A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.

A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.
Higginbotham with Bill Clinton at a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, 1995.
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
In office
January 31, 1991 – March 5, 1993
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
In office
January 15, 1990 – January 31, 1991
Preceded byJohn Joseph Gibbons
Succeeded byDolores Sloviter
Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
In office
May 19, 1979 – May 18, 1986
Appointed byWarren E. Burger
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byCollins J. Seitz
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
In office
October 11, 1977 – January 31, 1991
Appointed byJimmy Carter
Preceded byFrancis Lund Van Dusen
Succeeded byTheodore McKee
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
In office
March 17, 1964 – November 7, 1977
Appointed byLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byJames Cullen Ganey
Succeeded byLouis H. Pollak
Personal details
Born
Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr.

(1928-02-25)February 25, 1928
Ewing Township, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedDecember 14, 1998(1998-12-14) (aged 70)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
SpouseEvelyn Brooks Higginbotham
EducationPurdue University
Antioch College (BA)
Yale University (LLB)

Aloysius Leon Higginbotham Jr. (February 25, 1928 – December 14, 1998) was an American civil rights advocate, historian, presidential adviser, and federal court judge. From 1990 to 1991, he served as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Originally nominated to the bench by President Kennedy in 1963, Higginbotham was the seventh African-American Article III judge appointed in the United States, and the first African-American United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.[1] He was elevated to the Third Circuit in 1977, serving as a federal judge for nearly 30 years in all.[2] In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Higginbotham used the name "Leon" informally.

  1. ^ "African American Federal Judges by Commission Date" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2007.
  2. ^ "Higginbotham, Aloyisus Leon, Jr. - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2017.