Ben Charles Green (January 4, 1905 – January 12, 1983) 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 Northern District of Ohio.

Education and career

Born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, the son of Isadore and Rose (Mailman) Green, Green spent one year at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

before he received an

Artium Baccalaureus 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, ''cum laude'', from Western Reserve University (now

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

) in 1928. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

, from Western Reserve University School of Law (now

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American ...

) in 1930. He was in private practice of law in Cleveland from 1930 to 1933. He was an attorney for the

Federal Land Bank The Farm Credit System (FCS) in the United States is a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions and specialized service organizations. The Farm Credit System provides more than $304 billion in loans, leases, and related services t ...

in Louisville,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

from 1933 to 1935. He was in private practice of law in Cleveland from 1935 to 1961. He was special counsel to the

Ohio Attorney General The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state, State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office ...

from 1937 to 1938. He was an attorney and real estate consultant for the City of Cleveland Law Department from 1944 to 1950. He was Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Election from 1950 to 1961. He was special master for the Court of Common Pleas in

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...

, Ohio from 1959 to 1961.

Federal judicial service

Green received a recess appointment from President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

on October 5, 1961, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, to a new seat created by 75 Stat. 80. He was nominated to the same seat by President Kennedy on January 15, 1962. 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 June 29, 1962, and received his commission on July 2, 1962. He served on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation from 1963 to 1964. He 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 January 5, 1976. His service was terminated on January 12, 1983, due to his death.

Honors

visiting professorship In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law was established in Green's memory in 1999; it was expanded to a full professorship by a gift from the Green family. In 2003, the Case Western Reserve Law Library was named in Green's honor.

Personal

Green married Sylvia Elizabeth Chappy on November 20, 1940, and had one daughter.

References

Sources

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Biography
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Ben Charles 1905 births 1983 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy 20th-century American judges Ohio State University alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Cleveland 20th-century American lawyers