Charles Crookham

Charles Sewell Crookham (born March 17, 1923 in Portland , Oregon , † October 7, 2004 ibid) was an American officer , lawyer , politician ( Republican Party ) and military historian.

Early years

Charles Sewell Crookham, son of Kenneth Crookham, was born on St. Patrick's Day in Portland, Oregon in 1923 . His father was working for a car dealership at the time, and he later did the same thing himself. He grew up in their childhood home on Northeast 38th Street and attended the schools in the neighborhood. At the urging of an uncle, he decided to pursue a legal career at the age of eight .

He graduated from Grant High School from high school . He then attended Oregon State University , Loyola Marymount University and Multnomah College before graduating from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts . He received his Juris Doctorate from the Northwestern School of Law (now part of Lewis & Clark College ).

During his time in college, the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Forces took place. As a result, Crookham signed up in the US Army . During the Second World War he served on the European theater of war. During this time he was awarded a Bronze Star . After the end of the war he remained active in the United States Army Reserve . He reached the rank of colonel .

Legal career

Judge post

He began his legal career as a trial attorney. In doing so, he developed a reputation as a first-class appeal lawyer. The Governor of Oregon Mark Hatfield then appointed him in 1962 as judge. He held the post from 1963 to 1988. Between 1978 and 1985 he served as presiding judge.

As the presiding judge, he was often seen carrying case files home. He always insisted on reading every single case file in full before assigning a case to an examining magistrate. Crookham was known for his seriousness about the law and his work, but not to himself. In this context he once held a mock memorial service at the court for Roman numerals . In doing so, he adopted them from being used in state briefs .

Clackamas County's Oregon District Attorney John Foote once said to a reporter:

"He loved lawyers, and he loved practicing the law, and it showed every day."

Foote was a young trainee law clerk for Crookham when Crookham was serving as presiding judge. In this regard, he said the following:

"He taught me how to be a lawyer."

The appearances in the Crookham courtroom were short and sweet , Timothy Wood of the Oregon Department of Justice was once quoted in the press as arguing before the judge. Crookham did not interrupt the attorneys' argument out of impatience or rudeness, but because he had already carefully investigated the matter.

Wood said:

"He told one lawyer, 'Keep on talking, and you'll still lose this."

Attorney General

In January 1992 he the governor of Oregon appointed Barbara Roberts as the new Attorney General of Oregon to the vacancy to fill, by the resignation of David B. Frohnmayer was because he the post of dean at the University of Oregon School of Law took . Within the month he announced that he did not intend to run for the post of Attorney General in any of the following elections.

His decision cleared the way for candidates from all parties. As a result, there were highly competitive Oregon primary elections in 1992 for both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party . Craig Berkman, the Republican Republican Party leader in Oregon at the time, was disappointed with Crookham's decision. In this regard, he said the following:

"Frankly, this makes it very difficult for the Republican Party. I think he would have made an excellent candidate, but I can hardly blame him for not wanting to commit to an office that he would be in until at least age 73. "

Private life

The United States District Court Judge Robert E. Jones, a longtime friend of Charles Sewell Crookham said shortly after his death in an interview following:

"He had a regal aura about him without being pretentious."

Crookham has been an avid reader throughout his life. Even in the last days of his life, when macular degeneration had significantly deteriorated his eyesight, his brother Robert helped him. His son Whitney told a reporter the following:

"In the last couple of years, they read over 40 novels. If my dad was at the beach for the weekend, my uncle would call and read to him over the phone. "

His other son Berkeley Fitzcharles was convicted of child molestation . He was jailed in Multnomah County, Oregon on June 28, 1995 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, (microfilm recording) United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC : National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; roll 1953; P. 4A; ED 397; Image: 71.0
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Franzen, Robin: Longtime judge Charles S. Crookham dies at age 81, The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing Company), p. D8
3. ^ ^{A b} Crookham, Berkeley: Living History: Charles S. Crookham (1923-2004) , Oregon State Bar Bulletin (Oregon State Bar Association), December 2004
4. ^ ^{A b} McCarthy, Nancy: Attorney General Crookham won't run, The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing Company), January 30, 1992, p. C1
5. ^ Child abuser returning to court job , Eugene Register Guard, October 29, 1995