Edward Earl Carnes

Carnes received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama in 1972. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1975. After law school, he accepted a position as an assistant state attorney general for the state of Alabama, where he served from 1975 to 1992.{{FJC Bio|377|nid=1378846|name=Edward Earl Carnes|inline=yes}}

From 1981 to 1992 he served as the Chief of the Capital Punishment and Post-Conviction Litigation Division of the Alabama State Attorney General's Office. As the head of Alabama capital punishment unit, Carnes became, according to the National Law Journal, "the premier death penalty advocate in the country and a chief adviser on capital punishment to judges, the U.S. Justice Department and other prosecutors.""Judge Blasts High Court on Death Penalty Appeals," Mobile Register, May 19, 1994. Carnes re-wrote Alabama's death penalty statute,Richard Lacayo, "To the Bench Via the Chair: A Major Confirmation Fight is Brewing Over the Replacement of a Federal Judge Who Was a Civil Rights Hero," Time, September 14, 1992. and defended its use before the Supreme Court of the United States on three occasions, including Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625.

Carnes's ascendancy to the bench created a hole in the capital punishment unit, leading an Alabama appellate judge to lament that the state had lost a "very effective voice in support of executions in this state.""Newsmakers: Edward E. Carnes," The National Law Journal, December 28, 1994.

Carnes was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on January 27, 1992, for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to a seat vacated by Judge Frank Minis Johnson. To Carnes' opponents, he was a poor choice to succeed Judge Johnson, a hero of the civil rights movement who had declared that the segregated buses of Montgomery, Alabama were illegal."A Legacy Dishonored," San Jose Mercury News, September 15, 1992. Some compared replacing Johnson with Carnes to Bush's earlier decision to replace Thurgood Marshall with Clarence Thomas. Nonetheless, his nomination might have sailed through the Senate if not for the Rodney King incident, which encouraged Senate Democrats to use Carnes' nomination as a chance to stump against racism in the criminal justice system.

Critics blasted Carnes for defending Alabama prosecutors accused of systematically excluding blacks from death penalty trial juries."1992: Year of Unexpected," Mobile Register, December 27, 1992. Carnes' supporters responded that as a prosecutor, Carnes had engaged in a campaign to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection even before the Supreme Court had become involved in the issue."Victory Over Smears," Memphis Commercial Appeal, September 15, 1992. They noted that when selected by the judges of the state to prosecute judicial misconduct, Carnes had sought sanctions against sixteen sitting judges, including two who were removed from the bench for racist remarks. He also sought a venue change to a county with a higher black population for the retrial of a twice-convicted black defendant accused of brutally murdering a white victim.

Prominent southern civil rights lawyers were split over the nomination. Stephen Bright, Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, testified against the nomination and lambasted the Senate's decision to confirm Carnes.David Pace, "Senate's Approval of Judge Attacked: Civil Rights Groups Criticize Edward Carnes After Confirmation Vote," Akron Beacon Journal, September 10, 1992. But Morris Dees, cofounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Carnes' frequent adversary, went door-to-door among Senate Democrats, fighting on behalf of Carnes.Dick Lehr, "For Crusaders Against Klan, a New Cause: Teaching Tolerance," Boston Globe, January 19, 1993. Both (Democratic) senators from Alabama supported his nomination, as did the attorneys general of each of the states comprising the Eleventh Circuit.Neil A. Lewis, "Senate Accepts Carnes; A Judicial Confirmation Continues Tilt to the Right," New York Times, September 13, 1992.

After eight months and a Democratic filibuster, Carnes was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 9, 1992, by a 62–36 vote.{{Cite web |date=September 9, 1992 |title=PN855 - Nomination of Edward E. Carnes for The Judiciary, 102nd Congress (1991-1992) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/102nd-congress/855 |access-date=June 30, 2020 |website=www.congress.gov}} He received his commission the following day. He assumed office on October 2, 1992, and served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from August 1, 2013, to June 2, 2020.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/judges/hon-ed-carnes|title=Honorable Ed Carnes, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit}} He assumed senior status on June 30, 2020.{{Cite web |date=October 28, 2019 |title=Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge Carnes to Take Senior Status |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/eleventh-circuit-chief-judge-carnes-to-take-senior-status/ |access-date=June 30, 2020 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}

Carnes is unrelated to Julie E. Carnes, with whom he serves on the Eleventh Circuit.

{{Reflist}}

• {{FJC Bio|nid=1378846}}
• [http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/judges/hon-ed-carnes Honorable Ed Carnes, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]

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{{s-bef|before=Frank Minis Johnson}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit}}|years=1992–2020}}

{{s-aft|after=Andrew L. Brasher}}

{{s-bef|before=Joel Fredrick Dubina}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit}}|years=2013–2020}}

{{s-aft|after=William H. Pryor Jr.}}

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{{United States courts of appeals senior judges}}

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Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:21st-century American judges

Category:Alabama lawyers

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

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

Category:People from Albertville, Alabama

Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by George H. W. Bush

Category:University of Alabama people