Steve Mulroy | |
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Personal details | |
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | April 9, 1964
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Amy Birkimer (m. 1991) |
Education | Cornell University (BA) College of William and Mary (JD) |
Steven J. Mulroy (born April 9, 1964) is the District Attorney of Shelby County, Tennessee. Previously, he was a University of Memphis law professor who served on the County Commission for Shelby County, Tennessee from District 5 from 2006 to 2014. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he spent his high school years living in Gulf Breeze, Florida and studied at Cornell University, followed by William & Mary Law School. A member of the Democratic Party, his 2006 election to the Memphis-area County Commission seat shifted the balance of power from Republican to Democratic for the first time in the county's history.
Mulroy was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of a telephone company employee who died in 1998 and a widowed housewife who currently lives in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He attended a Roman Catholic parochial elementary school, Mary, Queen of Heaven, in Brooklyn, and then Gulf Breeze High School following his 1978 childhood move from Brooklyn to Florida. He attended Cornell University on a merit scholarship, spent one semester studying in Washington, D.C. through the Cornell-in-Washington program, and graduated in 1986. Mulroy graduated from William & Mary Law School in 1989 with the "Order of the Coif" honor. [1]
Mulroy began his legal career in 1989 as a judicial clerk for the Hon. Roger Vinson, a federal district court judge in Pensacola, Florida. In 1991, through the U.S. Justice Department's Honors Program, he joined Department's Civil Rights Division as a trial attorney. He spent 1991-95 in the Voting Section, and 1995 through 1999 in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. From 1999-2000 he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (a federal prosecutor) in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2000, he began teaching at the University of Memphis, School of Law, attaining tenure in 2006. [2]
In 2006 he was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 2010 from to full Professor of Law. He teaches and publishes in the fields of election law, criminal law and procedure, and constitutional law. [3] Since 2015, he has served as the University of Memphis, School of Law's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
In 2006, Mulroy successfully ran for the Shelby County, Tennessee Commission, representing the 5th District. He served two four-year terms, leaving the Commission due to term limits in late 2014. [4] He ran for County Mayor in 2014, losing the Democratic primary. [5]
While on the County Commission, Mulroy drafted Shelby County's first ethics ordinance, animal welfare ordinance, and "cash for tires" ordinance, [4] and the first ever legislation at any level in Tennessee which provided discrimination protection for the LGBT community." [6] He successfully pushed for substantial increases in county funding for homelessness and pre-K education. [7] [8]
During the body's 2011 redistricting, he led the successful effort to switch from 3-Commissioner multimember districts to single-member districts, arguing, among other things, that the latter led to more competitive elections. [9]
In 2013, Mulroy was one of three names sent to the White House for consideration to fill a federal district court judge vacancy in the Western District of Tennessee in Memphis. [10] He did not ultimately receive the appointment. [11]
In 2022, Mulroy prevailed against two candidates in a competitive Democratic primary for District Attorney. He went on to defeat incumbent District Attorney, Republican Amy Weirich, 56.12% (74,752 votes) to 43.79% (58,328 votes).
Mulroy is the author of Rethinking US election law: Unskewing the System, [12] which "offers comprehensive considerations of arguments in favour of and against proposed reforms of US election law." [13] As an expert in comparative election law, he contributed to the Routledge Handbook of Election Law. On January 24, 2023, Mulroy charged five Memphis police officers, who were members of the now disbanded scorpion unit, in the killing of Tyre Nichols. The five officers were charged with second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon, official misconduct, harming another, official misconduct, refraining from performing a duty imposed by law, official oppression. On January 26, 2023, a Shelby County grand jury returned an indictment against the five officers. They have all pleaded not guilty and their next court date is set for May 1, 2023. In addition, during a press conference, Mulroy indicated that further charges may be filed. [14]
Mulroy led several historic preservation efforts before, during, and after his County Commission tenure. From 2005 through 2010, he led a grass-roots effort to save the historic "Zippin Pippin" rollercoaster and the Grand Carousel, two anchor rides at Memphis' Libertyland Amusement Park which were mothballed when the amusement park closed in 2005. [4] [15] In 2006, the grass-roots group succeeded in preventing the Grand Carousel from being sold at auction, and it was instead held in storage. [15]
In 2010, with the coaster facing demolition, Mulroy arranged for it to be sold and Zippin Pippin moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where it continues to operate at Bay Beach Amusement Park. The Grand Carousel was restored and is a feature at the Children's Museum of Memphis. [16]
In 2013, Mulroy served as one of two pro bono plaintiff attorneys in an effort to prevent the demolition of the historic 19th Century Club Building, also known as the Roland Darnell House. A lawsuit prevented the demolition of the building for about a year, while the preservationist plaintiffs appealed their loss in trial court. In 2014 the preservationists withdrew their appeal, but the building owners later decided to preserve the building and convert it to a high-end restaurant and meeting space. [17]
In 2013, Mulroy made an "altruistic" kidney donation to a stranger. The donation allowed doctors at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee to arrange a nationwide "donor chain" of persons who would donate kidneys in exchange for reciprocal donations to designated loved ones. The chain resulted in 28 kidneys being swapped; at the time, it was the second-longest such chain in history, as well as the swiftest exchange of its type and the one involving the greatest number of high-risk cases. [18] [19]
Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's 95 counties, both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis, a port on the Mississippi River and the second most populous city in Tennessee. The county was named for Governor Isaac Shelby (1750–1826) of Kentucky. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee with a majority African American population, along with Haywood County.
