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Robert Smith Vance was born on 10 May, 1931 in Talladega, Alabama, U.S., is an American jurist. Discover Robert Smith Vance's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 58 years old?

Popular As Robert Smith Vance
Occupation N/A
Age 58 years old
Zodiac Sign Taurus
Born 10 May, 1931
Birthday 10 May
Birthplace Talladega, Alabama, U.S.
Date of death 16 December, 1989
Died Place Mountain Brook, Alabama, U.S.
Nationality United States

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Robert Smith Vance Height, Weight & Measurements

At 58 years old, Robert Smith Vance height not available right now. We will update Robert Smith Vance's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

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Who Is Robert Smith Vance's Wife?

His wife is Helen Hauk Rainey

Family
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Wife Helen Hauk Rainey
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Children Robert Smith Vance Jr.

Robert Smith Vance Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Robert Smith Vance worth at the age of 58 years old? Robert Smith Vance’s income source is mostly from being a successful . He is from United States. We have estimated Robert Smith Vance's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
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Timeline

1931

Robert Smith Vance (May 10, 1931 – December 16, 1989) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and later the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

He was one of three 20th-century United States federal court judges assassinated because of his judicial service.

Born in Talladega, Alabama, Vance was the youngest of four children born to parents Harrell Taylor Vance Sr. and Mae ( Smith) Vance.

He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated from Woodlawn High School.

1950

He then received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama in 1950, and a Juris Doctor from University of Alabama School of Law in 1952.

While at Alabama, Vance was purportedly the head of a secret yet powerful inter-fraternity organization known as The Machine and was elected as President of the Student Government Association.

After law school, Vance entered military duty as an attorney in the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps and was stationed at the Pentagon.

One of his first assignments was to serve on the team of lawyers defending the Army in hearings against charges brought by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

1955

After his military service, Vance received a Master of Laws from George Washington University Law School in 1955 and served as a law clerk to Alabama Supreme Court Justice James Mayfield.

1956

He then served a one-year stint as an attorney for the United States Labor Department before entering private practice in Birmingham from 1956 to 1977.

As a lawyer, Vance quickly sided with the developing civil rights movement, as shown by his participation as an intervening plaintiff in litigation that ultimately resulted in the United States Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims, which decided that state legislative districts had to be roughly equal in population.

Vance also was the first notable Birmingham attorney to reject the unwritten "gentleman's agreement" by which all black members of a jury pool were eliminated from serving as jurors in civil cases.

1966

Vance served as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party from 1966 to 1977.

His election as Chairman capped a struggle within the Alabama Democratic Party, as a group loyal to the national party wrested control from a states' rights faction loyal to Governor George Wallace.

Throughout Vance's tenure as chairman, Wallace was never able to capture the state party organization, despite continual struggles between the two factions.

1967

Vance was also a lecturer at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University from 1967 to 1969.

He served for a number of years in the United States Army Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

1968

The most well-known example of this fight came during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, as competing slates of delegates vied for credentials to be seated.

Vance's group of party loyalists overcame challenges from both Wallace's group and a predominantly black slate headed by Dr. John Cashin of Huntsville, Alabama.

1972

Moody had been previously convicted in 1972 of possession of a bomb that exploded in his house, injuring his first wife Hazel; he intended to send the bomb to Atlanta car dealer Thomas N. Downing, the man who repossessed Moody's car.

He served four years in federal prison at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

Prosecutors speculated that Moody's motive for killing Judge Vance was revenge against Vance's court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which had refused to expunge that conviction.

Vance, however, had not been a member of the panel that considered Moody's earlier case.

1977

On November 4, 1977, Vance was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit being vacated by Judge Walter Pettus Gewin.

Vance was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1977, and received his commission the same day.

The jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit at that time included six Southern states, including Alabama.

1979

After John H. Wood Jr. (1979), and Richard J. Daronco (1988), Vance became the third federal judge in the 20th century to be assassinated because of his judicial service.

After an order was entered directing the recusal of all circuit and district judges within the Eleventh Circuit, Moody's trial for murder and related crimes was presided over by Judge Edward Devitt of the District of Minnesota.

After a successful prosecution by special prosecutors Louis Freeh and Howard Shapiro, Moody was convicted of all counts.

He was sentenced to seven federal life terms.

1981

In 1981, the territory of the Fifth Circuit was divided into two circuits, and on October 1, 1981, Vance was reassigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which he served on until his death.

1989

On December 16, 1989, Vance was assassinated at his home in Mountain Brook, Alabama, when he opened a package containing a mail bomb.

Vance was killed instantly and his wife, Helen, was seriously injured.

After an intensive investigation, the federal government charged Walter Leroy Moody Jr. with the murders of Judge Vance and Robert E. Robinson, a black civil-rights attorney in Savannah, Georgia who had been killed in a separate explosion at his office.

Moody was also charged with mailing bombs that were defused at the Eleventh Circuit's headquarters in Atlanta and at the Jacksonville office of the NAACP.

1990

In 1990, Congress passed H.R. 3691 a bill sponsored by Ben Erdreich renaming the federal building and courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama, as the Robert S. Vance Federal Building and United States Courthouse in memory of Vance.

Also in tribute to Judge Vance's service, the Atlanta chapter of the Federal Bar Association hosts an annual Robert S. Vance Forum on the Bill of Rights.

1997

An Alabama state-court jury later convicted Moody of Judge Vance's murder and Moody was sentenced to death by electric chair in 1997.

He entered death row on February 13, 1997, and was executed by lethal injection on April 19, 2018, at the age of 83 years, becoming the oldest inmate executed in the United States in the post-Furman era, surpassing the previous record set by John B. Nixon, who was executed at the age of 77 years.

2002

Vance's older son, Robert Vance, Jr., serves as a state circuit court judge in Birmingham, having first been appointed to that position in November 2002, and elected in 2004.