Anthony Alfred Alaimo (March 29, 1920 – December 30, 2009) was a

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 Southern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (in case citations, S.D. Ga.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...

Education and career

Born in

Termini Imerese Termini Imerese (; scn, Tèrmini ) , grc, Θερμαὶ αἱ Ἱμερᾶαι , grc, Θερμαὶ Ἱμέραι , or grc, Θερμὰ (Ἱμεραῖα) ; la, Thermae Himerenses; literally "Himera's hot springs". is a town of the Metropo ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Alaimo 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

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private United Methodist Church–affiliated university in Ada, Ohio. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It offers over 60 programs to ...

in 1940, and then served as an

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1941 to 1945. He achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant. Alaimo spent much of World War II as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

, captured after the plane he was co-piloting was shot down. After the war, Alaimo received 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

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...

in 1948 and entered the private practice of law in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

from 1948 to 1957, and in Brunswick, Georgia from 1957 to 1971.

Federal judicial service

On November 29, 1971, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

nominated Alaimo to a new seat on the

created by 84 Stat. 294. He 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 December 2, 1971, and received his commission on December 9, 1971. He served as Chief Judge from 1976 to 1990, and assumed

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 July 1, 1991, serving in that role until his death. Alaimo was also a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

from 1990 to 1993. The pace of Alaimo's court earned it the nickname "the Rocket Docket."

Death

Alaimo died on December 30, 2009, after being admitted to a Southeast Georgia Health System hospital in Brunswick, Georgia for treatment of an undisclosed condition. He was 89 years old.

References

Sources

Anthony Alaimo receives an honorary degree at the age of 89
* * Coppola, Vincent. 2009. ''The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alaimo, Anthony 1920 births 2009 deaths Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges Ohio Northern University alumni Emory University School of Law alumni People from Brunswick, Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II American people of Italian descent Italian emigrants to the United States