Alexander Williams
| Alexander Williams | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the District of Maryland | |
| Title: | Senior Judge |
| Position: | Seat #7 |
| Station: | Greenbelt, MD |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | Bill Clinton |
| Active: | 08/18/1994 - 5/8/2013 |
| Preceded by: | Norman Ramsey |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1948 |
| Home State: | Washington, DC |
| Undergraduate: | Howard U., B.A., 1970 |
| Law School: | Howard U. Law, J.D., 1973 |
Contents |
Alexander Willams, Jr. is an Article III federal judge serving on senior status for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. He joined the court in 1994 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton.[1]
Early life and education
Born in Washington, D.C., Williams graduated from Howard University with his Bachelor's degree in 1970 and from Howard University School of Law with his Juris Doctor degree in 1973.[1]
Professional career
Williams was a law clerk for Maryland State Circuit Court Judge, James Taylor, in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Maryland from 1973 to 1974. Williams was a private practice attorney in the State of Maryland from 1974 to 1986. In addition to Williams' private practice work, Williams has served, often concurrently, in various part-time Civic law related positions.[1]
Williams served as a Municipal Attorney for the City of Fairmount Heights, Maryland from 1975 to 1987. Williams also served part-time as a Substitute Juvenile Master in the Prince George's County, Maryland Circuit Court from 1976 to 1977. Williams was an Assistant Public Defender for the Prince George's County, Maryland Public Defender's Office from 1977 to 1978. Williams was Special Counsel and Hearing Examiner for the Prince George's County, Maryland Board of Education from 1978 to 1987. Williams was elected to serve as the Maryland State Attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland from 1987 to 1994, and served as Municipal Attorney for the City of Glenarden, Maryland from 1980 to 1987.[1]
Since 1978, Williams has served as a member of the faculty at the Howard University School of Law.[1]
Judicial career
District of Maryland
Williams was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland by President Bill Clinton on August 6, 1993, to a seat vacated by Norman Ramsey. Williams was confirmed by the Senate on August 17, 1994, and received commission on August 18, 1994.[2] On May 8, 2013, Judge Williams assumed senior status for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, where he had served for 19 years.[3]
Notable cases
Exxon accused of breaches of franchisees' contracts
| United States District Court for the District of Maryland *Duncan Services, Inc., et al., v. ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, et al. 09-cv-02486 |
|---|
| Judge Williams ruled against sixty-five franchise owners in a case against ExxonMobil Oil Corporation. The franchisees alleged that the oil giant undercut them and breached their contracts by making plans to sell off their franchise agreements to middlemen who they feared would drive them out of business. Judge Williams held that the plaintiffs did not make a sufficient showing of any violation of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, and dismissed the case.[4][5] |
Immigration and employment: mandatory use of E-Verify
| United States District Court for the District of Maryland *Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al., v. Janet Napolitano, et al. AW-08-3444 |
|---|
| Judge Alexander dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Chamber of Commerce which challenged the authority of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to mandate that federal contractors use the E-verify system when hiring new employees.[6] E-Verify is the Department of Homeland Security's voluntary electronic system that allows employers to verify a person is eligible to work in the U.S. by using the DHS and Social Security Administration databases.[7] The judge dismissed the Chamber of Commerce's claims, ruling that both Presidents acted properly under federal law to enforce an executive order that requires all contractors to verify legal immigration status for their hires. As part of the judge's order, all federal contractors beginning September 8, 2009, were mandated to use the e-verify system to screen all employees for immigration status as a condition of their contract.[6] |
This issue ultimately reached the Supreme Court, and was decided in a case commonly known as Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting. See the ScotusBlog.com page on the case here.
See also
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Judge William's Biography at the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ "THOMAS" Alexander Williams, Jr. USDC, MD confirmation:PN537-103
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ "Baltimore Sun", "Judge sides with Exxon over state gas station operators," November 10, 2009
- ↑ Law360, "Exxon wins bid to nix MD franchisees' contract suit," July 13, 2013
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Business Journal of South Florida", "Worker verification rule clears federal court," August 31, 2009
- ↑ Jackson Lewis, Legal Updates-Federal District Court Upholds Mandatory E-Verify Rule for Federal Contractors, August 28, 2009
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Norman Ramsey |
District of Maryland 1994–2013 Seat #7 |
Succeeded by: NA |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 |
Adams • Ambrose • Barnes • Brinkema • Bucklew • Chasanow • Coffman • Daughtrey • Ferguson • Ginsburg • Hagen • Jackson • Lancaster • Leval • Lindsay • Messitte • Michael • Piersol • Saris • Schwartz • Seybert • Shanahan • Shaw • Stearns • Trager • Vazquez • Wilken • Wilson | ||
| 1994 |
Baer • Barkett • Batts • Beaty • Benavides • Bennett • Berrigan • Biery • Block • Borman • Breyer • Briones • Bryson • Bucklo • Burgess • Burrage • Cabranes • Calabresi • Carr • Casellas • Castillo • Chatigny • Chin • Cindrich • Coar • Collins • Cooper • Cote • Currie • Davis • Dominguez • Downes • Duval • Friedman • Furgeson • Garcia • Gertner • Gettleman • Gillmor • Gilmore • Gleeson • Haggerty • Hamilton • Hannah • Hawkins • Henry • Holmes • Hood • Hull • Hurley • Jack • Jones • Jones • Kaplan • Katz • Kern • Kessler • Koeltl • Lisi • Manning • McKee • McLaughlin • Melancon • Miles-LaGrange • Moore • Motz • Murphy • O'Malley • O'Meara • Oliver • Paez • B. Parker • F. Parker • R. Parker • Perry • Ponsor • Pooler • Porteous • Rendell • Riley • Robertson • Rogers • Ross • Russell • Sands • Sarokin • Scheindlin • Silver • Squatrito • Stewart • Sullivan • Tatel • Thompson • Timlin • Urbina • Vanaskie • Vance • Walls • Wells • Williams | ||
| 1995 |
Arterton • Atlas • Black • Blake • Briscoe • Tena Campbell • Todd Campbell • Chesney • Cole • Collier • Daniel • Davis • Dennis • Dlott • Donald • Duffy • Economus • Evans • Fallon • Folsom • Gaughan • Goodwin • Heartfield • Hunt • Illston • Jones • King • Kornmann • Lawson • Lenard • Lucero • Lynch • McKinley • Moody • Moore • Moskowitz • Murphy • Murtha • Nugent • O'Toole • Orlofsky • Pogue • Sessions • C. Smith • O. Smith • Stein • Thornburg • Tunheim • Wallach • Wardlaw • Webber • Whaley • Winmill • Wood | ||
| 1996 |
Broadwater • Clevert • Fenner • Gershon • Gottschall • Greenaway • Hinkle • Jones • Kahn • Laughrey • Lemmon • Marten • Miller • Molloy • Montgomery • Pregerson • Rakoff • Sargus • Tashima • Thomas • Zapata | ||
| 1997 |
Adelman • Bataillon • Breyer • Caputo • Casey • Chambers • Clay • Damrell • Droney • Friedman • Gajarsa • Garland • Gilman • Gold • Gwin • Hall • Hayden • Hull • Ishii • Jenkins • Kauffman • Kennedy • Kimball • Kollar-Kotelly • Lazzara • Marbley • Marcus • Middlebrooks • Miller • Moon • Pratt • Rendell • Sippel • Siragusa • Snyder • Thrash | ||
| 1998 |
Aiken • Barbier • Barzilay • Berman • Buttram • Carter • Collins • Dawson • Dimitrouleas • Fletcher • Fogel • Frank • Graber • Hellerstein • Herndon • James • Johnson • Kane • Kelly • G. King • R. King • Lasnik • Lee • Lemelle • Lindsay • Lipez • Manella • Matz • McCuskey • McKeown • McMahon • Mickle • Mollway • Mordue • Moreno • Morrow • Munley • Murphy • Pallmeyer • Pauley • Polster • Pooler • Rawlinson • Ridgway • R. Roberts • V. Roberts • Sack • Scott • Seitz • Seymour • Shea • Silverman • Sleet • Sotomayor • Steeh • Story • Straub • Tagle • Tarnow • Trauger • Traxler • Tyson • Wardlaw • Whelan • Young | ||
| 1999 |
Alsup • Barry • Brown • Buchwald • Cooper • Eaton • Ellison • Feess • Fisher • Gould • Guzman • Haynes • Hibbler • Hochberg • Hurd • Huvelle • Jordan • Katzmann • Kennelly • Linn • Lorenz • Lynn • Marrero • Murguia • Pannell • Pechman • Pepper • Phillips • Schreier • Stewart • Underhill • Ward • Williams • Wilson | ||
| 2000 |
Ambro • Antoon • Battani • Berzon • Bolton • Brady • Bye • Cavanaugh • Daniels • Darrah • Dawson • Dyk • Fuentes • Garaufis • Garcia-Gregory • Gregory • Hamilton • Huck • Hunt • Lawson • Lefkow • Lynch • Martin • McLaughlin • Moody • Murguia • Paez • Pisano • Presnell • Rawlinson • Reagan • Schiller • Singal • Steele • Surrick • Swain • Tallman • Teilborg • Tucker • Whittemore | ||
