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Charles Smith

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Tenure

2013 - Present

Years in position

12

Prior offices:

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Years in office: 1995 - 2013

Education

Bachelor's

University of Alabama, 1966

Law

University of Alabama School of Law, 1971

Graduate

Rutgers University, 1967

Personal

Birthplace

Talladega, AL

Contact

Official website

Charles Lynwood Smith Jr. is afederal judge onsenior status with theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He joined the court on December 26, 1995, after being nominated by PresidentBill Clinton.

Early life and education

Born inTalladega, Alabama, Smith earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1966 and his master's degree from Rutgers University in 1967. Smith earned hisJ.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1971.^[1]

Professional career

• 1995 - Present:United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

• 2013 - Present: Senior judge
• 1995-2013: Judge

• 1981-1995: Judge,23rd Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama
• 1981: Judge,Madison County District Court, Alabama
• 1972-1981: Private practice,Huntsville, Ala.
• 1972-1976: Lecturer in political science, University of Alabama
• 1971-1972: Law clerk, Hon.Frank McFadden,United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama^[2]

Judicial career

Northern District of Alabama

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: C. Lynwood Smith
Court:United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Progress
Confirmed 14 days after nomination.
ANominated: December 8, 1995
AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: December 19, 1995
QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: December 21, 1995
AConfirmed: December 22, 1995
AVote: Voice vote

Smith was nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by PresidentBill Clinton onDecember 8, 1995, to a seat vacated byElbert Haltom. TheAmerican Bar Association rated SmithUnanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Smith's nomination were held before theSenate Judiciary Committee on December 19, 1995, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen.Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on December 21, 1995. Smith was confirmed on a voice vote of theU.S. Senate on December 22, 1995, and he received his commission on December 26, 1995. Smith elected to takesenior status beginning on August 31, 2013.^[1][3][4]

Noteworthy cases

Judge puts an end to drug-testing for new county government employees (2014)

In April 2014, Judge Smith ruled that new government employees inJefferson County, Alabama, would not have to be drug tested prior to hiring, as he reasoned that the practice conflicted with theFourth Amendment. Judge Smith agreed with Ronald Sims, the court-appointed receiver who first ordered that the drug testing be halted due to constitutional concerns.

Articles:

• AL.com, "Federal judge agrees with receiver's decision to halt drug testing in Jefferson County," April 24, 2014
• AL.com, "Why did receiver end drug tests for new workers in Jefferson County while Birmingham and Hoover say the tests are OK?" April 24, 2014

See also

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Officeholder United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Website

Suggest a link

• Judge Smith's biography from theFederal Judicial Center

Footnotes

1. ↑^1.01.1Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Charles Lynwood Smith Jr.," accessed June 20, 2017
2. ↑Cite error: Invalid<ref> tag; no text was provided for refs namedFJC Bio
3. ↑United States Congress, "PN 760 — C. Lynwood Smith — The Judiciary," accessed June 20, 2017
4. ↑American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 104th Congress," accessed June 20, 2017

Political offices
Preceded by: Elbert Haltom	Northern District of Alabama 1995–2013 Seat #6	Succeeded by: Liles Burke

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Active judges	Chief Judge: Madeline Haikala  •  Liles Burke  •  Annemarie Carney Axon  •  Corey Maze  •  Anna Manasco  •  Edmund LaCour  •  Harold Mooty
Senior judges	Sharon Blackburn  •  Charles Smith (Alabama)  •  Inge Johnson  •  Karon Bowdre  •  David Proctor  •  Virginia Hopkins  •
Magistrate judges	John H. England  •  Staci G. Cornelius  •  Gray M. Borden  •  Herman Johnson  •  Nicholas Danella  •
Former Article III judges	James Hancock  •  Robert Propst  •  William Acker  •  U. W. Clemon  •  Scott Coogler  •  William Crawford (Alabama)  •  Charles Tait  •  John Gayle  •  William Giles Jones  •  Richard Busteed  •  George Washington Lane  •  John Bruce  •  Oscar Richard Hundley  •  Thomas Goode Jones (Alabama)  •  William Irwin Grubb  •  Henry De Lamar Clayton  •  Charles Brents Kennamer  •  David Jackson Davis (United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama judge)  •  Thomas Murphree  •  Clarence Allgood  •  Harlan Grooms  •  Elbert Haltom  •  Seybourn Lynne  •  Frank McFadden  •  Clarence Mullins  •  Edwin Nelson  •  Sam Pointer  •  Frank Hampton McFadden  •  Abdul Kallon  •  Dean Buttram Jr.  •
Former Chief judges	U. W. Clemon  •  Karon Bowdre  •  Scott Coogler  •  David Proctor  •  Seybourn Lynne  •  Frank McFadden  •  Clarence Mullins  •  Sam Pointer  •

