Earl Britt
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1997 - Present
27
William Earl Britt is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He joined the court in 1980 after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter.
Early life and education
A native of McDonald, North Carolina, Britt graduated from Wake Forest College with his bachelor's degree in 1956 and from Wake Forest College School of Law with his LL.B. in 1958.[1]
Military service
Britt served as a SP-4 in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.[1]
Professional career
- 1997 - Present: Senior judge
- 1983-1990: Chief judge
- 1980-1997: Judge
- 1959-1980: Private practice, North Carolina
- 1958-1959: Law clerk, Hon. Emery Denny, North Carolina Supreme Court[1]
Judicial career
Eastern District of North Carolina
Britt was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 14, 1980, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina vacated by [John Larkins]]. Britt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 21, 1980, and he received his commission on May 23, 1980. Britt served as the chief judge of the court from 1983 to 1990. He elected to take senior status beginning on December 7, 1997. He was succeeded in this position by Judge James Dever.[1]
Noteworthy cases
North Carolina congressional maps deemed gerrymandered (2018)
On January 9, 2018, the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that North Carolina's congressional maps demonstrated gerrymandering. Judge James Wynn wrote the opinion of the panel, joined by Judge Earl Britt. The judges held that the state's congressional maps had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered and ordered the General Assembly of North Carolina to redraw new district lines for use in the 2018 midterm elections. The court ruled:
| “ | We agree with Plaintiffs that a wealth of evidence proves the General Assembly’s intent to 'subordinate' the interests of non-Republican voters and 'entrench' Republican domination of the state’s congressional delegation. In particular, we find that the following evidence proves the General Assembly’s discriminatory intent: (a) the facts and circumstances surrounding the drawing and enactment of the 2016 Plan; (b) empirical analyses of the 2016 Plan; and (c) the discriminatory partisan intent motivating the 2011 Plan, which the General Assembly expressly sought to carry forward when it drew the 2016 Plan.[2][3] | ” |
Judge William Osteen concurred in the judgment but wrote separately. Osteen wrote:
| “ | I concur with the well-reasoned opinion of the majority...However, in keeping with the standard established by the Supreme Court for racial gerrymandering claims, I would require Plaintiffs to prove that partisanship was the predominant factor motivating the General Assembly’s decision to draw the 2016 Plan as it did. Because I agree that Plaintiffs met their burden, and also agree that Defendants have not justified the effects of the 2016 Plan, I concur with the majority’s conclusion that the Plan violates the Equal Protection Clause.[2][3] | ” |
See also
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
- United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge William Earl Britt," accessed May 25, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brennan Center, "Common Cause v. Rucho" and "League of Women Voters v. Rucho" Opinion, January 9, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: John Larkins |
Eastern District of North Carolina 1980–1997 Seat #2 |
Succeeded by: James Dever
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 |
Ballantine • Bownes • Boyle • Bua • Carr • Clark • Cowan • Daly • Filippine • Higginbotham • Hoeveler • Hug • Johnstone • Kane • Keith • Leval • Logan • MacLaughlin • McKay • Melton • Merritt • Murphy • Nickerson • Oberdorfer • Roszkowski • Roy • Rubin • Sifton • Tang • Vance • Veron | ||
| 1978 |
Arnold • Baker • Boyle • Burns • Campos • Claiborne • Collins • Cook • Devine • Diamond • Duplantier • Edenfield • Friedman • Gonzalez • Greene • Jenkins • Lowe • Mazzone • McMillian • O'Brien • Pfaelzer • Phillips • Pollak • Sand • Shapiro • Simmons • Smith • Sweet • Tanner • Wiseman • Ziegler | ||
| 1979 |
Ackerman • Alarcon • Anderson • Arceneaux • Arnold • Aspen • Beatty • Beer • Belew • Bertelsman • Bilby • N. Black • S. Black • Bloch • Bowen • Brett • Brooks • Brown • Buchmeyer • Bunton • Burciaga • Cabranes • Carr • Carrigan • Castagna • Cire • Clark • Cohn • Conaboy • Cordova • Crabb • Cudahy • Davis • DeAnda • Debevoise • Edwards • Eginton • Ellison • Enslen • O. Evans • T. Evans • Farris • Ferguson • Fletcher • Frye • Garcia • Garza • B. Gibson • H. Gibson • Gierbolini-Ortiz • Giles • Gilliam • Green • Hall • Hastings • Hatchett • Hatfield • Hatter • Hawkins • Henderson • Higby • Hillman • Houck • Howard • Hudspeth • Hungate • F. Johnson • S. Johnson • N. Jones • S. Jones • Karlton • Kazen • Kearse • Keeton • Kehoe • Kennedy • Kidd • King • Kravitch • Loughlin • Martin • McCurn • McDonald • McNaught • McNichols • Mikva • Mitchell • Moran • Murnaghan • Murphy • D. Nelson • D.W. Nelson • Newblatt • Newman • Overton • Paine • Panner • J. Parker • R. Parker • Penn • Perez-Gimenez • Perry • Politz • Poole • Porter • Pregerson • Price • Rambo • Ramirez • Reavley • Redden • E. Reed • S. Reed • Reinhardt • Renner • Robinson • Rothstein • Sachs • Saffels • Sanders • Sarokin • Schroeder • Schwartz • Seay • Senter • Seymour • Shannon • Shaw • Shoob • Skopil • Sloviter • Sofaer • Spellman • Sprouse • Staker • Tate • Taylor • Thompson • Tidwell • Unthank • Vietor • Vining • Wald • Ward • Weinshienk • West • Wicker • Williams • Winder • Woods • Wright • Zobel | ||
| 1980 |
Aguilar • Aldrich • Anderson • Boochever • Breyer • Britt • Cahill • Canby • Carroll • Cerezo • Clemon • S. Ervin • R. Erwin • Getzendanner • Gilmore • Ginsburg • Haltom • Hardy • Henderson • Hobbs • Holschuh • Horton • Howard • Johnson • Keep • Kelly • Kenyon • Kocoras • Marquez • Marshall • Michael • Nixon • Norris • Patel • Polozola • Propst • Quackenbush • Ramsey • Rice • Shadur • Spiegel • Tashima • Thompson • Vela • White • Williams | ||
| 1981 | |||
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina