Ariel Smith | |
---|---|
19th Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands | |
In office April 14, 2023 –March 15, 2024 | |
Governor | Albert Bryan |
Preceded by | Carol Thomas-Jacobs (acting) |
Succeeded by | Ian Clement (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Saint Thomas,U.S. Virgin Islands |
Education | Rutgers University,Newark (JD) |
Ariel K. Smith is a U.S. Virgin Islands lawyer who served as the 19th attorney general of the United States Virgin Islands from 2023 to 2024.
Smith was born on Saint Thomas,U.S. Virgin Islands. [1] She graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School. [1] She completed a J.D. from Rutgers Law School. [2]
For over ten years,Smith worked in private practice as an associate attorney with Smock and Moorhead on Saint Thomas. [2] [1] From 2006 to 2011,Smith was an assistant territorial public defender. [2] [1] In this role,she worked in the criminal defense of misdemeanors and felony offenses such as domestic violence and white collar crimes. [2]
In 2011,Smith joined the civil division of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general,serving role for seven years. [2] In 2016,she was promoted to chief of the civil division where she oversaw five attorneys and two support staff. [2]
On March 20,2023,governor Albert Bryan nominated Smith to succeed Carol Thomas-Jacobs as the attorney general of the United States Virgin Islands. [2] [3]
In May 2023,Elon Musk was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in part of a larger lawsuit against JP Morgan's alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operations. [4] [5] The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Manhattan by former US Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George,in 2022. [6]
On June 30,2023,Smith was sworn in as attorney general on a permanent basis during a ceremony at the Governor's Mansion. [7] Smith resigned on March 15,2024. [8]
Politics of the United States Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic dependency,whereby the governor is the head of the territory's government,and of a multi-party system. United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States,administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the local government of the Virgin Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
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