Chief Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.
Born February 25, 1928, in Trenton, NJ
Died December 14, 1998, in Boston, MA
Federal Judicial Service
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Received a recess appointment from Lyndon B. Johnson on January 6, 1964, to a seat vacated by J. Cullen Ganey; nominated to the same position by Lyndon B. Johnson on February 3, 1964.
Confirmed by the Senate on March 14, 1964, and received commission on March 17, 1964.
Service terminated on November 7, 1977, due to appointment to another judicial position.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Nominated by Jimmy Carter on September 19, 1977, to a seat vacated by Francis Lund Van Dusen.
Confirmed by the Senate on October 7, 1977, and received commission on October 11, 1977.
Served as chief judge, 1990-1991.
Assumed senior status due to certified disability on January 31, 1991.
Service terminated on March 5, 1993, due to retirement.
Other Federal Judicial Service
Judge, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, 1979-1986; presiding judge, 1979-1986
Education
Antioch College, B.A., 1949
Yale Law School, LL.B., 1952
Professional Career
Law clerk, Hon. Curtis Bok, Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County [Pennsylvania], 1952-1953
Assistant district attorney, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, 1953-1954
Private practice, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1954-1962
Special deputy attorney general, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1956-1962
Special hearing officer for conscientious objectors, U.S. Department of Justice, 1960-1962
Commissioner, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, 1961-1962
Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, 1962-1964
Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1990
Private practice, New York City and Washington, D.C., 1993-1998
Professor, Harvard University, 1993-1998
Other Nominations/Recess Appointments
Nominated to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, September 25, 1963; no Senate vote.
Biographical
Edward R. Becker, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.: The Man, 142 U. Pa. L. Rev. 511 (1993). View Online
William J. Brennan, Jr., Tribute to Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., 9(3) Law & Ineq. 383 (1991). View Online
Louis H. Pollak, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.: I Felt That Justice Could Overcome Anything, 142 U. Pa. L. Rev. 541 (1993). View Online
Oral Histories
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Oral History Interview. Interview conducted June 27, 1997 by Seymour I. Toll, Esq. View Online
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Interview I. Interview conducted on October 7, 1976, by Joe B. Frantz. Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas, 1976. Transcript, 31 pages. View Online
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Interview with A. Leon Higginbotham. Interview conducted on June 6, 1987 by William A. Elwood and Mykola Kulish. William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 1984-1989. Videotape. View Online
Publications
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., In the Matter of Color: Race and the American Legal Process: The Colonial Period. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1980.
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process. New York, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Papers
Aloyisus L. Higginbotham, Jr. papers, 1960-1975.
John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Mass.
57 linear ft.; restricted; collection contains personal and professional files, which include correspondence, memoranda, reports, writings, speeches, and clippings relating to Higginbotham's career.