478:, would handle that case, which formally ended on March 27, 1997. Judge Pittman was assigned the election case with Wiley Bolden as lead plaintiff and which concerned at large election of Mobile County's three commissioners (each elected at-large and who governed the county, each being named Mobile's mayor during his rotating designation as president); Judge Hand had recused himself because his former firm represented the city. A similar case, also discussed below, involved the at-large election of the school board, and the lead plaintiff was Lila Brown. At the heart of both cases was the at-large election system begun following the 1911 revision of Alabama's constitution; no African Americans had thereafter won any county-wide office.
577:, then vacated in light of that decision. When Alexander tried to strip votes from Gilliard and Cox, Judge PIttman affirmed their offices, as well as single-member districts for the upcoming September election, and again denied Alexander a vote in school board meetings. Alexander called for Judge Pittman's removal, and rhetoric heated in 1980. The Fifth Circuit allowed Alexander to remain on the board pending the new trial scheduled for March 1981. In January 1982 the school board approved a plan to end the
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Vermeuille, who was also active in Mobile's First
Baptist Church, herself had a son Walter Verneuille and a daughter Lea Verneuille, and ultimately survived him. Even while a federal judge, Pittman volunteered for a meals-on-wheels program, delivering meals to the elderly. He also was extremely scrupulous about court finances, going to a nearby pay phone rather than make personal phone calls on the line to his judicial chambers.
406:, Alabama from 1946 to 1951, practicing as the law firm of Pittman & Miller. Pittman became a Circuit Judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama from 1951 to 1953, and the circuit's Presiding Judge from 1953 to 1966. He also taught as a lecturer at the University of Alabama Center at Gadsden from 1948 to 1966.
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affirmed his order and the
Supreme Court denied the school board's' appeal, Alexander declined to seek election, as did long-time board member Berger, so their seats were won by Republican Howard (Chipper) Mathis III and Judy McCain (who soon was elected the board's president and promised like Mathis
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Judge
Pittman had conducted a bench trial, and (before the November 1978 elections) had ordered five single-member school board districts, with Alexander made the non-voting board president, and the Fifth Circuit had affirmed. Retired air force officer Norman Cox and local dentist and NAACP president
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decision, issued on April 15, 1982 also favored the plaintiffs. On
January 31, 1983, rather than appeal, all parties agreed to a settlement whereby the next election for city office would be based on districts rather than at-large. The Alabama legislature passed appropriate legislation, introduced by
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reversed the appellate judgment and vacated Judge
Pittman's decision. To comply, Judge Pittman held a second hearing beginning May 1981, although this time elections were not postponed. Meanwhile a "smoking gun" letter was discovered and admitted into evidenceโwritten by Mobile lawyer and Congressman
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legal case, would be convicted for extorting kickbacks from local architects as Mobile's schools finally began addressing infrastructure deficits in 1977) and Ruth Drago (a retired teacher and former president of the Mobile County
Education Association and Alabama Education Association). In the 1976
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school desegregation case had begun, and after the
November 1974 elections replaced long-time school board members Charles McNeil and William Crane with young local attorney Dan Alexander (who would become the school board's dominant force for decades, but after declining to run for election after
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to the former Annie Lee Logan (1889โ1982), the second wife of W.O. Pittman (1879โ1965), Pittman had four older step-siblings and an older brother, Oscar L. Pittman. He picked cotton alongside both whites and blacks during the Great
Depression. His ancestors had been among the white pioneers who
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Judge
Pittman remained married to his first wife, Floy Lassater, for 56 years, even becoming her main caregiver when she was stricken with Alzheimer's disease. They raised a son (W. Lee Pittman) and a daughter Karen Pittman Gordy. Several years after her death, he remarried, at age 86, to Lily
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decision if the city lost, although
Commissioner Robert Doyle avoided the issue. Ultimately, Doyle won re-election immediately, and both Mims and Greenough won re-election in runoffs. However, before the second trial Michael Donald was found beaten, strangled and with his throat slashed. Four
626:, Alabama. Although once a pariah in Mobile such that a cross was burned on his lawn and he stopped going to church for six months lest his presence lead to an attack on the congregation, by his death Judge had become much admired, and Mobile's city council passed a resolution honoring him.
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Lila G. Brown's case alleging that at-large elections of members of the Mobile County school board diluted the voting strength of African Americans in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments began in 1976. Thus it came more than a decade since the
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Other important or controversial cases which Judge Pittman handled involved the Choctaw County Schools (1968), Mobile police officers (1971), Mobile Sheriff Thomas Purvis (1977), Mobile police officers (1978), Choctaw County jail food (1980) and Mobile County jail overcrowding (1981).
