Clifford Scott Green

American judge (1923-2007)

Clifford Scott Green (April 2, 1923 – May 31, 2007) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania . Green was the eighteenth African-American Article III judge appointed in the United States, and the second African-American judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. During his 36 years on the federal bench Judge Green presided over a number of notable cases, and was regarded as one of the most popular judges in the district.

Early life and education

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Green was born on April 2, 1923, in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . His father, Robert Lewis Green, had come to the United States from St. Thomas island in the U.S. Virgin Islands . Green attended West Philadelphia High School , graduating in 1941. He initially did consider going to college, and instended instead to go immediately to work. From 1941 to 1942 he worked in a Philadelphia restaurant and at a drug manufacturing company. In 1942 he took a job with the United States Army Signal Corps .

In 1943, Green enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps , the predecessor to the United States Air Force . At the time, the armed forces were still segregated . Green was initially optimistic that the military was going to be a good life, until his unit was shipped from Fort Lee, Virginia , to Keesler Field (now Keesler Air Force Base), in Mississippi . When the unit arrived at Keesler they were driven past the barracks to what Green would later describe as "a tent city." It was then that Green "realized for real that I was really in a segregated army, and there was always, as long as I was in the service, two standards, one quite unacceptable and the other as acceptable as could be considering the fact that the country was at war."

Green served from 1943 to 1946, rising to the rank of Sergeant . He returned to Philadelphia in March 1946, intending to use the benefits of the G.I. Bill to attend Drexel University . He planned to major in electrical engineering, which was the field he had worked in during his time in the Army. Drexel did not have classes starting until September, so Green began to look to work. While seeking employment at Temple University Green learned that Temple had classes beginning in two weeks, so he decided to enroll there.

Green entered the School of Business as an economics major, and planned to become a certified public accountant , until an adviser told him that there were no jobs available for African-American accountants in Philadelphia. Green decided to pursue a career in law, something his father had dreamed of doing himself.

Green received a B.S. in economics in 1948, finishing his undergraduate degree in just over two years and graduating with honors.

He enrolled at Temple Law School as one of ten black students, of whom two would ultimately graduate (the other graduate, Larry Perkins, would also go on to become a judge). While in law school Green was a member of the moot court team and the law review. He competed on a moot court team which won the Philadelphia regional of the American Bar Association competition. At the national competition, Green's team faced the Yale moot court team, which included his future law partner and judicial colleague A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.

In 1951 Green received his LL.B. with honors, graduating in the top three of his class. He was also awarded graduation prizes for receiving the highest grades in constitutional law and conflicts of law.

After law school, Green became involved in politics as was a Republican ward leader for the 44th Ward in West Philadelphia. He ran for city council and municipal court but was unsuccessful.

Legal career

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Judge Green (second from the left) with his former law partners at his swearing in

Green passed the Pennsylvania bar exam in 1951, achieving the highest score in the state. Green's early mentors included Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. , who lived across the street from Green's family. In January 1952, after being admitted to the bar, Green took over the practice of Thomas Reed, a black Philadelphia lawyer who was joining the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office under Richardson Dilworth (Green had also interviewed at the DA's office, but decided that he "couldn't fit in as a prosecutor").

Green worked as a solo practitioner until March 1952, when he entered into a partnership with Harvey Schmidt. The firm was known as Schmidt and Green until 1954, when Doris M. Harris and A. Leon Higginbotham joined as partners. In 1955 J. Austin Norris, a prominent African-American political figure, joined the firm, which was then known as Norris, Schmidt, Green, Harris, & Higginbotham. The firm was the first African-American law firm in Philadelphia. The firm, which never numbered more t

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Judge Green presided over a number of notable cases during his 35-year tenure on the Eastern District. In Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police Judge Green ordered the Pennsylvania State Police to reinstate William Bolden, a minority trooper who had been dismissed. The case, which began in 1973, resulted in a consent decree that required the State Police to hire one minority for every non-minority hired, and set additional goals for promotion and retention of minority troopers. Judge Green presided over the consent decree for 25 years, dissolving it in 1999. The case was credited with helping to abolish racism in the hiring of troopers, and integrate the State Police.

In 1981 Judge Green threw out the fraud conviction of Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo , concluding that the government had failed to prove that Fumo and two others were involved in a single scheme to pad state payrolls with ghost workers as alleged in their indictment. The decision was upheld on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit .

Awards and honors

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Judge Green was the first recipient of the NAACP 's William H. Hastie award in 1985. He was awarded the Spirit of Excellence award by the American Bar Association in 2002. The Philadelphia chapter of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association is named in Judge Green's honor. The Criminal Law Committee of the Federal Bar Association 's Philadelphia Chapter gives a Clifford Scott Green Bill of Rights Award at its biennial dinner event. Judge Green was a lifetime trustee of Temple University , and a former member of the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia State Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia .

Death

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Judge Green suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died of pneumonia in Philadelphia on May 31, 2007. He was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania . He was survived by his wife, daughter and grand-daughter.

Legacy

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In 1999, Temple University Beasley School of Law established the Honorable Clifford Scott Green scholarship to assist Temple students committed to public interest law. In 2003, Temple University Beasley School of Law established The Honorable Clifford Scott Green Lectureship.

See also

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• List of African-American jurists

• List of African-American federal judges

References

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 _Almanac of the Federal Judiciary_, Volume 1, Prentice Hall Law and Business, 1994.

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