Harlington Wood Jr. (April 17, 1920 – December 29, 2008) was an

American lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.jurist,

political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and an amateur actor. He served as 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. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of ...

from 1976 until his death in 2008, after earlier serving as a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (in case citations, S.D. Ill.) is a United States district court, federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois. Appeals from the ...

. He was considered one of the country's leading legal historians on the life and legacy of former lawyer and United States President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, but is perhaps best known for his involvement as an Assistant Attorney General for the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

in two separate Native American armed protests: the first being the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pri ...

, in San Francisco Bay, from 1969 through the summer of 1971, and the second being the

Wounded Knee incident The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupie ...

in 1973 at Wounded Knee,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. His accomplishments and impact as both jurist and statesman included participation in many recent events around the world, which he circled three times, including

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, Outer Mongolia,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, China, Japan and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Early life and education

Wood was born in Springfield,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, the son of Harlington Wood Sr., a lawyer who also served as a

Sangamon County Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital. Sangamon County is included in the S ...

, Illinois, judge for sixteen years. He earned his Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1942 from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

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 opposing ...

, attaining the rank of Major, and was present at the signing of the surrender of Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Denhici Okochi, Commander of the Japanese Navy in the Philippines, where they gave up the entire Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to American authorities at the High Commissioner's Residence in

Camp John Hay Camp John Hay is a mixed-used development which serves as a tourist destination and forest watershed reservation in Baguio, Philippines which was formerly a military base of the United States Armed Forces. History The United States 48th Infa ...

in Baguio, Philippines on September 3, 1945, marking the end of

. Upon returning from the Pacific, Wood entered law school at the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law (Illinois Law or UIUC Law) is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public university in Champaign, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S ...

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, graduating in 1948 with a Juris Doctor. After passing the bar, he went into

private practice Private practice may refer to: *Private sector practice **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 negotiati ...

in Springfield, Illinois, with his father, from 1948 to 1958.

Legal career

In 1958, Wood was appointed

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the southern district of Illinois by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. He returned to private practice in Springfield, from 1961 to 1968. In 1969 he was named Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys in the

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, ...

In 1972 he was appointed

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice by 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 ...

. During his time in the Department of Justice he was given many special assignments specifically dealing with issues of peacekeeping in locations around the United States: Wounded Knee; Culebra; Alcatraz; anti-war demonstrations in

; and national political nominating conventions in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Wounded Knee

On Feb. 27, 1973, almost two hundred armed

Oglala Sioux The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

from the

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Gr ...

with members of an activist group, the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police br ...

(AIM), took over the reservation town of Wounded Knee, the site of a massacre in 1890 of three hundred Sioux by American soldiers. Their stated intent was to focus attention to what they considered government mistreatment of Indians, corruption within the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribal government's complicity in discrimination.

United States marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

and American troops subsequently surrounded the town, and for ten weeks the two sides traded intermittent gunfire, and two Sioux were killed. On March 13, Wood — then assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the US Justice Department — became the first government official who was allowed to enter Wounded Knee, under armed escort of residents of the reservation. He met with AIM leaders for two hours and, while he shortly thereafter became ill and did not conclude the negotiation, he is credited as the "icebreaker" between the government and AIM. The stand-off ended in an agreement on May 6 to end the occupation without further bloodshed.

Federal judicial service

Wood was nominated by President

on May 11, 1973, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Omer Poos. 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 July 13, 1973, and received his commission on July 18, 1973. His service was terminated on May 28, 1976, due to elevation to the Seventh Circuit. Wood was nominated by President Gerald Ford on April 14, 1976, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge John Paul Stevens. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 6, 1976, and received his commission on May 7, 1976. He assumed

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

on January 15, 1992, serving in that status until his death, though he did not hear cases after 2003. Wood served on

United States Judicial Conference 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 ...

Committees dealing with Bankruptcy Legislation, Court Administration, Automation, and Long Range Planning for the Federal Judiciary. He received

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

and

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bil ...

assignments to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. Wood served as an adjunct professor at University of Illinois College of Law and as a distinguished

visiting professor 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 ...

St. Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fro ...

Legal decisions

In the 1977 appellate case of ''

Stump v. Sparkman ''Stump v. Sparkman'', 435 U.S. 349 (1978), is the leading United States Supreme Court decision on judicial immunity. It involved an Indiana judge who was sued by a young woman who had been sterilized without her knowledge as a minor in accorda ...

