Charles Randolph Butler Jr. (born March 28, 1940) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama 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 appea ...

Education and career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Butler 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 years ...

degree from

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

in 1962 and was a lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, 8th Artillery, 7th Howitzer Battalion from 1962 to 1964. He attended Washington and Lee University School of Law before receiving a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1966.

Career

Following his admission to the Alabama bar, Butler joined the law firm of his grandfather and father, later known as Hamilton, Butler, Riddick, Tarlton and Sullivan in Mobile,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. After three years in that private practice (from 1966 to 1969), Butler helped found Mobile's first public defender service and worked as an assistant public defender for Mobile County from 1969 to 1970. He then won election as district attorney of Mobile County, although just 30 years old, and served from 1971 to 1975. In 1971 the Mobile Jaycees named him one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. Butler then returned to private practice until 1988.

Federal judicial service

On April 28, 1988, Butler was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Emmett Ripley Cox Emmett Ripley Cox (February 13, 1935 – March 3, 2021) was a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the ...

. Butler 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 October 14, 1988, and received his commission on October 17, 1988. He served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 2003, and assumed

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

on March 28, 2005. He presided over corruption trials of Mobile City Commissioner Lambert Mims and Mobile County Commissioner Freeman Jockisch. The Alabama State Bar awarded him its Judicial Award of Merit in 2003.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Charles Randolph Jr. 1940 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges Washington and Lee University alumni University of Alabama School of Law alumni United States Army officers Public defenders 21st-century American judges