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The Southern District of Texas: Then and Now

The Southern District of Texas: Then and Now. The Federal Bar Association May 23, 2013. Then: First Federal Courtroom in Texas. Post Office and 21st Street, Galveston, TX. Now:. Houston Division. Galveston Division. Victoria Division. Corpus Christi Division. Laredo Division.

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The Southern District of Texas: Then and Now

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  1. The Southern District of Texas: Then and Now The Federal Bar Association May 23, 2013

  2. Then: First Federal Courtroom in Texas Post Office and 21st Street, Galveston, TX

  3. Now: Houston Division Galveston Division Victoria Division Corpus Christi Division Laredo Division Brownsville Division McAllen Division

  4. General History

  5. The First Federal Court in Texas Sam Houston • James K. Polk appoints John C. Watrous on May 26, 1846 • Same congressional act that made Texas A State • Former Attorney General of the Republic of Texas • Nearly impeached One district, one court, one judge, all located in Galveston

  6. Split into Two Districts • Feb 21, 1857: Texas Divided into Eastern and Western Districts • Thomas H. DuVal appointed for W.D. Tex. • Both Watrous and DuVal stepped down rather than serve the Confederacy • Resumed duties when Texas restored to the Union Plains of West Texas East Texas Pines

  7. The Confederate Court William Pinckney Hill appointed by Jefferson Davis in 1861 Moved court from Galveston to Houston in Jan. 1862 for safety Focus on Sequestration Act and war-related matters Treason Indictments The Battle of Galveston 1862

  8. Separate but equal doctrine Ineffectiveness of civil rights litigation Focus on economic reconstruction Reconstruction

  9. Formation of the Southern District • Teddy Roosevelt signed bill on March 4, 1902 • District court sat in four cities: Galveston, Laredo, Brownsville, and Houston

  10. Timeline of District Formation 1846: The District of Texas is created February 21, 1857: Eastern & Western Districts are created March 4, 1902: The Southern District is created. It includes the Brownsville, Galveston, Houston, and Laredo Districts. 1906: The Victoria Division is created 1912: The Corpus Christi Division is created 1984: The McAllen Division is created

  11. Prohibition “I have been in actual touch with the Liquor situation in Houston for three years now, and I know that the enforcement here has been only indifferent.” – Letter from Harris County DA to Attorney General

  12. The Great Depression

  13. Condemnation Actions Corpus Christi Naval Air Station acquired in 1940 256 actions filed between January 1942 and June 1946 Land value disputes over subsurface oil World War II

  14. 1980s: The Oil Bust and the S&L Crisis

  15. Notable Judges

  16. Growth of the District There are 19 congressionally authorized district judgeships today

  17. Where does the Southern District rank in number of judges? • S.D.N.Y. has 28 • C.D. Cal. has 27 • N.D. Ill. has 22 • E.D. Pa. has 22 • S.D. Tex. has 19 • 1st • 8th • 3rd • 5th

  18. Waller T. Burns

  19. James V. Allred

  20. Reynaldo G. Garza

  21. Allen B. Hannay ''I've been around courts all my life. If you ever say you're going to quit, people start moving into your office.''

  22. Gabrielle Kirk McDonald

  23. Famous Cases

  24. Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944) Challenging all-white Democratic primary

  25. Dalehite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15 (1953) The 1947 Texas City Disaster

  26. Conley v. Gibson 355 U.S. 41 (1957)

  27. Clay v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971) Muhammad Ali and the Vietnam War

  28. Vietnamese Fishermen’s Ass’n v. Ku Klux Klan, 518 F. Supp. 993 (S.D. Tex. 1981) The Ku Klux Klan and the Vietnamese Fisherman’s Association

  29. Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000) Prayer and high school football

  30. The Enron Litigation

  31. Courthouses

  32. 1861 U.S. Custom House in Galveston

  33. 1891 Federal Courthouse in Galveston

  34. U.S. Post Office, Custom House and Courthouse in Galveston Ground broken Jan. 1, 1936

  35. Corpus Christi Federal Courthouse Completed in early 2001

  36. The Southern District of Texas Today

  37. Where does the Southern District Rank Amongst Other Districts in Civil Filings? 7th

  38. What is the Most Common Type of Civil Filing?

  39. Southern District Civil Case Filings March 31, 2011-March 31, 2012 Total Private Civil Cases: 5,085 Total Civil Cases: 6,418

  40. Where does the Southern District Rank Amongst Other Districts in Criminal Filings? 3rd

  41. Southern District Criminal Case Filings March 31, 2011-March 31, 2012 Total Criminal Cases: 6,936

  42. Where does the Southern District Rank Amongst Other Districts in Total Filings? 4th

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