Robert Frederick Collins (born January 27, 1931) is a civil rights attorney and former

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

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (in case citations, E.D. La.) is a United States federal court based in New Orleans. Appeals from the Eastern District of Louisiana are taken to the United States Court of A ...

Education and career

Collins was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana and graduated from Gilbert Academy. He 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 year ...

degree from

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

in 1951 and 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 Ch ...

from Paul M. Hebert Law Center at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

where he was one of the first three African American students admitted in 1954. He was in the

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from 1954 to 1956, thereafter entering private practice in New Orleans from 1956 to 1972. He was also an instructor at

Southern University Law Center Southern University Law Center is a public law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is part of the historically black Southern University System and was opened for instruction in September 1947. It was authorized by the Louisiana State Board ...

in Baton Rouge from 1959 to 1961. He was a magistrate judge for the Criminal District Court of New Orleans from 1972 to 1978.

Federal judicial service

On January 26, 1978, Collins was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Alvin Benjamin Rubin. Collins 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 May 17, 1978, and received his commission on May 19, 1978, he served until his resignation on August 6, 1993.

Conviction and resignation from office

In 1991, Collins was convicted of accepting money to influence his sentencing of a marijuana smuggler. He served five years in the Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

and in other federal prisons. He was released November 21, 1997. After his conviction, Collins did not resign from his judgeship. Consequently, on May 19, 1993,

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

James Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

introduced H. RES. 176, impeaching Collins. It was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and died there. Later, in June, Jack Brooks tried again with H. RES. 207. Collins resigned on August 6, 1993, his impending impeachment hearings scheduled to begin the next day. As the result of his conviction, Collins was disbarred from the practice of law in Louisiana by the Supreme Court of Louisiana.Excerpt from the Orders of the United States Supreme Court
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Resources

* Warren, Robert Penn
Interview with Robert Frederick Collins
February 2, 1964 published in Who Speaks for the Negro? searchable transcript at ''Who Speaks for the Negro?'' Digital Archive of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University based on collections at University of Kentucky and Yale University Libraries.

References

External links