Albert Sherman Christensen

Albert Sherman Christensen
United States District Judge
In office June 26, 1954 – August 17, 1971
Nominated by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Aldon Junior Anderson
Personal details
Born	Albert Sherman Christensen (1905-06-09)June 9, 1905 Manti, Utah, U.S.
Died	August 13, 1996(1996-08-13) (aged 91) Provo, Utah, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lois Bowen (1927–1992)
Children	3
Alma mater	Brigham Young University National University
Religion	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Albert Sherman Christensen (June 9, 1905 – August 13, 1996) was a trial attorney, judge, and author. He graduated from National University and then practiced law in Provo, Utah, until he was nominated as a United States federal judge by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. Christensen was the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed in Utah. Christensen tried several large antitrust cases and resigned from the federal bench in 1971 but remained a senior judge until 1992. He authored six books, volumes of poetry, and many legal articles. One of Christensen's most significant contributions to the legal community was his establishment of the United States' first American Inn of Court in 1980.

Biography

Albert Sherman Christensen was born on June 9, 1905, in Manti, Utah to A.H. and Jennie Snow Christensen.^[1] He was one of four children, and his siblings included Phillip V. Christensen, Cullen Y. Christensen, and Elaine Southwick.^[2] Christensen's father was a successful attorney first in Manti and later in Provo, Utah.^[3]:2 As a boy Christensen worked as a clerk in his father's office, where he met individuals such as Arthur V. Watkins, A.H. Christensen's law partner and future U.S. Senator. Christensen attended Brigham Young University from 1923–1927, where he met his wife.^[3]:2 He married Lois Bowen of Spanish Fork, Utah in 1927 and the couple had three children: A. Kent Christensen, Karen Christensen (Coffey), and Krege B. Christensen.^[1][4]

In 1927 the Christensens moved to Washington, D.C. where Sherman worked first as a file clerk for the War department and later as an assistant to the chancellor of the law school at National University. The chancellor was impressed with Christensen's work and offered him a scholarship to attend the university's law school.^[3]:2 Christensen received an LL.B. from National University Law School, Washington, D.C. in 1931, after which he joined his father's law firm in Provo, Utah and practiced with him as a trial lawyer from 1932 to 1942.^[1] Following the outbreak of World War II, Christensen served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945, returning to private practice in Provo from 1945 to 1954.^[1] In 1939, Christensen ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for Congress.^[5]

On May 12, 1954, Christensen was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah created by 68 Stat. 8. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 27, 1954, and received his commission on May 28, 1954. Christensen was sworn in on June 26, 1954 and became the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed to the federal bench in Utah.^[3] Christensen received a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1968, and assumed senior status on August 17, 1971.^[3] He was a visiting professor at the University of Utah College of Law in 1975, and at the J. Reuben Clark Law School of, Brigham Young University, also in 1975.^[3]

Christensen's career was punctuated by both unique experiences and acts of kindness. In 1964, Norwegian immigrant Aslaug Haviland was to be granted citizenship. She was both deaf and blind and Christensen offered to waive the repetition of the oath of citizenship, but Haviland requested to participate. Christensen made arrangements so that as he read the oath, a friend of Haviland's translated it into sign language and tapped it onto Haviland's palm.^[6] Christensen was "touched" by the scene, and said later that he purposefully kept another case—this one involving an individual who was about to be deported—outside of his courtroom so that the soon-to-be-deported man would not have to witness new citizens being sworn in.^[7]

Throughout his career, Christensen was involved in several antitrust cases including Pioneer Drive-in Theater vs. MGM and others in 1963, Fisher Baking vs. Continental Baking and Utah Gas Pipeline Co. vs. El Paso Natural Gas in 1964, United States vs. Beatrice Foods in 1969, and Gardiner and others vs. Gold Strike Stamps in 1973.^[5] As a district judge he also served on several committees of the Judicial conference of the United States. Some of his contributions as a committee member included drawing up new guidelines for judges in 1969 and producing a model courtroom design.^[5] At his numerous speaking engagements, Christensen frequently warned against accepting lawlessness as an instrument of social change and insisted that "the American Dream does live".^[5] Although Christensen became experienced in antitrust cases, the length of his service ensured that he would hear and judge cases ranging from two young men accused of illegally shooting ducks in a pond after sunset, to a murder case on Hill Air Force Base.^[8][9] Christensen was also notable, at least in Utah, for his work with providing those in indigent circumstances with legal counsel. In 1971 he attacked a Utah law which denied legal counsel to indigents charged with a misdemeanor that carried with it a six-month or less incarceration sentence.^[10] As early as 1965, Christensen had introduced a tax-supported plan by which indigents charged with federal crimes could receive legal aid.^[11]

