{{Short description|American judge (1903–1968)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = William Francis Smith | honorific_suffix = | image = Judge William F. Smith.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | term_start = August 30, 1961 | term_end = February 26, 1968 | nominator = | appointer = John F. Kennedy | predecessor = Phillip Forman | successor = James Hunter III | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | term_start1 = 1959 | term_end1 = 1961 | predecessor1 = Phillip Forman | successor1 = Thomas M. Madden | office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | term_start2 = February 15, 1941 | term_end2 = September 12, 1961<!--Termination date per FJC Bio, reflects oath date at Third Circuit.--> | nominator2 = | appointer2 = Franklin D. Roosevelt | predecessor2 = ''Seat established by 54 Stat. 219'' | successor2 = Robert Shaw | pronunciation = | birth_name = William Francis Smith | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|02|04}} | birth_place = Perth Amboy, New Jersey | death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|02|26|1903|02|04}} | death_place = New Brunswick, New Jersey | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = Columbia University (PhG)<br>New Jersey Law School (LLB) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | footnotes = }} '''William Francis Smith''' (February 24, 1903 – February 26, 1968) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
==Education and career==
Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the son of John Stephan Smith and Ann Elizabeth Owens,<ref name=Graveyard>{{cite web |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/smith9.html |title=William Francis Smith |access-date=2008-11-30 |work= The Political Graveyard}}</ref><ref name=Obit>{{cite news |title=William F. Smith, U.S. Judge, Dead |work=The New York Times |page=43 |date=1968-02-27 |access-date=2008-11-30 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/02/27/archives/william-f-smith-us-judge-dead-jurist-cleared-a-logjam-in-brooklyn.html}}</ref> Smith received a Graduate of Pharmacy degree from Columbia University in 1922. He received a Bachelor of Laws from New Jersey Law School (now Rutgers Law School) in 1929. He became deputy mayor of Perth Amboy in 1926. Smith was in private practice of law in New Jersey from 1930 to 1931 and was an instructor at New Jersey Law School from 1930 to 1935. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of New Jersey from 1934 to 1940. He was the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1940 to 1941.<ref>[http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/about/history.html U.S. Attorney's Office District of New Jersey, A Rich History of Service] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230012025/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/about/history.html |date=2008-12-30 }}</ref><ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/smith-william-francis|title=Smith, William Francis - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref>
==Federal judicial service==
Smith was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 23, 1941, to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, to a new seat created by 54 Stat. 219. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 13, 1941, and received his commission on February 15, 1941. He served as Chief Judge from 1959 to 1961. His service was terminated on September 12, 1961, due to elevation to the Third Circuit.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
Smith was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on August 15, 1961, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge Phillip Forman. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1961, and received his commission the same day. His service was terminated on February 26, 1968, due to his death at Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.<ref name="fjc.gov"/><ref name=Obit/>
===Federal court service===
Smith was believed to have been the youngest federal court judge at the time of his appointment. In 1959 he was called upon by Chief Justice Earl Warren to clear up a logjam that had developed at the Brooklyn Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York, and he brought the court's docket up to date in six months.<ref name=Obit/>
==Personal==
On August 29, 1935, he married Marie Cathers.<ref name=Graveyard/><ref name="fjc.gov"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{FJC Bio|nid=1388031}} *[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/smith9.html Biographical information for William Francis Smith] from The Political Graveyard
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Seat established by 54 Stat. 219}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey}}|years=1941–1961}} {{s-aft|after=Robert Shaw}} {{s-bef|rows=2|before=Phillip Forman}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey}}|years=1959–1961}} {{s-aft|after=Thomas M. Madden}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit}}|years=1961–1968}} {{s-aft|after=James Hunter III}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William Francis}} Category:1903 births Category:1968 deaths Category:People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey Category:People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Category:Columbia University College of Pharmacy alumni Category:Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni Category:Lawyers from Middlesex County, New Jersey Category:American legal scholars Category:United States attorneys for the District of New Jersey Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Category:United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Category:Assistant United States attorneys