and money he received from a PAC funded by George Soros as reasons for her opposition.[28][29] On April 10, 2023, he wrote a letter to Senator Hyde-Smith asking her to reconsider her opposition to his nomination.[30][31] In the letter, Colom stated that he did not request the money from the PAC, did not know the money would be contributed, and did not receive any money from the PAC when he was re-elected in 2019.[32] The letter also stated that he never discussed his policies or any decisions he made as District Attorney with anyone from the PAC or with Soros.[32] The letter also disputed that Colom had ever taken a position on letting transgender students participate in girls' and women's sports; instead, he said he had signed onto a letter with other District Attorneys condemning the criminalization of gender affirming surgery.[32] As of December 2023, his nomination was still stalled despite bipartisan support from Congressman Thompson, Senator Wicker and former governors Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour.[1] On January 3, 2024, his nomination was returned to the president.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Vance, Taylor (December 5, 2023). "Despite bipartisan support, Scott Colom's federal judicial nomination still stalled in Senate". Mississippi Today. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "Scott Winston Colom, Lawyer at The Colom Law Firm | LawyerDB.org". www.lawyerdb.org. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  3. ^ "Discover the Networks | Scott Colom". Discover The Networks. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "Scott Colom | MSDA16". msda16.org. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "President Biden Makes Twenty-Seventh Judicial Nominations Announcement and Announces New Nominees to Serve as U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals". The White House. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  6. ^ Smith, Slim (November 16, 2021). "Scott Colom recommended for federal judge seat". The Dispatch. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  7. ^ "Scott Colom '09 Nominated to Serve as Judge for U.S. District Court". University of Wisconsin Law School. October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Vance, Taylor (October 14, 2022). "Biden intends to nominate Scott Colom for federal judge in north Mississippi". Daily Journal. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  9. ^ Corder, Frank (October 14, 2022). "President Biden nominates DA Colom for U.S. District Court for Mississippi's Northern District". Mississippi Politics and News – Y'all Politics. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  10. ^ Robles, Frances (March 30, 2017). "5 Prosecutors With a Fresh Approach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Barnes, Joey (January 4, 2016). "Video: Colom Sworn-In As District Attorney". WCBI. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  12. ^ "Scott Colom | MSDA16". dacircuit. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Tabor, Nick (March 27, 2018). "What If Prosecutors Wanted to Keep People Out of Prison?". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Corder, Frank (October 14, 2022). "President Biden nominates DA Colom for U.S. District Court for Mississippi's Northern District". Mississippi Politics and News – Y'all Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  15. ^ "Colom to win by default Dem. primary race for 16th Judicial District DA seat". June 28, 2023.
  16. ^ "Miss. Student Challenges Suspension Over Rap Song". www.jacksonfreepress.com. Associated Press.
  17. ^ Jr, David L. Hudson. "Bell v. Itawamba County School Board (5th Cir.)". www.mtsu.edu.
  18. ^ "Man Held 11 Years Without Trial Will Go to Mental Facility". www.jacksonfreepress.com. June 14, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  19. ^ "Man held 11 years without trial will go to mental facility". The Washington Times.
  20. ^ "Murder Charge Dismissed After Debunked Bite-Mark Testimony | JFP Mobile | Jackson, Mississippi". m.jacksonfreepress.com.
  21. ^ "Murder charge dismissed after debunked bite-mark testimony". thestar.com. January 11, 2021.
  22. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. November 15, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 23, 2023.
  24. ^ "District Attorney Scott Colom could be headed to the federal bench". November 18, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  25. ^ "Biden Trial Court Nominee Blocked by Mississippi GOP Senator". April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  26. ^ "Mississippi senator plans to block Biden judicial nominee". April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  27. ^ "GOP senator moves to block Biden judicial pick". Reuters. April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  28. ^ "US judicial nominee seeks to reverse senator's opposition". AP News. The Associated Press. April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  29. ^ Pittman, Ashton (April 6, 2023). "Sen. Hyde-Smith Blocks Biden Judge Pick for Mississippi Over Trans Rights, Soros". Mississippi Free Press. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  30. ^ "Letter to Senator Hyde-Smith". April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  31. ^ "Biden Court Pick Rejects GOP Senator's Claims About Background". April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  32. ^ a b c Vance, Taylor (April 12, 2023). "Colom asks Hyde-Smith to reverse her opposition to his judicial nomination". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  33. ^ "PN182 — Scott Winston Colom — The Judiciary". January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
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