Alvin Benjamin Rubin

Who was Alvin Benjamin Rubin?

Alvin Benjamin Rubin was a United States federal judge.

Born in Alexandria in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana, Rubin received a Bachelor of Science from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1941 and an LL.B. from Louisiana State University Law School in 1942. He was in private practice in Louisiana from 1946 to 1966.

On August 16, 1966, Rubin was nominated by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana created by 80 Stat. 75. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 20, 1966, and received his commission on November 3, 1966. Rubin served in that capacity until October 8, 1977, when he was elevated to another judicial position. One of his law clerks while he served on the district court was future U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson, the first African American to represent Louisiana in the United States House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

On August 16, 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Rubin to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by John Minor Wisdom, a liberal Republican originally nominated by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Rubin's elevation was confirmed by the U. S. Senate on September 16, 1977, and he received his commission on September 19, 1977. He assumed senior status on July 1, 1989, and served in that capacity until his death in Baton Rouge at the age of seventy-one.