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Robert Gilliard had been elected as the school board's first black members, each from a majority-black district. However, Alexander was dissatisfied by losing his vote, and the case was ultimately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and held pending the decision in
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case went to trial on July 12, 1976; and on October 21, 1976, Judge Pittman issued a decision for the plaintiffs which led to considerable controversy. The "Constitutional Crisis Committee" asked for Pittman's impeachment, and Mobile commissioner and then-mayor
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school desegregation case for decades, which ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court twice, but would be overshadowed by school desegregation cases from Virginia and North Carolina. After Judge Thomas' assumed senior status in 1971, Judge
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Judge Pittman fully retired in March 2006, aged 89. At the year's end, the Mobile and Baldwin County bar associations awarded him the 2007 Howell Heflin award for bringing honor to the legal profession. On January 6, 2012, Judge Pittman died in
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542:, and 72% of state voters on May 15, 1985 approved switching to a mayor-council form of government. Three African Americans were elected among the 7 new districts, the first blacks to serve in Mobile's government since
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to the Alabama legislature in 1909, it clearly indicated the purpose of the at-large system was to prevent blacks from holding office. Both Commissioners Mims and Greenough promised not to appeal the second
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evaluated his decision, Judge Pittman postponed the 1977 city election, allowing the three committeemen elected in 1973 to remain in office, and the appellate court later affirmed Judge Pittman's decision.
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neared retirement. Pittman served as Chief Judge of the Southern District from 1971 to 1981. He became the first federal judge in Mobile to hire black and female law clerks. Judge Pittman assumed
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772:
Keith Nicholls, "Politics and Civil Rights in Post-World War II Mobile" in Thomason, Michael, Mobile: the New History of Alabama's first city (Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press 2001)
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litigation handled by Judge Hand, which plan included a committee to design a plan to create a unified school system and appointment of two sociologists as a professional observation team.
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on July 15, 1981, but continued with a reduced docket for decades. As of 2020, Pittman is the last judge appointed by a Democratic president to the Southern District of Alabama.
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election, Hiram Bosarge (a retired army veteran who would decades later be acquitted despite Alexander's conviction), replaced veteran school commissioner Robert Williams.
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confirmed the nomination on June 29, 1966, and Pittman received his commission on June 29, 1966. For several years he traveled in a circuit of federal courthouses in
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members were convicted for the crime in state court, and his mother won a $ 7 million settlement that effectively ended the Klan's operations in Alabama.
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and was called to duty as a lieutenant near the end of World War II, serving from 1944 to 1946. Upon discharge, he entered private practice in
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450:. His service on the Middle District terminated on June 2, 1970, when he was reassigned to only the Southern District, as its Chief Judge
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cases proved controversial, and appeared to require a special school board election in 1983. When the new
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1007:"Pariah to 'hero' -- how Judge Virgil Pittman transformed Mobile and his own image (Photo gallery)"
751:"Pariah to 'hero' -- how Judge Virgil Pittman transformed Mobile and his own image (Photo gallery)"
659:. Mobile Bar Association. (1st ed.). Birmingham, Ala.: Association Pub. Co. pp. 113โ115.
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The political use of racial narratives : school desegregation in Mobile, Alabama, 1954-97
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803:. Mobile Bar Association. (1st ed.). Birmingham, Ala.: Association Pub. Co. p. 113.
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offered to sign the impeachment petition, but the city attorney advised against it. While
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733:"Pariah to Hero -- how Judge Virgil Pittman transformed Mobile and his own Image"
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Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
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Mobile's legal legacy : three hundred years of law in the Port City
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Mobile's legal legacy : three hundred years of law in the Port City
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to direct money and energy toward school rooms rather than courtrooms).
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Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and in
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Bolden v. City of Mobile, Alabama, 542 F.Supp. 1050 (April 15, 1982)
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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Bolden v. City of Mobile, Alabama, 423 F.Supp. 381 (Oct 21, 1976)
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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Bolden v. City of Mobile, Alabama, 571 F.2d 238 (Mar. 29, 1978)
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United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
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Zoghby, Mary; Staton, Carolyn; Hawks, Joanne (8 August 1983).
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List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
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Pittman entered federal service as a special agent for the
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896:Pride, Richard A. (Richard Alan), 1942- (2002).
