Prentice Henry Marshall (August 7, 1926 – May 24, 2004) was a
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
of the
.
Early life and education
Born in
Oak Park,
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 ...
, Marshall graduated from Oak Park High School (now
Oak Park and River Forest High School
, motto_translation = Those things that are best
, address = 201 N. Scoville Avenue
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, town = Oak Park
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) in 1944 and then served two years in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
.
Under the
G.I. Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
, he studied at 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 ...
, earning a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in 1949. While there he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...
fraternity. Marshall then earned a
Juris Doctor from 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 ...
in 1951.
Marshall then served as a
law clerk for Judge
Walter C. Lindley on 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 1951 until 1953.
Professional career
A Democrat, Marshall worked in private legal practice in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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from 1953 until 1967 at Johnston, Thompson, Raymond & Mayer (which later became known as
Jenner & Block
Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and other legal fields ...
), becoming partner in 1961. While at Jenner, Marshall also served as a special assistant attorney general for the state of Illinois from 1964 until 1967. Marshall also built a reputation for starting Jenner's pro bono legal program. Marshall then served as a law professor 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 ...
from 1967 until 1973 and as a hearing officer for the Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission from 1967 until 1972.
In 1959, Marshall, then a resident of
Wheaton, Illinois, ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for state's attorney in
DuPage County
DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat ...
, a Republican stronghold.
Federal judicial service
Marshall was nominated 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 ...
on June 27, 1973, to a seat on the
vacated by Judge
Alexander J. Napoli.
Marshall was one of the few Democrats ever nominated to the federal bench by Nixon.
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.
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 ...
due to a certified disability on October 19, 1988.
His service terminated on April 15, 1996, due to his retirement.
Notable cases
During his tenure on the bench, Marshall became known—by his own admission—as an activist judge, ordering the
Chicago Police Department in 1976 to hire women and stop discrimination against black and Hispanic officers. He also ruled in 1982 that the random interrogation of Hispanics by what was then known as the
Immigration and Naturalization Service was unconstitutional.
Perhaps Marshall's best-known case, however, was a 1982 trial that sent the then-president of the
Teamsters Union
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...
,
Roy L. Williams, to prison for three years. In that case, Williams, Chicago mob boss
Joseph Lombardo and three other defendants—one of whom, Chicago insurance man
Allen Dorfman
Allen Melnick Dorfman (January 6, 1923 – January 20, 1983) was an American insurance agency owner and a consultant to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Central States Pension Fund. He was a close associate of longtime IBT Presid ...
, was shot to death while out on bond awaiting sentencing—were found to have conspired to bribe
United States Senator
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 powe ...
Howard Cannon.
Death
Marshall died of cardiac pulmonary failure and bladder cancer on May 24, 2004, in
Ponce Inlet
Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,032 at the 2010 census.
The town of Ponce Inlet is located on the southern tip of a barrier island, south of Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores.
Several ...
,
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 ...
.
Personal
Marshall married Lorelei Towle in 1948. The couple had four children.
Lorelei Marshall died in 2005 at age 78. Marshall and his wife sold their house in
Wheaton, Illinois in 1978 and moved to Chicago. They moved to Florida in 1990.
Marshall's wife told 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 ...
in 2004 that he once interviewed for the job of commissioner of baseball.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Prentice Henry
1926 births
2004 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon
University of Illinois alumni
University of Illinois College of Law alumni
20th-century American judges
People from Wheaton, Illinois
Deaths from bladder cancer
People associated with Jenner & Block
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Military personnel from Illinois
Deaths from cancer in Florida