William G. East (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1985) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Education and career

Born on April 25, 1908, in Lecompton, Kansas, East received a Bachelor of Laws in 1931 from the University of Oregon School of Law 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 ...

in 1932 from the same institution. He entered private practice in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, Oregon from 1932 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1949. He served in the United States Army Reserve as a captain from 1942 to 1946. He was city attorney for Eugene from 1946 to 1947. He was a Judge of the

Oregon Circuit Court Oregon's circuit courts are general jurisdiction trial courts of the U.S. state of Oregon. These courts hear civil and criminal court cases. The state has 27 circuit court districts, most of which correspond to the boundaries of Oregon's 36 coun ...

for the Second Judicial District from 1949 to 1955.

Federal judicial service

East was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 2, 1955, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon vacated by Judge

James Alger Fee James Alger Fee (September 24, 1888 – August 25, 1959) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Di ...

. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 7, 1955, and received his commission the next day. He assumed senior status due to a certified disability on April 10, 1967. His service terminated on April 27, 1985, due to his death.

Notable cases

In 1960, East issued an injunction against a local water district in a racially charged case where the African-American residents of a Parkrose, Portland, Oregon, were discriminated against by the local water district. In 1964, East made national headlines for ordering United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to show why an Oregon lawyer should not be paid for defending a criminal defendant he had been ordered to defend by the federal court.Getting the Feds to Pay.
'' Time'', July 10, 1964. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. In what ''Time'' magazine said was "may be the neatest constitutional argument of the year," East justified the expenditure under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

Notable clerk

From 1964 to 1965 future

Oregon Attorney General The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The attorney general is ch ...

Hardy Myers was a law clerk for East.

Notable appellate cases

After assuming senior status, East often sat as a federal appeals court judge for the Ninth Circuit on three judge panels including the case Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Sony Corp. of America, 659 F.2d 963 (C.A.9) 1981.U.S. v. Polk, 550 F.2d 566 (C.A.9) 1977.

References

External links

*
Unwinding Sony
{{DEFAULTSORT:East, William G. 1908 births 1985 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon United States district court judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower 20th-century American judges Oregon state court judges United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II People from Lecompton, Kansas University of Oregon School of Law alumni Oregon city attorneys