v • e Federal judges nominated byBill Clinton
1993	Adams •Ambrose •Barnes •Brinkema •Bucklew •Chasanow •Coffman •Daughtrey •Ferguson •Ginsburg •Hagen •Jackson •Lancaster •Leval •Lindsay •Messitte •Michael •Piersol •Saris •Schwartz •Seybert •Shanahan •Shaw •Stearns •Trager •Vazquez •Wilken •Wilson
1994	Baer •Barkett •Batts •Beaty •Benavides •Bennett •Berrigan •Biery •Block •Borman •Breyer •Briones •Bryson •Bucklo •Burgess •Burrage •Cabranes •Calabresi •Carr •Casellas •Castillo •Chatigny •Chin •Cindrich •Coar •Collins •Cooper •Cote •Currie •Davis •Dominguez •Downes •Duval •Friedman •Furgeson •Garcia •Gertner •Gettleman •Gillmor •Gilmore •Gleeson •Haggerty •Hamilton •Hannah •Hawkins •Henry •Holmes •Hood •Hull •Hurley •Jack •Jones •Jones •Kaplan •Katz •Kern •Kessler •Koeltl •Lisi •Manning •McKee •McLaughlin •Melancon •Miles-LaGrange •Moore •Motz •Murphy •O'Malley •O'Meara •Oliver •Paez •B. Parker •F. Parker •R. Parker •Perry •Ponsor •Pooler •Porteous •Rendell • Riley •Robertson •Rogers •Ross •Russell •Sands •Sarokin •Scheindlin •Silver •Squatrito •Stewart •Sullivan •Tatel •Thompson •Timlin •Urbina •Vanaskie •Vance •Walls •Wells •Williams
1995	Arterton •Atlas •Black •Blake •Briscoe •Tena Campbell •Todd Campbell •Chesney •Cole •Collier •Daniel •Davis •Dennis •Dlott •Donald •Duffy •Economus •Evans •Fallon •Folsom •Gaughan •Goodwin •Heartfield •Hunt •Illston •Jones •King •Kornmann •Lawson •Lenard •Lucero •Lynch •McKinley •Moody •Moore •Moskowitz •Murphy •Murtha •Nugent •O'Toole •Orlofsky •Pogue •Sessions •C. Smith •O. Smith •Stein •Thornburg •Tunheim •Wallach •Wardlaw •Webber •Whaley •Winmill • Wood
1996	Broadwater •Clevert •Fenner •Gershon •Gottschall •Greenaway •Hinkle •Jones •Kahn •Laughrey •Lemmon •Marten •Miller •Molloy •Montgomery •Pregerson •Rakoff •Sargus •Tashima •Thomas •Zapata
1997	Adelman •Bataillon •Breyer •Caputo •Casey •Chambers •Clay •Damrell •Droney •Friedman •Gajarsa •Garland •Gilman •Gold •Gwin •Hall •Hayden •Hull •Ishii •Jenkins •Kauffman •Kennedy •Kimball •Kollar-Kotelly •Lazzara •Marbley •Marcus •Middlebrooks •Miller •Moon •Pratt •Rendell •Sippel •Siragusa •Snyder •Thrash
1998	Aiken •Barbier •Barzilay •Berman •Buttram •Carter •Collins •Dawson •Dimitrouleas •Fletcher •Fogel •Frank •Graber •Hellerstein •Herndon •James •Johnson •Kane •Kelly •G. King •R. King •Lasnik •Lee •Lemelle •Lindsay •Lipez •Manella •Matz •McCuskey •McKeown •McMahon •Mickle •Mollway •Mordue •Moreno •Morrow •Munley •Murphy •Pallmeyer •Pauley •Polster •Pooler •Rawlinson •Ridgway •R. Roberts •V. Roberts •Sack •Scott •Seitz •Seymour •Shea •Silverman •Sleet •Sotomayor •Steeh •Story •Straub •Tagle •Tarnow •Trauger •Traxler •Tyson •Wardlaw •Whelan •Young
1999	Alsup •Barry •Brown •Buchwald •Cooper •Eaton •Ellison •Feess •Fisher •Gould •Guzman •Haynes •Hibbler •Hochberg •Hurd •Huvelle •Jordan •Katzmann •Kennelly •Linn •Lorenz •Lynn •Marrero •Murguia •Pannell •Pechman •Pepper •Phillips •Schreier •Stewart •Underhill •Ward •Williams •Wilson
2000	Ambro •Antoon •Battani •Berzon •Bolton •Brady •Bye •Cavanaugh •Daniels •Darrah •Dawson •Dyk •Fuentes •Garaufis •Garcia-Gregory •Hamilton •Huck •Hunt •Lawson •Lefkow •Lynch •Martin •McLaughlin •Moody •Murguia •Paez •Pisano •Presnell •Rawlinson •Reagan •Schiller •Singal •Steele •Surrick •Swain •Tallman •Teilborg •Tucker •Whittemore

Alabama courts

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Federal courts:

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court:Northern District of Alabama,Middle District of Alabama,Southern District of Alabama • U.S. Bankruptcy Court:Northern District of Alabama,Middle District of Alabama,Southern District of Alabama

State courts:

Alabama Supreme Court•Alabama Court of Civil Appeals•Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals•Alabama Circuit Courts•Alabama District Courts•Alabama Juvenile Courts•Alabama Municipal Courts•Alabama Probate Courts•Alabama Small Claims Courts

State resources:

Courts in Alabama •Alabama judicial elections •Judicial selection in Alabama