Edward Thaxter Gignoux Explained

Edward Gignoux
Office:Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine
Term Start:June 1, 1983
Term End:November 4, 1988
Office1:Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine
Term Start1:1978
Term End1:June 1, 1983
Predecessor1:Position established
Successor1:Conrad K. Cyr
Office2:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine
Appointer2:Dwight D. Eisenhower
Term Start2:August 26, 1957
Term End2:June 1, 1983
Predecessor2:John David Clifford Jr.
Successor2:Gene Carter
Birth Name:Edward Thaxter Gignoux
Birth Date:28 June 1916
Birth Place:Portland, Maine, U.S.
Death Place:Portland, Maine, U.S.

Edward Thaxter Gignoux (June 28, 1916 – November 4, 1988) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine.

Education and career

Gignoux was born in Portland, Maine and attended St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1933.[1] He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard College in 1937 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1940. He was in private practice in Buffalo, New York from 1940 to 1941, then in Washington, D.C. from 1941 to 1942. He was in the United States Army from January 1942 to February 1946 during World War II. He was stationed in Australia and became a major.[2] He returned to private practice in Portland from 1946 to 1957.

Federal judicial service

On August 9, 1957, Gignoux was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maine vacated by Judge John David Clifford Jr. Gignoux was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 22, 1957, and received his commission on August 26, 1957. He was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1967 to 1973. In 1970, following the rejection of Clement Haynsworth and George Harrold Carswell by the Senate, Gignoux was the runner-up to Harry Blackmun in Richard Nixon‘s quest to fill Abe Fortas’ seat on the Supreme Court.[3] He served as Chief Judge from 1978 to 1983. He was a Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1980 to 1987. He assumed senior status on June 1, 1983, serving in that capacity until his death on November 4, 1988, in Portland.

Honor

The Edward T. Gignoux U.S. Courthouse was named in Gignoux's honor in 1982.

Sources

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Notes and References

  1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/847662543/ "Edward Gignoux Wins Highest Latin Award At St. George's School"
  2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/847966995/ "Fred E. Gignoux, Jr., Promoted To Captain"
  3. ‘Nixon Narrows It to 2 Northerners’; The Charlotte Observer, April 11, 1970, p. 1A