Joseph A. Woods Jr. (1925 – July 15, 2013) was an American lawyer in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1974 he served as a Senior Associate Special Counsel to the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry staff during the

impeachment process against Richard Nixon The Federal impeachment in the United States, impeachment process against Richard Nixon was initiated by the United States House of Representatives on October 30, 1973, during the course of the Watergate scandal, when multiple resolutions ca ...

Background

A native of

Decatur, Alabama Decatur () is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County, Alabama, Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City," it is located in North Alabam ...

, Woods graduated from

Boalt Hall The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This cam ...

in 1949 where he was editor of the

California Law Review The ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades play ...

. His studies were interrupted by his service in

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 ...

. Woods, as a

first Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

based in the Pacific from 1944 to 1946, was involved in the invasions of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

and

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Career

He began practicing law in 1949, joining an Oakland law firm that would later become Donahue Gallagher Woods, where he remained until 1990. From 1956 until 1988, he was also the attorney for

Lucky Stores Lucky Stores are a pair of American supermarket chains plus a defunct historical chain. The original chain was founded in San Leandro, California, and operated from 1935 until 1999. The Lucky brand was revived ''circa'' 2007 and is now operat ...

, and was on the board of directors. In 1974 Woods worked in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he served as a Senior Associate Special Counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry staff during the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

process against Richard Nixon. His job was to supervise the staff's constitutional and legal research. He led a team of staff lawyers (that included future First Lady

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

) examining constitutional and legal questions related to impeachment and the definition of "

high crimes and misdemeanors The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors covers allegations of misconduct by officials. Offenses by officials also include ordinary crimes, but perhaps with different standards of proof and punishment than for non-officials, on the grounds th ...

"one of the grounds stated in Article II, Section 4 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

for impeachment of a federal official. Through their in-depth study of how the constitutional language about impeachment came to be adopted during the 1787 Constitutional Convention and of the long history of British impeachment cases, the staff produced a guide for the Judiciary Committee, a 64-page report, entitled "Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment," which asserted that not all crimes were impeachable offenses and that not all impeachable offenses were crimes, and that became a focal point of the Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry against

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

. Since 1974, it has been used as a guidebook during two House presidential impeachment inquiries: against Bill Clinton in 1998 and against Donald Trump in 2019. Woods was a member of the National Council of the

Institute of Governmental Studies The Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) is an interdisciplinary organized research unit at UC Berkeley, in Philosophy Hall. It was founded in 1919 as the Bureau of Public Administration. IGS and its affiliated centers spearhead and promote rese ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

and was president of the Alameda County Bar Association, representing

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...

in the ABA House of Delegates from 1982 to 1990. A fellow of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

from 1983, Woods served on the board of directors until his death and in later life wrote for the ABA's monthly newsletter. He died in

Piedmont, California Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, enclaved by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it means 'foothil ...

on July 15, 2013, aged 88.

References

External links

*
video, via YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Joseph People from Decatur, Alabama 1925 births 2013 deaths Lawyers from Oakland, California 20th-century American lawyers United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Military personnel from California