The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (in case citations, S.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on March 10, 1824, with the division of the state into a Northern and Southern district.U.S. District Courts of Alabama, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Sean P. Costello.

Organization of the court The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama is one of three federal judicial districts in Alabama. Court for the District is held at Mobile and Selma.

Mobile Division comprises the following counties: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington.

Selma Division comprises the following counties: Dallas, Hale, Marengo, Perry, and Wilcox.

Current judges

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Court decisions

Wallace v. Jaffree (1983) – Court affirmed that silent prayer was permissible in Mobile County public schools. Decision was reversed by Eleventh Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court, both ruling that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County (1987) – Court rules that textbooks promoting secular humanism were unconstitutional, running contrary to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Decision was reversed by Eleventh Circuit, which held that secular humanism was not a violation of the Establishment Clause as it is not a system of belief constituting a "religion".

Searcy v. Strange (2015) – District Judge Callie V. S. "Ginny" Granade ruled that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, violating the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, on January 23. Days later, she issued an order clarifying her ruling, saying that all Alabama probate judges, who issue marriage licenses, must comply with the order. She stayed her order for two weeks to allow state defendants time to seek a stay from a higher court. On February 3, the Eleventh Circuit denied the stay, after denying a stay in a similar case out of Florida months before. On February 9, as the order was set to take effect, the U.S. Supreme Court also denied the stay.

U.S. Attorneys

Henry Hitchcock (1825–1830) John Elliot (1830–1835) John Forsyth Jr (1835–1838) George W. Gayle (1838–1842) George I. S. Walker (1842–1846) Alexander B. Meek 1846–1850 Peter Hamilton 1850 A. J. Require 1850–1858 John P. Southworth 1869 George M. Duskin 1877–1885 John D. Burnett 1885–1889 Morris D. Wickersham 1889–1893 Joseph N. Miller 1893–1897 Morris D. Wickersham 1897–1904 William H. Armbecht 1904–1912 James B. Sloan 1912–1913 Alexander D. Pitts 1913–1922 Aubrey Boyles 1922–1926 Nicholas E. Stallworth 1926–1927 Alexander C. Birch 1927–1935 Francis H. Inge 1935–1943 Albert J. Tully 1943–1948 Percy C. Fountain 1948–1956 Ralph Kennamer 1956–1961 Vernol R. Jansen, Jr. 1961–1969 Charles S. Spunner-White Jr (1969–1977) William A. Kimbrough Jr (1977–1981) William R. Favre Jr (1981) J. B. Sessions, III (1981–1993) Edward Vulevich Jr (1993–1995) J. Don Foster (1995–2000) David Preston York (2002–2005) Deborah Jean Johnson Rhodes (2005–2009) Kenyen R. Brown (2009–2017) Richard W. Moore (2017–2021) Sean P. Costello (2021–present)

See also Courts of Alabama List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in Alabama

References

External links United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama