Sidney A. Fitzwater

Sidney Allen Fitzwater (born September 22, 1953) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, Texas.

Education and career

Born in Olney, Maryland, Fitzwater earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University, and his Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School in 1976, where he was Associate Editor of the Baylor Law Review. Fitzwater worked in private legal practice in Houston, Texas from 1976 until 1978 and in private legal practice in Dallas, Texas from 1978 until 1982. He later served as a state district judge on the 298th Judicial District in Dallas from 1982 to 1986.

Federal judicial service

On January 29, 1986, Fitzwater was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated by Judge Robert Madden Hill.

He addressed the allegations at his confirmation hearing by apologizing and by asserting that he was not aware that he was asked to place signs—reading "You Can Be Imprisoned" and giving vague descriptions of campaign violations—only in black neighborhoods in south Dallas. Fitzwater testified that he thought he was participating in an anti-vote-fraud effort, and he noted that he later was dropped from a federal lawsuit by minority groups. Fitzwater also noted that the lawsuit later was dismissed. At his second hearing in February 1986, Fitzwater told the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary that he would not participate in such signposting again. "I had no personal intent, nor was I attempting to intimidate minority voters", Fitzwater told Senator Biden (D-DE). The United States Senate confirmed Fitzwater by a 52–42 vote on March 18, 1986. He received his commission on March 19, 1986. He served as Chief Judge from 2007 to 2014. but the ruling was reversed by the Fifth Circuit.