'', Judge

Luther Swygert Luther Merritt Swygert (February 5, 1905 – March 16, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...

, writing for a panel including Judge Wood as well as Judge William G. East and himself, found that judicial immunity is available only when a judge has

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

over the subject-matter of a case and that it is not available when he acts in "clear absence of all jurisdiction." Although Indiana statute law permitted the sterilization of institutionalized persons under certain circumstances, it provided for the right to notice, the opportunity to defend and the right to appeal. The Court of Appeals found no basis in statutory or common law for a court to order the sterilization of a minor child simply upon a parent's petition. It also held that Judge Stump's action could not be justified as a valid exercise of the power of courts to fashion new common law. In 1978, the United States Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit's decision.

Personal life

"Woody" to his friends, Wood was often referred to as "Lincolnesque" in appearance and demeanor. In 1952, he was chosen to portray Abraham Lincoln in a professional theatrical production of

Kermit Hunter Kermit Houston Hunter (3 October 1910 – 11 April 2001) was an American playwright known primarily for writing historical outdoor dramas. His many works include two dramas for Cherokee tribes, one for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Nor ...

's ''Forever This Land'' in nearby New Salem, despite being an untrained amateur. More surprisingly, the production was attended by esteemed politicians of the day, such as Illinois Senator

Scott W. Lucas Scott Wike Lucas (February 19, 1892 – February 22, 1968) was an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives (1935–1939) and the U.S. Senate (1939–1 ...

, Vice President Alben W. Barkley, Wood (in Lincoln theatrical makeup) and Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson. The play was reviewed by esteemed film critic

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, who wrote favorably of both it and its star.

Death

Wood stopped hearing cases in 2003, and lived in a convalescent facility until his death on December 29, 2008, in Petersburg,

Legacy

Fellow appellate judge

William J. Bauer William Joseph Bauer (born September 15, 1926) is an inactive senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and previously a United States district judge of the United States District ...

notes that Wood "was simply a very good judge; he didn't lean to one side or the other" He further reflected that "every case he wrote, he wrote very well." U.S. Senator

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...

(D-Ill.) recalled: As well, Circuit Judge and legal author

Richard A. Posner Richard Allen Posner (; born January 11, 1939) is an American jurist and legal scholar who served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017. A senior lecturer at the University of Chicag ...

notes in the foreword for Wood's posthumously-published book, ''An Unmarked Trail'': Alison Davis Wood (no relation), a producer at WILL-TV (PBS), noted that Wood demonstrated "how great men can live among us in quiet unassuming ways. She remarks that his life was a "true reflection of the American Dream — a Midwestern boy's own desire for adventure takes him around the world and back". Wood traveled extensively, including three trips around the world, five trips to the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and one trip to Russia. During some of those travels, he worked with foreign judges in former Iron Curtain countries, helping them establish democratic legal systems. He was a former president of the Abraham Lincoln Association and former chairman of the Lincoln Legal Papers research project.
Judge Wood's papers
are held by th

at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign.

Articles and briefs authored

*''"Composition and Procedure Before International Criminal Court,"'' World Peace Through Law Center, 1970 *''"The Crooked Christmas Tree,"'' 1993 *''"Judiciary Reform,"'' American University Law Review 44(5): June 1995 *''"Last Look,"'' American Heritage (New Series) 50(2): Apr. 1999 talin article*''"Leader of the Seventh,"'' Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 17(1): 2000 Judge

Richard Posner Richard Allen Posner (; born January 11, 1939) is an American jurist and legal scholar who served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017. A senior lecturer at the University of Chic ...

tribute *''"Real Judges,"'' New York University Annual Survey of American Law 58(2): 2001 *''"Footnote to History: a Personal Account of Wounded Knee 1973 told for Lauren and Alex,"'' University of Illinois Law Review, 1995 *''"Footnote to History"''

References

Sources

External links

Wood's memorial website

Papers of Abraham Lincoln
documenting and archival of the 16th President's extensive legal career {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Harlington Jr. 1920 births 2008 deaths Writers from Springfield, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Stanford Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Gerald Ford United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Civil Division United States Attorneys for the Southern District of Illinois American prosecutors American legal writers Deaths from cancer in Virginia University of Illinois College of Law alumni United States Army officers