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Paul Allen Simmons

Paul Allen Simmons

35th Commissioned Judge,
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

 

Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

Nominated by Jimmy Carter on January 26, 1978, to a seat vacated by Ralph F. Scalera; Confirmed by the Senate on April 6, 1978; received commission on April 7, 1978; sworn in on May 3, 1978.

Assumed senior status on June 1, 1990.

Retired on December 31, 1990.

Professional Career:
Professor, South Carolina State College Law School, Orangeburg, South Carolina, 1949-1952

Professor, North Carolina College Law School, Durham, North Carolina, 1952-1956

Private practice, Monongahela, Pennsylvania, 1956-1973

Judge, Washington County Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania, 1973-1978

Education:
University of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1946
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1949

Personal:
Born 1921 in Monongahela, PA

Personal Interest:
First African American to serve on the bench of the U.S. District Court as well as on the Washington County Court of Common Pleas, Washington, PA

Advised the attorney in Briggs v. Elliott which later became part of the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education