George William Grider was a United States Navy Captain, an attorney, and a Democratic U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1965 to 1967.
Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr., known as Judge Joe Brown, is an American former lawyer and television personality. He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown.
The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school and is the only law school in Memphis, Tennessee. The school has been associated with the University of Memphis since the law school's formation in 1962. The school was named in honor of former University president Cecil C. Humphreys. It is also referred to as U of M Law, Memphis Law, or Memphis Law School.
Charles Wainman Burson is a former legal counsel and Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States under Al Gore. He assumed the position of legal counsel from Kumiki Gibson in February 1997 after serving almost a decade as Tennessee Attorney General. In 1999 Charles Burson became Gore's Chief of Staff, replacing Ron Klain who resigned in August of that year.
The Zippin Pippin is one of the oldest existing wooden roller coasters in the United States. It was initially constructed in the former East End Park in Memphis, Tennessee, in either 1912, 1915, or 1917 by John A. Miller and Harry C. Baker of National Amusement Devices. The construction material was pine wood. As the park declined in popularity, the coaster was dismantled and relocated adjacent to the horse track in Montgomery Park, later known as the Mid-South Fairgrounds. For a time it was incorporated as an attraction in the now-closed Libertyland amusement park there, until that park closed in 2005. Purchased by the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2010, it was installed at the Bay Beach Amusement Park, where it is once again in operation.
Libertyland was an amusement park located in Memphis, Tennessee. Opened on July 4, 1976, it was located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. It was structured under the nonprofit 501(c)4 US tax code. It closed due to financial reasons in 2005.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools(MSCS), previously known as Shelby County Schools (SCS), is a public school district that serves the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States, as well as most of the unincorporated areas of Shelby County. MSCS is the 25th largest school district in the United States and the largest in Tennessee.
Julia Smith Gibbons is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Carolyn Jean Chumney is an American lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. She served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003 and represented the fifth district on the Memphis, Tennessee City Council from 2004 to 2007. Chumney came in second place in the Democratic primary for Shelby County mayor in 2002 and within 7 points of being elected the first woman Memphis mayor in 2007. Chumney was a leading attorney taking the fight for election security to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress. She is also the author of "The Arena: One Woman's Story" [Lady Justice Publishing 2021] which has won national recognition, including First Place At-Large Autobiography by the National Federation of Press Women. Chumney is now an elected Shelby County Circuit Court Judge and took office on September 1, 2022 after winning the countywide election.
Bill Gibbons is the Executive Director at The Public Safety Institute at the University of Memphis. Gibbons was previously Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security until 2016. He was appointed to the post by the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam. He is a former District Attorney General of the 30th Judicial District of Tennessee, which includes Shelby County and the city of Memphis, Tennessee. He was a Republican candidate in the 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial election, but dropped out on March 26, 2010 due to "lack of sufficient campaign funds to go forward."
A C Wharton Jr. is an American educator, politician, and attorney who served as the 63rd mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and previously mayor of Shelby County. He was the first African American to serve as mayor of Shelby County.
John Thomas Fowlkes Jr. is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
Lee Ardrey Harris is an American politician who is currently the Mayor of Shelby County, previously serving as a member of the Tennessee Senate, representing the 29th district. Harris is also a law professor. Prior to his election to the state senate, Harris served on the Memphis City Council, representing District 7. He was born and raised in Memphis, and studied at Morehouse College, followed by Yale Law School.
Antonio Parkinson is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 98 since his special election March 8, 2011 following the death of Representative Ulysses Jones, Jr.
James Steven Strickland Jr. is an American attorney and politician who is the 64th and current mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, serving since 2016. A Democrat, he previously served as a member of the Memphis City Council. Strickland is also an adjunct professor at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States. The primaries were held on August 4.
David Frank Kustoff is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States representative from Tennessee's 8th congressional district. The district includes the bulk of West Tennessee, but most of its population is in the eastern part of the Memphis area, including the eastern fourth of Memphis itself. From 2006 to 2008, Kustoff served as a United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. He is one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, alongside Max Miller.
Tom Leatherwood is an American politician serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives from Tennessee's 99th house district, since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The 99th district includes the Northeast part of Shelby County, Tennessee, including the Town of Arlington, City of Lakeland, City of Millington, parts of North and East Bartlett, and unincorporated Northeast Shelby County.
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