United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (S.D. Ala.)
Appeals to	Eleventh Circuit
Established	March 10, 1824
Judges assigned	3
Chief judge	William H. Steele
Official site

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (in case citations, S.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on March 10, 1824, with the division of the state into a Northern and Southern district.^[1]

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Kenyen R. Brown, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 2009.

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama is one of three federal judicial districts in Alabama.^[2] Court for the District is held at Mobile and Selma.

Mobile Division comprises the following counties: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington.

Selma Division comprises the following counties: Dallas, Hale, Marengo, Perry, and Wilcox.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
19	Chief Judge	William H. Steele	Mobile	1951	2003–present	2010–present	—	G.W. Bush
20	District Judge	Kristi DuBose	Mobile	1964	2005–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
21	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Senior Judge	Charles Randolph Butler, Jr.	Mobile	1940	1988–2005	1994–2003	2005–present	Reagan
18	Senior Judge	Callie V. Granade	Mobile	1950	2002–2016	2003–2010	2016–present	G.W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
4	Callie V. Granade	Senior Status	March 7, 2016	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Tait, CharlesCharles Tait	AL	1768–1835	1824[3]–1826	—	—	Monroe, Monroe	resignation
2	Crawford, WilliamWilliam Crawford	AL	1784–1849	1826–1849	—	—	Adams, J.Q.J.Q. Adams	death
3	Gayle, JohnJohn Gayle	AL	1792–1859	1849–1859	—	—	Taylor, Taylor	death
4	Jones, William GilesWilliam Giles Jones	AL	1808–1883	1859[4]–1861	—	—	Buchanan, Buchanan	resignation
5	Lane, George WashingtonGeorge Washington Lane	AL	1806–1863	1861–1863	—	—	Lincoln, Lincoln	death
6	Busteed, RichardRichard Busteed	AL	1822–1898	1863[5]–1874	—	—	Lincoln, Lincoln	resignation
7	Bruce, JohnJohn Bruce	AL	1832–1901	1875–1886	—	—	Grant, Grant	reassignment
8	Toulmin, Harry TheophilusHarry Theophilus Toulmin	AL	1838–1916	1887–1916	—	—	Cleveland, Cleveland	death
9	Ervin, Robert TaitRobert Tait Ervin	AL	1863–1949	1917–1935	—	1935–1949	Wilson, Wilson	death
10	McDuffie, JohnJohn McDuffie	AL	1883–1950	1935–1950	—	—	F.Roosevelt, F.Roosevelt	death
11	Thomas, Daniel HolcombeDaniel Holcombe Thomas	AL	1906–2000	1951–1971	1966–1971	1971–2000	Truman, Truman	death
12	Pittman, Thomas VirgilThomas Virgil Pittman	AL	1916–2012	1966–1981	1971–1981	1981–2012	L. Johnson, L. Johnson	death
13	Hand, William BrevardWilliam Brevard Hand	AL	1924–2008	1971–1989	1981–1989	1989–2008	Nixon, Nixon	death
14	Cox, Emmett RipleyEmmett Ripley Cox	AL	1935–present	1981–1988	—	—	Reagan, Reagan	reappointment
15	Howard, Jr., Alex T.Alex T. Howard, Jr.	AL	1924–2011	1986–1996	1989–1994	1996–2011	Reagan, Reagan	death
17	Vollmer, Jr., Richard W.Richard W. Vollmer, Jr.	AL	1926–2003	1990–2000	—	2000–2003	G.H.W.Bush, G.H.W.Bush	death

Court Decisions

Wallace v. Jaffree (1983) - Court affirmed that silent prayer was permissible in Mobile County public schools. Decision was reversed by Eleventh Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court, both ruling that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County (1987) - Court rules that textbooks promoting secular humanism were unconstitutional, running contrary to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Decision was reversed by Eleventh Circuit, which held that secular humanism was not a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Searcy v. Strange (2015) - District Judge Callie V. S. "Ginny" Granade ruled that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, violating the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, on January 23. Days later, she issued an order clarifying her ruling, saying that all Alabama probate judges, who issue marriage licenses, must comply with the order. She stayed her order for two weeks to allow state defendants time to seek a stay from a higher court. On February 3, the Eleventh Circuit denied the stay, after denying a stay in a similar case out of Florida months before. On February 9, as the order was set to take effect, the U.S. Supreme Court also denied the stay.

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat reassigned from the District of Alabama on March 10, 1824, by 4 Stat. 9 (concurrent with Northern District) Tait 1824–1826 Crawford 1826–1849 Seat made concurrent with Middle District on February 6, 1839, by 5 Stat. 315 Gayle 1849–1859 Jones 1859–1861 Lane 1861–1863 Busteed 1863–1874 Bruce 1875–1886 Seat reassigned solely to Northern and Middle Districts on August 2, 1886, by 24 Stat. 213

Seat 2 Seat established on August 2, 1886, by 24 Stat. 213 Toulmin 1887–1916 Ervin 1917–1935 McDuffie 1935–1950 Thomas 1951–1971 Hand 1971–1989 Vollmer, Jr. 1990–2000 Steele 2003–present

Seat 3 Seat established on March 18, 1966, by 80 Stat. 75 (concurrent with Middle District) Seat reassigned solely to the Southern District on June 2, 1970, by 84 Stat. 294 Pittman 1966–1981 Cox 1981–1988 Butler, Jr. 1988–2005 DuBose 2005–present

Seat 4 Seat established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333 Howard, Jr. 1986–1996 Granade 2002–2016 vacant 2016–present

See also

• Courts of Alabama
• List of United States federal courthouses in Alabama

Notes

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_al.html U.S. District Courts of Alabama, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. 28 U.S.C. § 81
3. Initially appointed to the District of Alabama in 1820 by James Monroe; reassigned to both the Northern District of Alabama and the Southern District of Alabama in 1824.
4. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 23, 1860, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 30, 1860, and received commission on January 30, 1860.
5. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1864, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 20, 1864, and received commission on January 20, 1864.

External links

• United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
• United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama