The push to name a woman or a minority to be the next U.S. attorney in Chicago appeared closer to succeeding Sunday after a nominating committee named three finalists–including two women–to succeed U.S. Atty. Jim Burns.
The committee selected Scott Lassar, interim U.S. attorney; Ann Tighe, a former federal prosecutor; and Andrea Zopp, a former first assistant Cook County state’s attorney who is an African American. Zopp and Tighe are lawyers in private practice.
U.S. Sens. Carol Moseley-Braun and Dick Durbin, both Democrats, will pick one candidate and submit that choice to President Clinton. The U.S. Senate will vote on the nomination.
“These individuals were chosen from a group of well-qualified applicants because they possess outstanding legal credentials and experience,” said Thomas Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney is chairman of the nominating committee.
Although the post is supposed to be non-political, party politics has always played a key role in the selection process and the post has sometimes been a steppingstone to elected office. Tighe, for instance, is the wife of Cook County Assessor James Houlihan, a Democrat.
Zopp’s nomination is more unusual. For several years, she was the top lawyer in the office of a Republican state’s attorney.
The three candidates are vying for the spot of chief prosecutor for the Northern District of Illinois. Burns held the post for four years before he resigned in August and later announced he would run for governor.
The finalists, chosen from a field of 17 applicants, were selected by a nine-member nominating commission that screens applications for federal judges, U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals in northern Illinois. Members of that committee were appointed by Moseley-Braun and Durbin.
The candidate list likely satisfies Moseley-Braun, who has said she believes the nominating committee should consider diversity as one of its goals. Earlier this year, Moseley-Braun expressed disappointment when the committee forwarded a list of 15 names to fill five judicial vacancies–a list that included two women and no minorities.
Moseley-Braun could not be reached for comment. But Mike Briggs, spokesman for the senator, said he did not know whether Moseley-Braun was pleased with the diversity of the candidate pool because he had not spoken to her about that.
Briggs said Moseley-Braun and Durbin will interview the three nominees in early December and submit their choice soon after. Though the post covers only the Northern District of Illinois, Briggs said Durbin and Moseley-Braun will have equal say in the selection.
“They’ve been through this process before with judges, so they are both experienced and comfortable with the process,” Briggs said.
The next U.S. attorney will face a full plate.
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Federal prosecutors are in the midst of Operation Silver Shovel, the ongoing investigation into public corruption. And the FBI has launched what sources describe as a full-scale probe into the activities of former Ald. Patrick Huels (11th). If charges are filed, the U.S. attorney’s office would prosecute.
Of the three finalists, Lasser, 47, of Highland Park, is the most experienced federal prosecutor. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1975 until 1986, when he left for private practice.
When Jim Burns took over in 1993, he brought Lassar back as the No. 2 man. Lassar has served as interim U.S. attorney since Burns resigned in August. Lassar has handled numerous high-profile cases, including the ongoing criminal price-fixing case against Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Tighe, 58, of Chicago, served as an assistant federal prosecutor from 1973 to 1978. Since then, she has been a prominent criminal defense attorney in the law firm of Cotsirilos, Stephenson, Tighe & Streiker.
Zopp, 40, of Chicago, served as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1983 to 1990. In 1991 she joined the Cook County state’s attorney’s office under then-State’s Atty. Jack O’Malley. As the first assistant, she tried high-profile cases and helped supervise an office that has seven times more prosecutors than the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago.
Zopp was lead prosecutor in the sexual misconduct trial of former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds. She also played a major role in the conviction of former Chicago Police Officer Gregory Becker, who was convicted of armed violence in connection with the shooting death of a homeless man.
She is now a partner at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal.