Ed Carnes | |
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| Senior Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | |
| Assumed office June 30, 2020 | |
| Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | |
| In office August 1, 2013 – June 2, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Joel Fredrick Dubina |
| Succeeded by | William H. Pryor Jr. |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | |
| In office October 2, 1992 – June 30, 2020 | |
| Appointed by | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Frank Minis Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Andrew L. Brasher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Earl Carnes (1950-06-03)June 3, 1950 (age 75) Albertville,Alabama, U.S. |
| Education | University of Alabama (BS) Harvard University (JD) |
Edward Earl Carnes (born June 3, 1950) is an American judge who is aseniorUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Carnes received hisBachelor of Science degree from theUniversity of Alabama in 1972. He received hisJuris Doctor fromHarvard Law School cum laude in 1975. After law school, he accepted a position as an assistant state attorney general for the state ofAlabama, where he served from 1975 to 1992.[1]
From 1981 to 1992 he served as the Chief of the Capital Punishment and Post-Conviction Litigation Division of the Alabama State Attorney General's Office. As the head of Alabama capital punishment unit, Carnes became, according to the National Law Journal, "the premier death penalty advocate in the country and a chief adviser on capital punishment to judges, the U.S. Justice Department and other prosecutors."[2] Carnes re-wrote Alabama's death penalty statute,[3] and defended its use before theSupreme Court of the United States on three occasions, includingBeck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625.[1]
Carnes's ascendancy to the bench created a hole in the capital punishment unit, leading an Alabama appellate judge to lament that the state had lost a "very effective voice in support of executions in this state."[4]
Carnes was nominated by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush on January 27, 1992, for theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to a seat vacated by JudgeFrank Minis Johnson.[1] To Carnes' opponents, he was a poor choice to succeed Judge Johnson, a hero of the civil rights movement who had declared that the segregated buses ofMontgomery, Alabama were illegal.[5] Some compared replacing Johnson with Carnes to Bush's earlier decision to replaceThurgood Marshall withClarence Thomas. Nonetheless, his nomination might have sailed through the Senate if not for theRodney King incident, which encouraged Senate Democrats to use Carnes' nomination as a chance to stump against racism in the criminal justice system.[3]
Critics blasted Carnes for defending Alabama prosecutors accused of systematically excluding blacks from death penalty trial juries.[6] Carnes' supporters responded that as a prosecutor, Carnes had engaged in a campaign to eliminateracial discrimination in jury selection even before the Supreme Court had become involved in the issue.[7] They noted that when selected by the judges of the state to prosecute judicial misconduct, Carnes had sought sanctions against sixteen sitting judges, including two who were removed from the bench for racist remarks.[7] He also sought a venue change to a county with a higher black population for the retrial of a twice-convicted black defendant accused of brutally murdering a white victim.[7]
Prominent southern civil rights lawyers were split over the nomination.Stephen Bright, Director of theSouthern Center for Human Rights, testified against the nomination and lambasted the Senate's decision to confirm Carnes.[8] ButMorris Dees, cofounder of theSouthern Poverty Law Center and Carnes' frequent adversary, went door-to-door among Senate Democrats, fighting on behalf of Carnes.[9] Both (Democratic) senators from Alabama supported his nomination, as did the attorneys general of each of the states comprising the Eleventh Circuit.[10]
After eight months and a Democratic filibuster, Carnes was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on September 9, 1992, by a 62–36 vote.[11] He received his commission the following day.[1] He assumed office on October 2, 1992, and served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from August 1, 2013, to June 2, 2020.[12] He assumedsenior status on June 30, 2020.[13]
Carnes is unrelated toJulie E. Carnes, with whom he serves on the Eleventh Circuit.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 1992–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 2013–2020 | Succeeded by |