Charles Earl Simons Jr. (August 17, 1916 – October 26, 1999) was a

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. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of 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

Johnston Johnston may refer to the surname Johnston or people with that name. It may also refer to: Places Australia * Johnston, Northern Territory ** Electoral division of Johnston, an electoral division in the Northern Territory United Kingdom ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, Simons received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 1937 and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of South Carolina School of Law The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, also known as South Carolina Law School, is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. Founded in 1867, it is the only public and non-profit law school in South Car ...

in 1939. He was in private practice in Aiken, South Carolina from 1939 to 1964. He was a

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

Lieutenant during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1942 to 1945. He was a member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

in 1942 and from 1947 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964.

Federal judicial service

On April 15, 1964, Simons was nominated by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

to a seat on the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

vacated by Judge Ashton Hilliard Williams. Johnson was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on April 30, 1964, and received his commission on May 1, 1964. On November 1, 1965, he was reassigned by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

to the

, to a new seat established by 79 Stat. 951. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1986, assuming senior status on August 17, 1986, and serving in that capacity until his death on October 26, 1999, in Aiken.

Honor

The Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Court House was named for him in 1986.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Charles Earl Jr. 1916 births 1999 deaths Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina United States district court judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson United States Navy officers 20th-century American lawyers People from Johnston, South Carolina People from Aiken, South Carolina 20th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly