Benjamin C. Dawkins Jr.

For this person's father who was also a U.S. District Judge, see Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.
Benjamin C. Dawkins Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
In office
August 3, 1953  August 6, 1973
Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.
Succeeded by Thomas E. Stagg Jr.
Personal details
Born Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr.
(1911-08-06) August 6, 1911
Monroe, Ouachita Parish
Louisiana, USA
Died August 31, 1984(1984-08-31) (aged 73)
Shreveport, Caddo Parish
Alma mater

Tulane University

Louisiana State University Law Center
Occupation Attorney
Military service
Service/branch United States Navy
Rank Lieutenant Commander in Naval Reserve
Battles/wars World War II

Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. (August 6, 1911 August 31, 1984), was a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Biography

Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Dawkins received a B.A. from Tulane University in 1932 and an LL.B. from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1934. In 1933, he served as a law clerk of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. From 1934 to 1935, he was in private practice in Monroe. From 1935 to 1953, he practiced in Shreveport. He was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945.

On July 21, 1953, Dawkins was nominated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana vacated by his father, Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr. The younger Dawkins was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 31, 1953, and received his commission four days later. He served as chief judge from 1953 to 1973.

In 1962, Judge Dawkins declared that racial segregation at the Shreveport bus terminal imposed an "undue burden" upon interstate commerce at odds with the Commerce Clause of Article 1, Section 8 , of the United States Constitution. He directed city officials, including Mayor Clyde Fant and Public Safety Commissioner J. Earl Downs, to halt the state segregation policy at the bus terminal and to pay costs related to a lawsuit filed by the city which had sought to maintain segregation. Sheriff J. Howell Flournoy and his chief deputy, James M. Goslin, were removed as defendants in the case, The attorney for the city was a rising political figure, later U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston Jr.[1]

Dawkins assumed senior status on August 6, 1973, at which time his successor, Thomas E. Stagg Jr. was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon. Dawkins continued to serve in senior status until his death eleven years later in Shreveport.[2]

Recorded interviews (audiotape and written transcripts) of Judge Ben C. Dawkins Jr. are located in the Louisiana State University, Shreveport library archives. They are divided in two variously dated sections: March 1978 and June 1979.[2]

References

  1. "United States of America, Plaintiff, v. City of Shreveport, Louisiana, et al., Defendants". la.findacase.com. November 16, 1962. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Federal Judge's Information Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.
U.S. Federal District Judge, Western District of Louisiana, 5th Circuit
1953-1973
Succeeded by
Thomas E. Stagg Jr.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.