Attorney Michael B. Wallace, in asking President Bush on Tuesday to withdraw his nomination for a U.S. Court of Appeals seat, said "it is the right thing to do for Mississippi."

Wallace, a Biloxi native and Jackson attorney, was among six appellate court nominees whose approval was stalled earlier this year. Some political analysts have blamed the stall on the new Democrat-controlled Senate's clash with Bush's push to satisfy his conservative base.

Wallace, 54, was appointed by President Reagan in 1984 as director of the Legal Services Corp. He was U.S. Sen. Trent Lott's legal adviser during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. In recent years he represented the Republican Party in opposition to allowing state courts to re-draw congressional-district lines.

In the nomination process, the American Bar Association rated Wallace "unqualified" to be a judge. Also, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, incoming Senate Judiciary chairman, said he plans to fill vacancies only with "consensus nominees."

"If these are the consequences of my work," said Wallace, "I'm content to live with them. The president has been absolutely steadfast in supporting me, but given the circumstances, it is better for the people of Mississippi that President Bush have time to select another nominee more likely to gain approval."

Wallace was nominated to fill the seat held by Charles Pickering, a recess appointment by Bush. The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, hears cases from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Lott said he is "disappointed that petty partisanship, which has recently stunted Washington and prevented Congress from producing results on many issues, has also kept a highly qualified judicial nominee like Mike Wallace from serving on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals."

In Wallace's letter to Bush, he wrote: "I have hoped that Mississippi could provide the Fifth Circuit with a judge in the tradition of Harry Walker and William Rehnquist, the two justices whom it was my privilege to serve."

Wallace, a 1969 graduate of Biloxi High and a third-generation attorney, was a clerk for the Mississippi Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I think a lot of people are unhappy with me because of the reforms President Reagan asked us to make," Wallace said. "Reagan asked me to get Legal Services out of politics, to help widows and orphans being evicted, that sort of thing. Frankly, that's why Congress has continued to fund Legal Services and now Mississippi is passing legislation to help Legal Services."

Lott said he isn't surprised with Wallace's request to withdraw his nomination.

"He is selflessly setting aside his own interests in order to move our nation's court system forward, helping to more quickly fill judicial vacancies and provide Mississippians with representation from this important court," Lott said.

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