489:, 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.
588:, 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.
417:, 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
637:, 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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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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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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1018:"Pariah to 'hero' -- how Judge Virgil Pittman transformed Mobile and his own image (Photo gallery)"
762:"Pariah to 'hero' -- how Judge Virgil Pittman transformed Mobile and his own image (Photo gallery)"
670:. 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
814:. 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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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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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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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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437:, a new joint seat authorized by 80 Stat. 75. The
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429:nominated Judge Pittman on June 13, 1966, to the
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907:Pride, Richard A. (Richard Alan), 1942- (2002).
881:"Oral Interview with Mary Zoghby (Part 1 of 2)"
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939:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
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480:. Former Chief Judge Thomas had handled the
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1290:20th-century United States Army personnel
595:However, Judge Pittman's orders from the
342:(March 28, 1916 โ January 6, 2012) was a
1040:Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
911:. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
725:Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
70:July 15, 1981 โ March 28, 2006
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187:June 29, 1966 โ July 15, 1981
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409:from 1940 to 1944. He served in the
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315:University of Alabama School of Law
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742:Kirby, Brendan (22 January 2012).
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810:Erickson, Ben, 1952- (2008).
666:Erickson, Ben, 1952- (2008).
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1199:Charles Randolph Butler Jr.
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277:Pine Crest Cemetery, Mobile
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730:Federal Judicial Center
728:, a publication of the
544:Judge Pittman's second
1179:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
1108:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
1004:"Judge Virgil Pittman"
957:Price pp. 126-127, 131
478:Mobile County, Alabama
463:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
100:Daniel Holcombe Thomas
1184:Thomas Virgil Pittman
1035:Thomas Virgil Pittman
993:Pride pp. 205, 21-213
720:Thomas Virgil Pittman
549:state representative
529:Frederick G. Bromberg
387:degree in 1939 and a
379:, Pittman joined the
377:University of Alabama
340:Thomas Virgil Pittman
306:University of Alabama
1189:William Brevard Hand
1166:Chief judges of the
1128:William Brevard Hand
897:Nicholls pp. 271-272
860:Nicholls pp. 270-271
487:William Brevard Hand
439:United States Senate
112:William Brevard Hand
1115:Chief Judge of the
385:Bachelor of Science
297:Lily Lea Verneuille
250:Enterprise, Alabama
75:Chief Judge of the
1194:Alex T. Howard Jr.
1020:. 22 January 2012.
764:. 22 January 2012.
622:Samford University
575:resolution of the
295:Floy Lasseter (d.)
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1204:Callie V. Granade
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1125:Succeeded by
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975:Pride pp. 193-194
821:978-0-9668380-8-4
677:978-0-9668380-8-4
427:Lyndon B. Johnson
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143:Lyndon B. Johnson
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16:(Redirected from
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262:(2012-01-06)
217:Succeeded by
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162:Succeeded by
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138:Appointed by
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107:Succeeded by
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54:Senior Judge
1245:2012 deaths
1240:1916 births
791:pp. 269-270
748:Alabama.com
551:Mary Zoghby
472:During the
205:Preceded by
150:Preceded by
95:Preceded by
1234:Categories
1122:1971โ1981
1092:1966โ1981
1074:1966โ1970
789:0817310657
653:References
563:Lila Brown
443:Montgomery
425:President
364:Enterprise
326:Profession
286:Democratic
243:1916-03-28
935:cite book
838:cite book
830:270237290
694:cite book
686:270237290
391:from the
302:Education
292:Spouse(s)
183:In office
128:In office
89:1971โ1981
85:In office
66:In office
927:49225358
641:See also
433:and the
395:in 1940.
371:settled
362:Born in
350:and the
1037:at the
722:at the
459:Opelika
415:Gadsden
368:Alabama
346:of the
56:of the
925:
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635:Mobile
597:Bolden
546:Bolden
534:Bolden
507:Bolden
499:Bolden
455:Dothan
447:Mobile
601:Brown
577:Brown
451:Selma
319:LL.B.
945:link
941:link
923:OCLC
913:ISBN
848:link
844:link
826:OCLC
816:ISBN
785:ISBN
704:link
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682:OCLC
672:ISBN
599:and
565:case
561:The
505:The
501:case
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457:and
310:B.S.
269:, US
257:Died
252:, US
237:Born
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