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Scarlett
Wilson becomes first woman to serve as Ninth Circuit Solicitor
Date:
7/6/2007
By Glenn
Smith
The Post
and Courier
Friday,
July 6, 2007
Scarlett
Wilson, chosen to succeed Ralph Hoisington, could be the first female solicitor
for the 9th Circuit, which includes Charleston and Berkeley counties.
Veteran prosecutor Scarlett Wilson was picked to succeed Solicitor Ralph
Hoisington on Friday after Gov. Mark Sanford’s first choice for the job had an
abrupt change of heart.
Wilson, who was Hoisington’s second-in-command, becomes the first woman to
serve as the top prosecutor for the Ninth Circuit, which includes Charleston and
Berkeley Counties. She must still be confirmed by the state senate, but she
assumed the job on an interim basis under an emergency appointment by Chief
Justice Jean Toal, Sanford spokesman Benjamin Fox said.
The news came just one week after Sanford announced that federal prosecutor
Scott Schools had been chosen to succeed Hoisington, who died last month after a
six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. The choice of Schools, the interim U.S.
Attorney for the Northern District of California, had been well-received in
Charleston’s legal circles.
Schools, 45, informed the governor’s office on Friday that he no longer
wished to take job, Fox said. Schools could not be reached for comment late
Friday afternoon.
Wilson, 39, is a native of Hemingway. She graduated from Clemson University
and then USC Law, in 1992. After clerking for Circuit Judge Don S. Rushing, she
worked as an assistant solicitor before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office and
its Violent Crimes Task Force in 1995. She began working for Hoisington after
his election.
“I am honored by Governor Sanford’s confidence in my abilities, just as I was
six and a half years ago when Solicitor Hoisington chose me as his
second-in-command,” Wilson said in a written statement. “The opportunity to
serve the people of Berkeley and Charleston Counties as Solicitor is quite a
privilege. I look forward to continuing Solicitor Hoisington’s legacy and
building on our solid relationship with law enforcement.”
Copyright © 1997 -
2007 the Evening Post Publishing Co.
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