MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2017 1st Extraordinary Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Simmons (12th), Norwood, Butler, Simmons (13th), Blackmon, Frazier, Witherspoon, Jackson (11th), Jordan, Dawkins, Barnett, Stone, Hopson, Turner-Ford

Senate Concurrent Resolution 510

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE DISTINGUISHED PROSECUTORIAL SERVICE OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI FELICIA C. ADAMS WHO WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATTORNEY TO SERVE IN THIS POST.

     WHEREAS, Honorable Felicia Adams has announced her retirement from office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi; and

     WHEREAS, President Barack Obama nominated Felicia C. Adams to serve as a United States Attorney in March 2011.  She worked as a Federal Prosecutor from 1989 to 2010 before her selection as United States Attorney in 2011; and

     WHEREAS, "Felicia Adams demonstrated an unwavering commitment to justice throughout her career, and I am honored to nominate her to serve the people of Mississippi as United States Attorney for the Northern District," said President Obama; and

     WHEREAS, Felicia Adams was, at the time of her appointment, an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, where she served since 2000.  From 1989 to 2000, Adams was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi and from 1988 until 1989, she served as Legal Counsel to the Governor's Office of the State of Mississippi; and

     WHEREAS, Felicia Adams was under consideration to replace the late Judge Allen Pepper in the Northern District, which would have made Adams Mississippi's second female and third African-American District Court Judge, contingent on President Obama winning reelection in November 2016; and

     WHEREAS, following law school, she served as Law Clerk to the
Honorable Odell Horton of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee from 1984 to 1985.  Adams graduated from Jackson State University in 1981 and from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1984; and

     WHEREAS, Honorable Felicia Adams was a leader and mentor in The Mississippi Bar, consistently following the standards of the practice, including ethics, integrity, civility, courtesy, and adherence to the Golden Rule.  Her contributions to the Federal Court System have honored both The Mississippi Bar and this great state that Felicia Adams has served:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the distinguished prosecutorial service of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi Felicia C. Adams who was the first African-American attorney to serve in this post, extending our best wishes to Felicia and her family for success as she enters the next chapter of her career.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Felicia Adams, forwarded to the Administrator of Courts for the Northern District of Mississippi and The Mississippi Bar, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.