Albert Sherman Christensen

Albert Sherman Christensen (June 9, 1905 – August 13, 1996) was a trial attorney, author, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Christensen was the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed in Utah.

He authored six books, volumes of poetry, and many legal articles.

Christensen was born on June 9, 1905, in Manti, Utah, to A.H. and Jennie Snow Christensen.

He was one of four children.

Christensen's father was a successful attorney first in Manti and later in Provo, Utah.

As a boy Christensen worked as a clerk in his father's office, where he met individuals such as Arthur V. Watkins, A.H. Christensen's law partner and future United States Senator.

Christensen attended Brigham Young University from 1923 to 1927, where he met his wife.

He married Lois Bowen of Spanish Fork, Utah in 1927 and the couple had three children.

In 1927, Christensen moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked first as a file clerk for the United States War Department and later as an assistant to the chancellor of the law school at National University (now George Washington University).

The chancellor was impressed with Christensen's work and offered him a scholarship to attend the university's law school.

Christensen received a Bachelor of Laws from National University School of Law (now George Washington University Law School) in Washington, D.C. in 1931, after which he joined his father's law firm in Provo and practiced with him as a trial lawyer from 1932 to 1942.

In 1939, Christensen ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for Congress.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Christensen served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945, returning to private practice in Provo from 1945 to 1954.

On May 12, 1954, Christensen was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah created by 68 Stat.

8. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 27, 1954, and received his commission on May 28, 1954.

Christensen was sworn in on June 26, 1954, and became the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be appointed to the federal bench in Utah.

Throughout his career, Christensen was involved in several antitrust cases including Pioneer Drive-in Theater vs. MGM and others in 1963, Fisher Baking vs. Continental Baking and Utah Gas Pipeline Co. vs. El Paso Natural Gas in 1964, United States vs. Beatrice Foods in 1969, and Gardiner and others vs. Gold Strike Stamps in 1973.

As a district judge he also served on several committees of the Judicial conference of the United States.

In 1964, Norwegian immigrant Aslaug Haviland was to be granted citizenship.

She was both deaf and blind and Christensen offered to waive the repetition of the oath of citizenship, but Haviland requested to participate.

Christensen made arrangements so that as he read the oath, a friend of Haviland's translated it into sign language and tapped it onto Haviland's palm.

Christensen was "touched" by the scene, and said later that he purposefully kept another case—this one involving an individual who was about to be deported—outside of his courtroom so that the soon-to-be-deported man would not have to witness new citizens being sworn in.

As early as 1965, Christensen had introduced a tax-supported plan by which indigents charged with federal crimes could receive legal aid.

Some of his contributions as a committee member included drawing up new guidelines for judges in 1969 and producing a model courtroom design.

At his numerous speaking engagements, Christensen frequently warned against accepting lawlessness as an instrument of social change and insisted that "the American Dream does live".

Although Christensen became experienced in antitrust cases, the length of his service ensured that he would hear and judge cases ranging from two young men accused of illegally shooting ducks in a pond after sunset, to a murder case on Hill Air Force Base.

Christensen was also notable, at least in Utah, for his work with providing those in indigent circumstances with legal counsel.

Christensen announced his intention to take senior status in 1970, after 16 years of work on the federal bench.

His announcement was accepted by President Richard Nixon, who asked Christensen to remain in office until a successor could be named.

Although he had expressed his intentions to delay taking senior judge status in order to implement reform in the federal courts, in November 1970 at the announcement of his change of status, Christensen stated that he felt he could carry out reforms more effectively as a senior judge.

Christensen received a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in 1968, and assumed senior status on August 17, 1971.

In 1971 he attacked a Utah law which denied legal counsel to indigents charged with a misdemeanor that carried with it a six-month or less incarceration sentence.

Christensen took senior status on August 17, 1971.

Even after his change of status, however, Christensen was involved with many large national cases including the giant IBM-Telex antitrust case of 1973.

He was a visiting professor at the University of Utah College of Law in 1975, and at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, also in 1975.

In 1975, Christensen became an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah.

From 1975 to 1977 he was an adjunct professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he taught trial practice.

As of 1976 Christensen's rate of being affirmed on civil cases was 80 percent and on criminal cases 92 percent.

One of Christensen's most significant contributions to the legal community was his establishment of the United States' first American Inn of Court in 1980.