Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. (November 15, 1934 – March 15, 2008) was an attorney in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and 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 Alabama The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (in case citations, N.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims again ...

from 1970 to 2000. He was a noted figure in complex multidistrict

class-action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

litigation.

Early life, education, and career

He was born in

and graduated from

Ramsay High School Ramsay High School is a four-year magnet high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System and one of three International Baccalaureate schools in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Originally ...

in 1952. 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 from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1955, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the sta ...

in 1957, finishing first in his class. He was admitted to the

Alabama State Bar The Alabama State Bar is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Alabama. The Alabama State Bar was established in 1923 and is governed by th1975 Alabama Code, Title 34, Chapter 3 It is the "licensing and regulatory age ...

in 1957, and went on to receive a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in tax law from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1958. He was in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

in the summer of 1957 until 1970, where he served in the 87th Maneuver Area Command and rose to the rank of major. He was in private practice in Birmingham from 1958 to 1970, working for his father, Sam C. Pointer Sr.

Federal judicial service

Pointer 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 September 22, 1970, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 84 Stat. 294. 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 October 8, 1970, and received his commission on October 14, 1970. He served as Chief Judge from 1982 to 1999. 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 November 19, 1999. His service terminated on April 3, 2000, due to his retirement.

Notable cases

While on the bench, Pointer ruled that Jefferson County Schools should bus students to achieve

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

in the 1970s, for which he received numerous death threats. He also issued orders regarding conditions and hiring policies at Birmingham's and Jefferson County's jails. He upheld the City of

's Affirmative Action hiring plan in 1981 and again in 1992. He also made significant rulings in litigation against the manufacturers of silicone gel breast implants, a national case assigned to him by the

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (J.P.M.L. or the Panel) is a special body within the United States federal court system which manages multidistrict litigation. It was established by Congress in 1968 by , and has the ...

. He was also involved in antitrust litigation against cast iron pipe and plywood manufacturers.

Other service

In addition to his work on the bench, Pointer was principal author of the ''Manual for Complex Litigation'', 2nd edition and served on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. From 1980 to 1987 he served on the

Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals The Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals was established by the United States Congress in December 1971 with exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals from the decisions of the U.S. district courts in cases arising under the wage and price control pro ...

and from 1991 to 1993 was Chair of the

Advisory Committee on Civil Rules Advisory may refer to: * Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation * Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wat ...

Post-judicial service

After retiring, Pointer joined the Birmingham firm of Lightfoot, Franklin & White as a partner. He led the 2007 investigation into alleged academic improprieties surrounding the Hoover High School football team, concluding that athletes were given special treatment. The report led to the resignation of coach

Rush Propst Thomas Rush Propst (born December 1957) is a high school football coach who currently serves as athletic director and associate football coach at Coosa Christian School in Gadsden, Alabama. He is also the former head coach at Colquitt County Hig ...

References

Sources

* *Meier, Barry (September 29, 1995)
A Judge and a Deadline: The Breast Implant Case
''The New York Times'' *Walton, Val (March 16, 2008) "Retired Alabama federal judge Sam Pointer Jr., towering legal figure, dies." ''Birmingham News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointer, Sam Clyde Jr. 1934 births 2008 deaths Alabama lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama 20th-century American judges Ramsay High School alumni United States Army officers United States Army reservists United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon University of Alabama alumni Vanderbilt University alumni