J. Robert Elliott

Lawyer, Military Person

1910 – 2006

59

Who was J. Robert Elliott?

J. Robert Elliott was an American politician and a federal judge.

Elliot was born to a Methodist minister on 1 January 1910 in Gainesville, Georgia. After he graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1930, he taught school to earn money for his law degree, which he received from Emory University School of Law in 1934. In 1936, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served four terms. He joined the United States Navy during World War II, serving in the Pacific. Later he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1948 and 1952.

He was appointed as federal judge by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. He served on the bench for 38 years.

In his first year on the bench, Elliott issued an order halting a civil rights demonstration led by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in Albany, Georgia.

He later said that the decisionsubsequently overturned on appeal — was made due to a threat of violence against Rev. King and his supporters. But King biographer Taylor Branch wrote that Judge Elliott was a "strident segregationist."

In 1974, Elliott gained notoriety for overturning the conviction of Army Lt. William Calley for killing 22 people during the 1968 My Lai massacre, a decision later overruled by the appeals court.

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Born
1910
United States of America
Also known as
  • Judge J. Robert Elliott
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Emory University
Died
2006

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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