Sidney Carr Mize

Sidney Carr Mize
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
In office 1961–1962
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	William Harold Cox
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
In office February 3, 1937 – April 26, 1965
Appointed by	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Edwin R. Holmes
Succeeded by	Dan Monroe Russell Jr.
Personal details
Born	Sidney Carr Mize (1888-03-07)March 7, 1888 Scott County, Mississippi
Died	April 26, 1965(1965-04-26) (aged 77)
Education	Mississippi College (A.B.) University of Mississippi School of Law (LL.B.)

Sidney Carr Mize (March 7, 1888 – April 26, 1965) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Education and career

Born in Scott County, Mississippi, Mize received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Mississippi College in 1908 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1911. He was in private practice in Gulfport, Mississippi from 1911 to 1937. He became a special district attorney of Mississippi in 1914, and special county judge and a special chancery judge in 1930.

Federal judicial service

On January 30, 1937, Mize was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi vacated by Judge Edwin R. Holmes. Mize was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 2, 1937, and received his commission on February 3, 1937. He served as Chief Judge from 1961 to 1962, and remained on the court until his death on April 26, 1965.

Cases

In 1962, Mize ruled that there was no evidence that the University of Mississippi's admissions policy was based on the segregation of races, and therefore was legally correct in denying admittance to James Meredith, a Black applicant. The ruling was later overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which remanded the case to Mize and instructed him to order Meredith's admission to the University. In his majority opinion, Judge John Minor Wisdom called the handling of the case "a carefully calculated campaign of delay, harassment and masterly inactivity."

Sources

• Sidney Carr Mize at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.