Scarlett A. Wilson is a native of Hemingway, South Carolina. She graduated from Clemson University in 1989 and from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992. After a year clerking for the Honorable Don S. Rushing, Scarlett spent eighteen months working as a Fifth Circuit Assistant Solicitor. In 1995, Scarlett joined the United States Attorney's Office and its Violent Crimes Task Force. She was a joint winner of the 1997 Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance by an Assistant United States Attorney. Scarlett prosecuted various types of federal cases including those involving drugs, murder, murder-for-hire and armed robbery.