Randolph W Thrower

Randolph William Thrower (September 5, 1913 – March 8, 2014) was a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, a law firm with principal offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D.C. He was born in Tampa, Florida. Thrower, running as a Republican, unsuccessfully challenged incumbent segregationist James C. Davis for a seat in Congress in 1956. He later served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1971, when he was fired by John D. Ehrlichman "for resisting White House efforts to punish its enemies through tax audits" and as chairman of the City of Atlanta's Board of Ethics from 1980 to 1992. In 1993, Thrower received the American Bar Association Medal, the ABA's highest honor, for his public, professional, and government service. He was the recipient in 1995 of the Court of Federal Claims Special Service Award and received the Tax Section's Distinguished Service Award for 1996. In 1992 he received the Leadership Award of the Atlanta Bar Association and more recently the Segal-Tweed Founders Award of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

According to the New York Times, Thrower was haunted for the rest of his life by the conviction and execution of his client, Will Coxson, for rape, whom Thrower believed to be innocent. Thrower had joined the United States Marines in 1940, and let another lawyer take over the case, believing that Coxson would surely be acquitted on appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Coxson was put to death while Thrower was serving in World War II.

Thrower graduated from Georgia Military Academy in 1930. He received an undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1934 and received his law degree from the Emory University School of Law in 1936. Thrower was presented with the "American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Eleventh Circuit" in May 2003. He turned 100 in September 2013 and died in March 2014 at his home in Atlanta.