Alfred Theodore Goodwin (June 29, 1923 – December 27, 2022) was an American jurist who was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and also a district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Goodwin wrote the majority opinion for the Ninth Circuit in the famous pledge of allegiance case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court as ''

Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow ''Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow'', 542 U.S. 1 (2004), was a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.. The lawsuit, originally filed as ''Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District, et al.'' in 2000, led to a 2 ...

''. Goodwin found that the recitation of the Pledge with the words "under God" violated the Establishment Clause, but the Supreme Court reversed his ruling. Goodwin famously wrote, "A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion."

Education and career

Born on June 29, 1923, in Bellingham, Washington, Goodwin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947 from the University of Oregon 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 ...

in 1951 from the University of Oregon School of Law. While in college, he served as a captain in the United States Army during World War II. Goodwin worked as an attorney for five years in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. He then served in the Oregon state courts, first on the Circuit Court (1955–1960), and then on the Supreme Court of Oregon (1960–1969). Goodwin was appointed March 18, 1960, by Oregon Governor

Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropr ...

to replace the outgoing

Hall S. Lusk Hall Stoner Lusk (September 21, 1883 – May 15, 1983) was an American jurist in the state of Oregon. A native of the District of Columbia, he became a judge in Oregon, serving in both the Oregon circuit courts and later on the Oregon Supreme Co ...

, who was then appointed to the United States Senate, a position Hatfield would later be elected to in 1966. Meanwhile, Goodwin was then elected to a full six-year term later in 1960 and won re-election in 1966 before resigning from the Oregon Supreme Court December 19, 1969, to take a federal judicial position.

Federal judicial service

Goodwin was nominated to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon by President Richard Nixon on September 22, 1969, to a seat vacated by Judge John Kilkenny. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 10, 1969, and received his commission on December 11, 1969. His service terminated on December 17, 1971, due to his elevation to the Ninth Circuit. Goodwin was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Nixon, on November 3, 1971, to a seat vacated by Judge John Kilkenny. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 23, 1971, received his commission on November 30, 1971, and served as Chief Judge from 1988 until he assumed senior status on January 31, 1991.

Notable cases

Goodwin wrote the majority opinion for the Ninth Circuit in the famous pledge of allegiance case that was then decided by the United States Supreme Court as ''

''. He also is well known for penning the opinion in ''White v. Samsung'', a landmark right of publicity/appropriation case in California in which the host of

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...

, Vanna White, successfully sued Samsung for airing a commercial featuring a robot dressed in her likeness and turning letters on a mock Wheel of Fortune board. See ''White v. Samsung Elecs.'' Am., 971 F.2d 1395 (9th Cir. 1992).

Personal life and death

Goodwin died on December 27, 2022, at the age of 99.Sandomir, Richard (January 15, 2023)
"Alfred T. Goodwin, Judge in Pledge of Allegiance Case, Dies at 99"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 15, 2023. At the time of his death, Goodwin was the oldest federal judge still hearing cases, and the longest-serving current federal judge.

References

External links