G. Harrold Carswell
George Harrold Carswell (December 22, 1919 – July 13, 1992) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He was also an unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court in 1970.
G. Harrold Carswell
Seat established by 82 Stat. 184
George E. Hoffmann[1]
Wilfred C. Varn
July 13, 1992 (aged 72)
Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Federal judicial service[edit]
Carswell was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 6, 1958, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida vacated by Judge Dozier A. DeVane. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1958, and received his commission on April 10, 1958. He served as Chief Judge from 1958 to 1969. His service terminated on June 27, 1969, due to his elevation to the Fifth Circuit.[3]
Carswell was nominated by President Richard Nixon on May 12, 1969, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 82 Stat. 184. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 1969, and received his commission on June 20, 1969. His service terminated on April 20, 1970, due to his resignation.[3]
Later years[edit]
In 1976, Carswell pled guilty to battery for advances he made to an undercover police officer in a Tallahassee men's room.[26][27] Then, in September 1979, Carswell was attacked and beaten by a man whom he had invited to his Atlanta, Georgia, hotel room in similar circumstances.[28] Until these incidents there had been no public talk of Carswell's sexuality.[27]
Carswell subsequently returned to his private law practice before retiring. He died in 1992 of lung cancer; his wife, Virginia, died in 2009.