Alfred Theodore Goodwin (June 29, 1923 – December 27, 2022) was an American jurist who was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

and also a district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union ...

. Goodwin wrote the majority opinion for the Ninth Circuit in the famous pledge of allegiance case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court as '' Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow''. Goodwin found that the recitation of the Pledge with the words "under God" violated the Establishment Clause, but the Supreme Court reversed his ruling. Goodwin famously wrote, "A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion."

Education and career

Born on June 29, 1923, in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (loc ...

, Goodwin received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1947 from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

and a Juris Doctor in 1951 from the

University of Oregon School of Law The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...

. While in college, he served as a captain in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Goodwin worked as an attorney for five years in Eugene, Oregon. He then served in the Oregon state courts, first on the Circuit Court (1955–1960), and then on the

Supreme Court of Oregon The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. Goodwin was appointed March 18, 1960, by Oregon Governor Mark Hatfield to replace the outgoing

Hall S. Lusk Hall Stoner Lusk (September 21, 1883 – May 15, 1983) was an American jurist in the state of Oregon. A native of the District of Columbia, he became a judge in Oregon, serving in both the Oregon circuit courts and later on the Oregon Supreme C ...

, who was then appointed to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, a position Hatfield would later be elected to in 1966. Meanwhile, Goodwin was then elected to a full six-year term later in 1960 and won re-election in 1966 before resigning from the Oregon Supreme Court December 19, 1969, to take a federal judicial position.

Federal judicial service

Goodwin was nominated to a seat on the

by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on September 22, 1969, to a seat vacated by Judge

John Kilkenny John Francis Kilkenny (October 26, 1901 – February 17, 1995) 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 ...

. He was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

by the

on December 10, 1969, and received his commission on December 11, 1969. His service terminated on December 17, 1971, due to his elevation to the Ninth Circuit. Goodwin was nominated to the

by President Nixon, on November 3, 1971, to a seat vacated by Judge John Kilkenny. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 23, 1971, received his commission on November 30, 1971, and served as Chief Judge from 1988 until he assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on January 31, 1991.

Notable cases

Goodwin wrote the majority opinion for the Ninth Circuit in the famous

pledge of allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

case that was then decided by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

as '' Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow''. He also is well known for penning the opinion in ''White v. Samsung'', a landmark right of publicity/appropriation case in California in which the host of Wheel of Fortune, Vanna White, successfully sued

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

for airing a commercial featuring a robot dressed in her likeness and turning letters on a mock Wheel of Fortune board. See ''White v. Samsung Elecs.'' Am., 971 F.2d 1395 (9th Cir. 1992).

Personal life and death

Goodwin died on December 27, 2022, at the age of 99.Sandomir, Richard (January 15, 2023)
"Alfred T. Goodwin, Judge in Pledge of Allegiance Case, Dies at 99"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 15, 2023. At the time of his death, Goodwin was the oldest federal judge still hearing cases, and the longest-serving current federal judge.

References

External links

*
Goodwin Isn’t Fazed by Storm Over the Pledge
Law.com

Alfred T. Goodwin
at the ''

Oregon Encyclopedia The ''Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' is a collaborative encyclopedia focused on the history and culture of the U.S. state of Oregon. Description The encyclopedia is a project of Portland State University Portland State Universi ...