FROM THE BENCH
a lawyer who stole her taxi so he could get to court on time . He did not realize that the judge he was going to be in front of was Judge Kravitch .
Frank Minis Johnson , Jr . ( Fifth Circuit / Eleventh Circuit – 1979-1991 Active Service )
Judge Johnson was born in 1918 In Winston County , Alabama which had opposed secession from the Union during the American Civil War . He graduated from the University of Alabama ; one of his classmates was George C . Wallace , future governor of Alabama . Johnson graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1943 with a Bachelor of Laws . He was appointed by President Dwight D . Eisenhower in 1955 to a seat on the U . S . District Court for the Middle District of Alabama where he served as chief judge until President Carter appointed him to the Fifth Circuit / Eleventh Circuit in 1979 .
Thomas Alonzo Clark ( Fifth Circuit / Eleventh Circuit – 1979- 1991 Active Service )
Judge Clark was born in Atlanta , GA in 1920 . He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington and Lee in 1942 and was in the U S Naval Reserve during World War II , from 1942-1946 . He received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1949 and was in private practice in Georgia from 1949-1957 and was in private practice in Florida from1957-1979 . He was succeeded by Susan H . Black in 1991 .
Following are the appointments by President Jimmy Carter for the judges of the United States District Court for the Northern and Southern District Courts of Georgia .
Harold Lloyd Murphy ( N . D . Ga . – 1977-2017 Active Service )
Judge Murphy was born in Haralson County , Georgia , on March 31 , 1927 . He was in the US Navy from 1945-1946 . He received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Georgia School of law in 1949 and practiced in Buchanan , GA until 1958 and in both Buchanan and Tallapoosa , Georgia , until 1971 . He was a Georgia state representative from 1951 to 1961 followed by assistant state solicitor general of the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit in 1956 . He was Superior Court Judge for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit , Georgia from 1974 to 1977 during the beginning of Governor Carter ’ s time in office . As President , Jimmy Carter appointed Harold Murphy to the Northern District of Georgia in 1977 where Judge Murphy served in active service until 2017 . He died in 2022 in Rome , Georgia .
Berry Avant Edenfield ( S . D . Ga . – 1978-2006 Active Service )
Judge Edenfield was born in born in 1934 in Bulloch County , GA . He graduated from the University of Georgia with a B . B . A . in 1956 and graduated from the University of Georgia School of law with an LL . B . in 1958 . He served in the Georgia Army National Guard , 1957-1963 and was in private practice in Statesboro , Georgia , 1958-1978 . Edenfield was elected to the Georgia State Senate , from Bulloch County , representing the 4th District in 1964 . He took office in January 1965 , serving with South Georgia State Senator , Jimmy Carter . Edenfield served one term , until January 1967 .
On September 27 , 1978 , Edenfield was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia . He served as Chief Judge from 1990 to 1997 , and assumed senior status on August 2 , 2006 , serving in that status until his death until 2015 .
Orinda Dale Evans ( N . D . Ga . – 1979-2008 Active Service )
Orinda Dale Evans was born in 1943 in Savannah , Georgia . She received an A . B . degree from Duke University in 1965 and a J . D . from Emory University School of Law in 1968 . She was in private practice in Atlanta , Georgia from 1968 to 1979 . She served as counsel to the Atlanta Crime Commission from 1970 to 1971 and was an adjunct professor of law at Emory from 1974 to 1977 .
On June 5 , 1979 , Evans was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia . At 35 years of age , she was either the youngest judge or the next to the youngest judge appointed to a position like hers . Judge Evans ’ son was two years old when she was sworn in and she later had a daughter while serving on the Northern District Court . She was either the first or second female judge to have a child while serving on
10 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2024