Name Dudley Bowen | Education University of Georgia | |
Dudley Hollingsworth Bowen Jr. (born June 25, 1941) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Bowen was born in Augusta, Georgia, the son of the owner of a local hardware business. He received an A.B. from the University of Georgia in 1964 and an LL.B. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1965.
Bowen served as a Lieutenant, Infantry, in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968. He was in private practice in Augusta, Georgia from 1968 to 1972. Bowen served as a Bankruptcy Referee in the Southern District of Georgia from 1972 to 1973, becoming a Bankruptcy Judge there when that position was created in 1973, and serving until 1975. When not in those positions, Bowen was in private practice in Augusta, Georgia from 1965 to 1979.
President Jimmy Carter nominated Bowen, on July 19, 1979, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. The nomination was criticized by the Southern Regional Council, which complained that Bowen, who had belonged to whites-only organizations and was a fundraiser for Senator Sam Nunn, had been chosen over a well-qualified black attorney; Nunn defended Bowen as qualified.
The United States Senate confirmed him on November 26, 1979, and he received his commission on November 27, 1979. He served as chief judge from 1997 to 2004, and assumed senior status on June 25, 2006.
Among his cases was litigation over the location of protests of the Masters Tournament, the controversial criminal trial of Charles Walker, the criminal case of spy Otto Attila Gilbert, and the criminal trial of the mayor of Augusta, who was convicted of taking kickbacks.