Samuel Hardwicke Mays Jr. (born 1948) 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 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
Mays was born in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. He received a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
in 1970 and a
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
in 1973. He was in private practice in Tennessee from 1973 to 1995, and was then legal counsel to Governor
Don Sundquist
Donald Kenneth Sundquist (March 15, 1936 – August 27, 2023) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional dis ...
, from 1995 to 1997. He was a deputy and chief of staff to the Governor from 1997 to 2000, returning to private practice in Tennessee from 2000 to 2002.
Federal judicial service
On January 23, 2002, Mays was nominated by President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
to a seat on the
vacated by
Jerome Turner
Jerome Turner (February 18, 1942 – February 12, 2000) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
Education and career
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Turner received a Bachelor o ...
. Mays 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 9, 2002, and received his commission on May 10, 2002. He assumed
senior status on July 1, 2015.
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Samuel Hardwicke Jr.
1948 births
Living people
Amherst College alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee
United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush
Yale Law School alumni