George Edward MacKinnon (April 22, 1906 – May 1, 1995) was an American politician, attorney, and judge who served as a

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

and

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for Minnesota, and as a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

. He was the father of feminist legal scholar

Catharine MacKinnon Catharine Alice MacKinnon (born October 7, 1946) is an American feminist legal scholar, activist, and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she has been tenured since 1990, and the J ...

Education and career

Born in

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, MacKinnon received 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

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

in 1929. MacKinnon was a member of the editorial board of the

Minnesota Law Review The ''Minnesota Law Review'' is a student-run law review published by students at University of Minnesota Law School. The journal is published six times a year in November, December, February, April, May, and June. It was established by Henry J. F ...

and played as a center on the Golden Gophers football team. MacKinnon was also an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er for the Minnesota Golden Gophers track and field team, finishing 5th at the 1928 NCAA Track and Field Championships. He was an assistant counsel for Investors Syndicate (now a component of

Ameriprise Financial Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is an American diversified financial services company and bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It provides financial planning products and services, including wealth management, asset management, insur ...

) of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota from 1929 to 1942. He was a member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from 1935 to 1942. He was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a Commander from 1942 to 1946. MacKinnon was elected as a Republican to serve as a

for the Third District of Minnesota to the

80th congress The 80th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1947 ...

(January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949), but was defeated when he sought re-election. He served on the Education and Labor Committee. He was in private practice of law in Minneapolis from 1949 to 1953. He was the

for the District of Minnesota from 1953 to 1958. In 1958, he ran as the Republican nominee for

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

and lost the general election to

Orville Freeman Orville Lothrop Freeman (May 9, 1918February 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 29th governor of Minnesota from 1955 to 1961, and as the U.S. secretary of agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and L ...

. He was in private practice of law in Minneapolis from 1958 to 1960. He was a Special Assistant United States Attorney General from 1960 to 1961. He was general counsel and vice president for Investors Mutual Funds of Minneapolis from 1961 to 1969.

Notable cases

During his service as United States attorney, MacKinnon successfully prosecuted the first labor case under the Taft-Hartley Act against

Archer Daniels Midland The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 p ...

, Gerald Connelly, and Sidney Brennan in ''United States v. Gerald Connelly''. During his service as Special Assistant United States Attorney General in 1960, MacKinnon focused on labor racketeering investigations involving James Hoffa. MacKinnon started the Test Fleet investigation that led to James Hoffa's conviction for perjury.

Federal judicial service

MacKinnon was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

on April 23, 1969, to a seat on the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

vacated by Judge Charles Fahy. He 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 May 5, 1969, and received his commission on May 6, 1969. He served as a Judge of the

United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) is a U.S. federal court whose sole purpose is to review denials of applications for electronic surveillance warrants (called FISA warrants) by the United States Foreign ...

from 1979 to 1982. He served on the

United States Sentencing Commission The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for articulating the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the federal courts. The Commission promulgat ...

from 1985 to 1991. He assumed senior status on May 20, 1983. His service was terminated on May 1, 1995, due to his death in Potomac,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Philosophy

MacKinnon was also known as a conservative and once described as "so far right he makes Goldwater look like

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

," although this may have been hyperbole. According to Judge Harry T. Edwards, Judge MacKinnon was "a real character: he was someone who was not easily dissuaded from his positions, who always aimed to get his way, and, yet, who always enjoyed his colleagues and fostered collegiality on the court."Harry T. Edwards, In Memoriam: George E. MacKinnon, 64 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 819, 820-21 (1996) Chief Justice

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the William Mitchell College o ...

, a fellow Minnesotan who appointed MacKinnon to the

and the special court division that selected independent counsel, said, "He's a man who can't be frightened or pushed by anybody" when describing him.Ann Pelham, "Judge MacKinnon Works Two Odd Jobs at the Edges of Constitutionality," Legal Times at 15 (May 7, 1990). Thomas J. Campbell, who once worked as a clerk for Judge MacKinnon, has written: : Judge MacKinnon inspired by words. He inspired by his life's deeds. But he inspired most of all by what came to him, naturally. That he'd always introduce himself as George, not Judge. That he would call his wife on his private phone line, so that the government would not have to pay whatever marginal cost one phone call might represent. That he would answer his own phone with such alacrity that clerk or secretary would have to scramble to pick it up on the first ring. That he presided at the marriage, in chambers, of a man he had once prosecuted, convicted, and sent away to prison as U.S. Attorney. That he was loved by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and sought the approval of neither to find his own sense of worth.

References

External links

*
George E. Mackinnon: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Legislators Past and Present
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinnon, George 1906 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American Episcopalians Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judges of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Members of the United States Sentencing Commission Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota United States attorneys for the District of Minnesota United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon University of Minnesota Law School alumni 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Minnesota Golden Gophers men's track and field athletes American male javelin throwers Minnesota Golden Gophers football players