Federal Judges To Appoint U.S. Attorneys?

[marty.lederman at comcast.net]

Well, of course Myers is a postmaster dismissal case.  But in its decision in that case, the Court stated the *uncontroversial* and uncontested view that a United States attorney is an inferior officer.  (The cite to Parsons v. United States is on the removal, not the appointment, question; in any event, Parsons postdates the Constitution's ratification by more than a century.)

The AC question is even easier after Edmond, which is why it hasn't been much of a stumbling block for the courts of appeals who have addressed it recently (Hilario, 218 F3d at 25; Gantt, 194 F3d at 999).
  
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: JMHACLJ at aol.com
>  
> In a message dated 3/20/2007 4:57:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
> marty.lederman at comcast.net writes:
> 
> And that  question has been long-settled, too.  See, e.g., Myers, 272 U.S. at 
> 159;  3 Op. OLC at 449; 2 Op. OLC 58.  Which is why, as Sam and Ed Hartnett  
> have pointed out, judicial appointment of such officers is nothing new.  
> 
> 
> 
> Well, in fact, Myers is a postmaster dismissal case.  And the  dispositive 
> case upon which it relies is Patrick Henry's "Parsons Case" a case  that long 
> predates the Constitution and its Appointments Clause and likewise  long 
> predates the Judiciary Acts that created the offices of United States  
> Attorneys.  
> Now, the result might still be the same.  But I'm still  perplexed by the 
> leap-frogging that is not supported by the claimed  authorities.
>  
> Jim Henderson
> Senior Counsel
> ACLJ
> Adjunct Professor
> Regent University School of Law
> 
> 
> 
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