William Earl Britt (born December 7, 1932) is a former
Senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
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
.
Education and career
Britt was born in
McDonald,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. He is the younger brother of
David M. Britt. He received 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 of ...
degree from
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
in 1956 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 Chi ...
from
Wake Forest University School of Law
The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredited ...
in 1958. He was in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
(SP-4) from 1953 to 1955. He was a
law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for Justice
Emery B. Denny of the
North Carolina Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...
from 1958 to 1959. He was in private practice of law in
Fairmont and
Lumberton, North Carolina from 1959 to 1980.
Federal judicial service
Britt 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 (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
on April 14, 1980, to a seat on the
vacated by Judge
John Davis Larkins Jr.
John Davis Larkins Jr. (June 8, 1909 – February 16, 1990) was an American politician and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Education and career
...
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 May 21, 1980, and received his commission on May 23, 1980. He served as Chief Judge from 1983 to 1990. Britt 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 December 7, 1997 and officially retired May 31, 2022.
Judge Britt was the last district judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina to have been nominated by a Democratic president.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britt, William Earl
1932 births
Living people
Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
People from Robeson County, North Carolina
United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter
20th-century American judges
Wake Forest University alumni
Wake Forest University School of Law alumni
United States Army soldiers
North Carolina lawyers
People from Fairmont, North Carolina
People from Lumberton, North Carolina
Military personnel from North Carolina
21st-century American judges