Charles Clark (judge)

Clark was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Charles and Anita Clark and was the great-grandson of Mississippi Governor Charles Clark (1863–1865). After being graduated from Cleveland High School (Cleveland, Mississippi), he entered the United States Naval Reserve as an ensign in 1943 and left the Reserve after the end of World War II three years later. He attended law school at the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Delta Psi fraternity and met his future wife, Emily. He began the practice of law in 1946 in Jackson, Mississippi and continued in private practice for five years, earning a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1948, then rejoined the Naval Reserve as a lieutenant as the Korean War heated up in 1951. He left the Naval Reserve the following year, and resumed his law practice in 1953.{{FJC Bio|437|nid=1379141|name=Charles Clark}}

In 1962, Clark represented the University of Mississippi's Board of Trustees when James Meredith sued for being rejected based on race. Clark argued that the University had no policy on race and Meredith's rejection was based on a lack of qualifications.{{Cite web|title=Henry Hampton Collection: Interview of Judge Charles Clark {{!}} Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse|url=https://www.clearinghouse.net/detailResource.php?id=118|access-date=2021-02-10|website=www.clearinghouse.net|archive-date=2019-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617130239/https://www.clearinghouse.net/detailResource.php?id=118|url-status=dead}}{{Citation|title=Eyes on the Prize; Interview with Charles Clark|url=http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-151-v11vd6q21q|language=en|access-date=2021-02-10}} The case was settled on appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Meredith’s favor in September 1962, resulting in the Ole Miss riot of 1962.{{Cite web|title=James Meredith at Ole Miss|url=https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/ole-miss-integration|access-date=2021-02-10|website=HISTORY|language=en}}

On October 7, 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Clark to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by Judge Claude Feemster Clayton. He was confirmed by the United States Senate only eight days later on October 15, 1969 and received his commission two days later. In 1973 and again in 1976, he was recommended to fill vacancies on the United States Supreme Court and each time, he received the American Bar Association's highest qualification. Clark was Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit from 1981 until his retirement from the court on January 15, 1992. He resided in Jackson, Mississippi with his wife Emily until his death on March 6, 2011. In addition to producing more than 2200 opinions, and presiding over the Fifth Circuit for more than ten years, Judge Clark was appointed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and again by Chief Justice William Rehnquist to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the principal policymaking body for the federal courts. During his eleven years there, he served as chairman of the Budget Committee and then chairman of the Executive Committee.

Clark was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Mississippi College and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Law School of Ole Miss in the spring of 2009.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}

• Leslie H. Southwick, 1976–1977
• Rodney A. Smolla, 1978–1979
• Rives Kistler, 1981-1982
• Michael B. Thornton, 1983-1984
• Charles R. Eskridge III, 1990-1991

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• {{FJC Bio|437|nid=1379141|name=Charles Clark}}

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{{s-bef|before=Claude Feemster Clayton}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit}}|years=1969–1992}}

{{s-aft|after=James L. Dennis}}

{{s-bef|before=John Cooper Godbold}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit}}|years=1981–1992}}

{{s-aft|after=Henry Anthony Politz}}

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Category:1925 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Category:Lawyers from Jackson, Mississippi

Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon

Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II

Category:United States Navy personnel of the Korean War

Category:United States Navy officers

Category:Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee

Category:University of Mississippi alumni