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William Harold Cox

William Harold Cox

Mississippi Southern District Court

Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

Born 1901 in Indianola, MS

Died 1988 in Jackson, MS

FJC ID: 526

William Harold Cox (June 23, 1901 – February 25, 1988) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. He was known for presiding over United States v. Price (1965) and for his resistance to racial integration. Constance Baker Motley, a longtime civil rights attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, called Cox "the most openly racist judge ever to sit on a federal court bench" in the United States.

Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. Private practice, Jackson, Mississippi
    1924–1961

Appointments

  1. Mississippi Southern District Court
    1961–1988 · Appointed by John F. Kennedy (Democratic)
    Term ended: Death

Education

  1. University of Mississippi
    B.S. · 1924
  2. University of Mississippi School of Law