Sarah Elizabeth Gibson (born 1950) is a law professor at the

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law (branded as Carolina Law) is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, it is one of the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law sch ...

and a former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Early life and education

A native of

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, Gibson earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1972 and a law degree with high honors from the

in 1976.University of North Carolina School of Law Profile - S. Elizabeth Gibson
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Professional career

From 1976 until 1977, Gibson clerked for Fourth Circuit Judge James Braxton Craven Jr. From 1977 until 1978, Gibson clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Byron White Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White (June 8, 1917 – April 15, 2002) was an American lawyer, jurist, and professional American football, football player who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, associate justice of the Supreme ...

. She worked in private practice from 1978 until 1983, when she joined the

as an associate professor. Gibson became a full professor at the law school in 1988. Gibson also began working as a consultant for the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of re ...

in 1998.

Nomination to the Fourth Circuit

On October 26, 2000, on the recommendation of Sen.

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

, President Clinton nominated Gibson to a vacancy on the Fourth Circuit that was created by the death the previous year of Judge Samuel James Ervin III. With just two weeks until the presidential election and opposition to North Carolina appeals-court judicial nominees throughout Clinton's entire presidency by North Carolina Sen.

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

, Gibson's nomination languished. "The good thing for me is I have a job right now that I love," Gibson told the

Raleigh News and Observer Raleigh ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte), the largest city in the Research Triangle area, and the 39th-most populous city in the U.S. Known as t ...

in an article that was published on October 28, 2000. "So if this works out, that would be great. If not, that's OK." Since Gibson was nominated after July 1, 2000, the unofficial start date of the Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year, no hearings were scheduled on her nomination, and the nomination was returned to Clinton at the end of his term. President George W. Bush chose not to renominate Gibson to the Fourth Circuit. In 2003, President Bush nominated Allyson K. Duncan to the Fourth Circuit seat to which Gibson had been nominated. The

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

confirmed Duncan later that year.

Personal

Gibson is married to University of North Carolina law professor Robert Mosteller.

References

External links