Stephen Sanders Chandler Jr.

Stephen Sanders Chandler Jr. (September 13, 1899 – April 27, 1989) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Education and career

Born in Blount County, Tennessee, Chandler received a Bachelor of Laws from University of Kansas School of Law in 1922. He was in private practice of law in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1922 to 1943. Moreover, Chandler published a law review article damning the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the very appellate court which accepted appeals from his court. The 89th United States Congress had established the Ad Hoc Special Subcommittee on Judicial Behavior of the House Committee on the Judiciary, which ran an impeachment inquiry investigating Chandler.

Suspension

The Judicial Council of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit suspended him from his duties. The Supreme Court upheld this action in Chandler v. Judicial Council of Tenth Circuit, 398 U.S. 74 (1970). However the Court's decision, authored by Chief Justice Warren Burger, has been criticized for permitting judicial administrative bodies such as the Judicial Councils and the Judicial Conference (as well as state equivalents) to encroach into state legislative duties and limit judicial independence. This was precisely the argument made by Justice Hugo Black and Justice William O. Douglas in their cutting dissent. On the other hand, the Court's decision has been used as a model for judicial discipline, not only in the United States, but also in Canada in the case of Justice Leo Landreville on the Ontario Supreme Court.

Personal issues

Chandler had other professional incidents:

He testified before a United States Senate subcommittee hearing in 1962 that he was, "...afraid of being poisoned, that his telephone was tapped and that his fellow judges sometimes cursed him." Twice he was removed from hearing lawsuits because of allegations of personal interest or bias and prejudice. He was indicted by an Oklahoma grand jury in 1965 on charges of conspiring to have his private road paved by the county. The charge was dismissed. He once barred the United States Attorney in Oklahoma City and five other Oklahoma City lawyers from practicing in Federal Court. The Federal appeals court overturned the ruling.

Other activities

Chairman of the Judicial Administration of the American Bar Association, 1959-60.

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