Michael Jackson named first African-American "District Attorney of the Year" in AL

SELMA, AL (WSFA) - Michael Jackson, District Attorney of the state's 4th Judicial Circuit, was bestowed with the honor of Alabama's "District Attorney of the Year" for 2013 Thursday.

The honor was given at the annual District Attorney's Conference.

Jackson has been elected twice to the state's largest geographical district and is the first African-American to receive the honor. He's also the only African-American currently serving in a D.A.'s position in Alabama.

The District Attorney's duties span five counties including Bibb, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox and Hale.

Earlier in the year, Jackson was honored by the Alabama Democratic Conference with the John F. Kennedy Personal Courage award for his successful prosecution and conviction of former Alabama State Trooper Bernard Fowler. Some 45 year earlier, Fowler (white) bragged about killing Jimmie Lee Jackson (black) in Perry County. Jackson's death helped lead to the Selma to Montgomery March and just months later the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Among Jackson's other successful cases in a courtroom were his 2013 prosecution and conviction in a capital murder case against Johnny Dukes. That case involved the drive-by shooting of a 3-year-old girl.

This year, Jackson's office also won a conviction of sexual misconduct involving a student in the case of former state representative and Wilcox County High School principal James Thomas.

Jackson is on the statewide Judicial Advisory Committee and on the board of SABRA, the battered women's sanctuary in Selma. He serves on the Children Policy Council in Selma, is a board member of the VIP (Vision Impaired People) in Selma, is on the Title Four Safe and Drug Free Committee as well as the Selma-Dallas Historic Preservation Society Committee.

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