Christensen resigned as a district court judge in 1970, after 16 years of work on the federal bench. His retirement was accepted by President Richard Nixon, who asked Christensen to remain in office until a successor could be named.^[12] Although he had expressed his intentions to delay taking senior judge status in order to implement reform in the federal courts, in November 1970 at the announcement of his retirement, Christensen stated that he felt he could carry out reforms more effectively as a senior judge.^[13] Judge Christensen was officially released from his position as U.S. District Judge on August 17, 1971.^[3] Even after his official retirement, however, Christensen was involved with many large national cases including the giant IBM-Telex antitrust case of 1973.^[5] Christensen remained a respected member of the legal community and a prestigious judge: as of 1976 Christensen's rate of being affirmed on civil cases was 80 percent and on criminal cases 92 percent.^[14]

In 1975, Christensen became an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah. From 1975–77 he was an adjunct professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he taught trial practice.^[3]

Teaching trial practice law, a growing conviction that students and new lawyers did not have enough training in trial practice, and the urging of Chief Justice Warren Burger spurred Christensen, along with J. Reuben Clark Law School Dean Rex Lee and Chief Justice Burger, to experiment with the British Inns of Court system to try to create an American equivalent.^[3] A pilot program was tested at BYU, and in the fall of 1979 a draft for an Inn of Court was created. In 1980, Christensen was one of the founders of the first American Inn of Court in the Provo/Salt Lake City area of Utah.^[1] The American Inn met for the first time in February 1980 in Provo. With the success of the first American Inn of Court, a second was established in 1981 by University of Utah Students. In the fall 1983, Chief Justice Burger created a Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States on the American Inns of Court. Christensen was named the chair, and remained in that position until July 1984, when he resigned due to the deteriorating health of his wife.^[3] He received the 1989 Chairman's Award for his contributions to the American Inns of Court movement. The award was renamed in his honor that year and the A. Sherman Christensen Award is presented yearly to a member of the American Inns of Court who demonstrates distinguished, exceptional, and significant leadership.^[1]

Christensen continued to serve as a settlement judge in Salt Lake City until his wife's death in 1992.^[3] Christensen died in Provo, Utah on August 13, 1996, at the age of 91.^[1]

Legacy

Christensen received many awards and distinctions in both his practice as a trial lawyer and his time as a United States District Judge. He was named President of the Utah State Bar from 1950–1951 and received both the "Outstanding Achievement Award" (1971) and the "Judge of the Year Award" (1977) from the Utah Bar as well.^[1][15] In addition, he was named an honorary member of the Society of the Bar and Gavel, University of Utah (1972); Order of the Coif, University of Utah College of Law (1973); and the Federal Bar Association (1974). Other awards and honors include "Outstanding Service Award", International Academy of Trial Lawyers (1978); "Distinguished Jurist Award", Federal Bar Association (1989); "Chairman's award", American Inns of Court Foundation (1989); "President's Award", Brigham Young University (1989); The American Bar Association Medal (1990); and the Fullbright Award for Distinguished Service, George Washington University (1991).^[1] Christensen was survived by his three children, 14 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren.^[1]

Christensen authored six books and many academic articles. Four of his six books are on legal topics, but Christensen also authored a history of Mount Timpanogos entitled A Story of the Mountain published in 1985, an autobiography entitled The Hard Rich Soil: Some Recollections and Letters of A.H. Christensen in 1966, and two volumes of poetry.^[16] Christensen's academic works include Handbook of Trial Practices in the United States District Court published in 1969, Law Briefs for Laymen in 1975, Preliminary Notes on Principles and Procedures of Superior Legal Advocacy: Where the Rules and Code Leave Off in 1976, Persons and Processes: An Anecdotal View of Federal Judicial Administration, 19554 to 1991 published in 1993, "The Abalone Shell" in 1996. In total, Christensen wrote over 200 court opinions. Eighty-five of these were reviewed on appeal with eighteen being reversed, 7 affirmed with qualifications, and 60 affirmed without qualification.^[3]

References

External links

• A. Sherman Christensen Papers, MSS 1923 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
• Albert Sherman Christensen at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.