Callie V. Granade
Callie Virginia Smith Granade (born March 7, 1950) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. The first female federal prosecutor in Mobile, Granade became the first woman in Alabama to be named a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the first female federal district judge in her district. Early life and education. Born in Lexington, Virginia, Granade graduated from Hollins College with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972 and later from University of Texas School of Law with a Juris Doctor  in 1975. She is the granddaughter of former Judge Richard Rives, the federal judge who wrote the majority opinion in "Browder v. Gayle" finding Montgomery, Alabama's bus segregation unconstitutional. Legal career. Following law school graduation, Granade became a law clerk for John Godbold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1975 to 1976). She was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Alabama from 1977 to 2001, and the district's interim United States Attorney from 2001 to 2002. Among her high-profile cases in her 25 years as a federal prosecutor , Granade led the successful prosecution of Mobile city commissioner Lambert C. Mims for extortion. Federal judicial career. On the recommendation of Senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, President George W. Bush nominated Granade to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on September 4, 2001, after Judge Alex T. Howard Jr. assumed senior status. Granade was confirmed by the Senate on February 4 and received her commission on February 12, 2002. She served as Chief Judge from 2003 to 2010. She assumed senior status on March 7, 2016. Perhaps her highest profile ruling was issued on  January 23, 2015, when Judge Granade struck down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage as violating the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantees of equal protection and due process.