Charles Clark (September 12, 1925 – March 6, 2011) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

. He is, as of 2019, the highest ranking judicial official from Mississippi since

Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825January 23, 1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Sec ...

served on the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in 1893.

Education and career

Clark was born in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

to Charles and Anita Clark and was the great-grandson of Mississippi Governor Charles Clark (1863–1865). After being graduated from

Cleveland High School (Cleveland, Mississippi) Cleveland High School was a public high school that served students in grades 912, located in Cleveland, Mississippi. It was a part of the Cleveland School District. In 2016 a federal court ordered it to consolidate with East Side High School.G ...

, he entered the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in 1943 and left the Reserve after the end of

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 ...

three years later. He attended law school at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, where he was a member of

Delta Psi St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectaria ...

fraternity and met his future wife, Emily. He began the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

in 1946 in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and continued in private practice for five years, earning 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 ...

from the

University of Mississippi School of Law The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The School of Law offers the only dedicated aerospace law curr ...

in 1948, then rejoined the Naval Reserve as a lieutenant as the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

heated up in 1951. He left the Naval Reserve the following year, and resumed his law practice in 1953. In 1962, Clark represented the University of Mississippi's Board of Trustees when

James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississ ...

sued for being rejected based on race. Clark argued that the University had no policy on race and Meredith's rejection was based on a lack of qualifications. The case was settled on appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Meredith’s favor in September 1962, resulting in the

Ole Miss riot of 1962 The Ole Miss riot of 1962 (September 30 – October 1, 1962), also known as the Battle of Oxford, was a violent disturbance that occurred at the University of Mississippi—commonly called Ole Miss—in Oxford, Mississippi. Segregationist r ...

Federal judicial service

On October 7, 1969,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 Clark to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Claude Feemster Clayton Claude Feemster Clayton (August 4, 1909 – July 4, 1969) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the N ...

. 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 ...

only eight days later on October 15, 1969 and received his commission two days later. In 1973 and again in 1976, he was recommended to fill vacancies on the

and each time, he received the American Bar Association's highest qualification. Clark was Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit from 1981 until his retirement from the court on January 15, 1992. He resided in Jackson, Mississippi with his wife Emily until his death on March 6, 2011. In addition to producing more than 2200 opinions, and presiding over the Fifth Circuit for more than ten years, Judge Clark was appointed by Chief Justice

Warren Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

and again by Chief Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

to 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 ...

, the principal policymaking body for the federal courts. During his eleven years there, he served as chairman of the Budget Committee and then chairman of the Executive Committee.

Honors

Clark was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Mississippi College and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Law School of Ole Miss in the spring of 2009.

Notable clerks

* Leslie H. Southwick, 1976–1977 *

Rodney A. Smolla Rodney A. Smolla, is an American author, First Amendment scholar and lawyer. He is currently the president of the Vermont Law School, and former dean of the Widener University Delaware Law School until spring 2022. He was the 11th president of Fu ...

, 1978–1979 *

Rives Kistler Rives Kistler (born 1949) is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. After college and law school on the East Coast, he moved to Oregon where he worked in private practice before joining the Oregon Department of Justice. Kistler the ...

, 1981-1982 *

Michael B. Thornton Michael Bert Thornton (born February 9, 1954) is an American lawyer who serves as a Federal tribunals in the United States#Article I tribunals, senior judge of the United States Tax Court. Early life and education Thornton was born on Februa ...

, 1983-1984 *

Charles R. Eskridge III Charles Robert Eskridge III (born April 23, 1963) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education Eskridge earned his Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, from Trinity Univ ...

, 1990-1991

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Charles 1925 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Lawyers from Jackson, Mississippi United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy personnel of the Korean War United States Navy officers People from Memphis, Tennessee University of Mississippi alumni