870:"Oral Interview with Mary Zoghby (Part 1 of 2)"
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1304:United States Navy personnel of World War II
928:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
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469:. Former Chief Judge Thomas had handled the
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1279:20th-century United States Army personnel
584:However, Judge Pittman's orders from the
331:(March 28, 1916 โ January 6, 2012) was a
1029:Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
900:. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
714:Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
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59:July 15, 1981 โ March 28, 2006
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176:June 29, 1966 โ July 15, 1981
874:Southern Women Legislators Collection
121:June 29, 1966 โ June 2, 1970
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398:from 1940 to 1944. He served in the
382:University of Alabama School of Law
304:University of Alabama School of Law
731:Kirby, Brendan (22 January 2012).
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505:5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
1239:People from Enterprise, Alabama
1050:Seat established by 80 Stat. 75
396:Federal Bureau of Investigation
199:Seat established by 80 Stat. 75
144:Seat established by 80 Stat. 75
609:He was also a life trustee of
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1299:United States Navy reservists
1294:United States Army reservists
799:Erickson, Ben, 1952- (2008).
655:Erickson, Ben, 1952- (2008).
1269:University of Alabama alumni
1264:20th-century American judges
333:United States district judge
1284:United States Navy officers
1188:Charles Randolph Butler Jr.
400:United States Naval Reserve
266:Pine Crest Cemetery, Mobile
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973:Price pp. 195-196, 198-199
370:United States Army Reserve
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995:. al.com. 7 January 2012.
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347:Early life and education
1034:Federal Judicial Center
1032:, a publication of the
955:Pride pp. 161, 167, 193
719:Federal Judicial Center
717:, a publication of the
533:Judge Pittman's second
1168:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
1097:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
993:"Judge Virgil Pittman"
946:Price pp. 126-127, 131
467:Mobile County, Alabama
452:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
89:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
1173:Thomas Virgil Pittman
1024:Thomas Virgil Pittman
982:Pride pp. 205, 21-213
709:Thomas Virgil Pittman
538:state representative
518:Frederick G. Bromberg
376:degree in 1939 and a
368:, Pittman joined the
366:University of Alabama
329:Thomas Virgil Pittman
295:University of Alabama
1178:William Brevard Hand
1155:Chief judges of the
1117:William Brevard Hand
886:Nicholls pp. 271-272
849:Nicholls pp. 270-271
476:William Brevard Hand
428:United States Senate
101:William Brevard Hand
1104:Chief Judge of the
374:Bachelor of Science
286:Lily Lea Verneuille
239:Enterprise, Alabama
64:Chief Judge of the
1183:Alex T. Howard Jr.
1009:. 22 January 2012.
753:. 22 January 2012.
611:Samford University
564:resolution of the
284:Floy Lasseter (d.)
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1198:William H. Steele
1193:Callie V. Granade
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1114:Succeeded by
1087:Emmett Ripley Cox
1084:Succeeded by
1066:Succeeded by
964:Pride pp. 193-194
810:978-0-9668380-8-4
666:978-0-9668380-8-4
416:Lyndon B. Johnson
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187:Lyndon B. Johnson
132:Lyndon B. Johnson
23:T. Virgil Pittman
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513:Mobile v. Bolden
471:Birdie Mae Davis
463:Civil Rights Era
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206:Succeeded by
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96:Succeeded by
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43:Senior Judge
1234:2012 deaths
1229:1916 births
780:pp. 269-270
737:Alabama.com
540:Mary Zoghby
461:During the
194:Preceded by
139:Preceded by
84:Preceded by
1223:Categories
1111:1971โ1981
1081:1966โ1981
1063:1966โ1970
778:0817310657
642:References
552:Lila Brown
432:Montgomery
414:President
353:Enterprise
315:Profession
275:Democratic
232:1916-03-28
924:cite book
827:cite book
819:270237290
683:cite book
675:270237290
380:from the
291:Education
281:Spouse(s)
172:In office
117:In office
78:1971โ1981
74:In office
55:In office
916:49225358
630:See also
422:and the
384:in 1940.
360:settled
351:Born in
339:and the
1026:at the
711:at the
448:Opelika
404:Gadsden
357:Alabama
335:of the
45:of the
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624:Mobile
586:Bolden
535:Bolden
523:Bolden
496:Bolden
488:Bolden
444:Dothan
436:Mobile
590:Brown
566:Brown
440:Selma
308:LL.B.
934:link
930:link
912:OCLC
902:ISBN
837:link
833:link
815:OCLC
805:ISBN
774:ISBN
693:link
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671:OCLC
661:ISBN
588:and
554:case
550:The
494:The
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446:and
299:B.S.
258:, US
246:Died
241:, US
226:Born
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