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Mar. 21, 2005 Volume 29, Issue 28 |
Federal judge selected for pre-law award
The Pre-Law Society at Mississippi State is selecting the state’s newest federal judge for its 2005 Distinguished Jurist Award.
U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett of McComb will receive the honor March 29 during an 11 a.m. public program in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library. He was nominated to the federal bench last year by President George W. Bush.
Prior to receiving the award from Pre-Law Society President Robert W. Miles of Morton, Starrett will speak on a topic of his choosing. Later, he will join members of the student organization in 180 Bowen Hall for a panel discussion—also open to the general public—of current legal issues.
First presented to retired U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Tom Clark in 1977, the Distinguished Jurist Award is supported by the MSU College of Arts and Sciences and Office of the President. Both sitting and retired jurists at all levels of service have been selected for the career recognition.
Starrett, a sixth-generation Mississippian, is a 1972 MSU business graduate who went on to earn a juris doctorate at the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1974.
Before assuming the Hattiesburg-based bench of the U.S. District Court of Southern Mississippi earlier this year, he served since 1992 as circuit judge for the Mississippi 14th Judicial District. Among other accomplishments while a circuit judge, he led in establishing and presiding over Mississippi’s first felony-level drug court.
For his career achievements, Starrett has been named a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Association and received the association’s Judicial Excellence Award.