Clyde Henry Hamilton (February 8, 1934 – September 2, 2020) was a Senior United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

and a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

for the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charle ...

Education and career

Born in Edgefield,

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Hamilton received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...

in 1956 and a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in 1961. He was 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 ...

as a Reserve Captain from 1956 to 1958. He was in private practice in Edgefield from 1961 to 1963, and in

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

, South Carolina from 1963 to 1982.

Federal judicial service

On November 13, 1981, Hamilton was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Robert F. Chapman. Hamilton was confirmed by 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 ...

on November 24, 1981, and received his commission on December 1, 1981, serving until July 31, 1991. On June 12, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Hamilton for elevation to a new seat on the

, created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 18, 1991, and received his commission on July 22, 1991. 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 November 30, 1999. Hamilton died on September 2, 2020, aged 86.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Clyde Henry 1934 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges George Washington University Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Military personnel from South Carolina People from Edgefield, South Carolina South Carolina lawyers United States Army officers United States court of appeals judges appointed by George H. W. Bush United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Wofford College alumni