BY JAY WEAVER | Miami Herald

With sweeping turnover in the U.S. justice system under way in the new Biden administration, a Black lawyer has emerged as the leading candidate for the high-profile job of U.S. Attorney in Miami.

If President Joe Biden nominates Markenzy Lapointe, 53, for the influential post, it would be a historic choice in one of the most dynamic federal prosecutor’s offices in the nation.

Not only would his nomination be a first in the Southern District of Florida, but it would also signal Biden’s nod to the Black vote that helped him defeat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. Lapointe is the only candidate to be interviewed by the White House counsel so far for the U.S. Attorney’s job, reflecting the strength of his prospects.

Prosecutors who worked with Lapointe when he was a young prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the 2000 era said he has the respect of his colleagues and an impressive personal story.

Lapointe was born in Haiti and moved with his family to Miami in his teen years. Lapointe went on to become a decorated Marine who served in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and later obtained a law degree from Florida State University. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2002, becoming the first Haitian-American prosecutor in that office. He’s now a partner at a downtown law firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and serves as president of the Haitian Lawyers Association. Continue reading

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Haitian Times

The Haitian Times was founded in 1999 as a weekly English language newspaper based in Brooklyn, NY.The newspaper is widely regarded as the most authoritative voice for Haitian Diaspora.

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