Alexander Williams Jr. (born May 8, 1948) is a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Education and career

Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Williams received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from Howard University in 1970 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

in 1973. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge James H. Taylor, Seventh Judicial Circuit of Maryland from 1973 to 1974. He was in private practice in Hyattsville,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Beltsville Beltsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The community was named for Truman Belt, a local landowner. The 2020 census counted 20,133 residents. Beltsville includes the unincorporated ...

, Maryland from 1974 to 1986, serving as a municipal attorney for Fairmount Heights from 1975 to 1987, and as a substitute juvenile master, Prince George's County Circuit Court (part-time) from 1976 to 1977. He was an Assistant public defender, Prince George's County Public Defender's Office from 1977 to 1978. He was a Special counsel and hearing examiner, Prince George's County Board of Education (part-time) from 1978 to 1987. He became a professor of law at Howard University from 1978 to 1989, continuing as an adjunct professor thereafter. He was a Municipal attorney of Glenarden from 1980 to 1987, and was then a State's attorney of Prince George's County from 1987 to 1994. Alexander Williams Jr. was the first African American elected to the office of State's Attorney in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

, Maryland.

Federal judicial service

On August 6, 1993, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

nominated Williams to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland vacated by Judge Norman P. Ramsey. Williams was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on August 17, 1994, and received his commission on August 18, 1994. He took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on May 8, 2013. He retired from active service on January 3, 2014.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alexander Jr. 1948 births Living people African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Public defenders Howard University alumni Howard University School of Law alumni People from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American judges State's attorneys in Maryland Howard University School of Law faculty 21st-century American judges