Russell Gentry Clark (July 27, 1925 – April 17, 2003) 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
.
Education and career
Born in
Oregon County,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, Clark was a lieutenant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
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 1944 to 1946, and later 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 the
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law (now the University of Missouri School of Law) in 1952. He was in private practice in
Springfield, Missouri from 1952 to 1977.
Federal judicial service
On June 13, 1977, Clark was nominated by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to a seat on the
vacated by Judge
William H. Becker. Clark 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 July 1, 1977, and received his commission on July 5, 1977. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1985, and assumed
senior status on August 1, 1991. Clark retired completely from the bench on July 31, 2000.
Notable case
Clark ordered tax increases to come up with the massive amounts of money he ordered to be spent by the Kansas City school district in the case of
Missouri v. Jenkins. Starting with his order "federal judges ordered more than $2 billion in new spending by the school district to encourage desegregation."
Death
He died on April 17, 2003, in Springfield.
See also
History of Kansas City
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Russell Gentry
1925 births
2003 deaths
University of Missouri alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter
United States Army officers
Missouri lawyers