William Alsup An Oral History Conducted by Leah McGarrigle 2016-2017 William Alsup An Oral History Conducted by Leah McGarrigle 2016-2017 Copyright © 2021 William Alsup, Leah McGarrigle All rights reserved. Copyright in the manuscript and recording is owned by William Alsup and Leah McGarrigle, who have made the materials available under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: "William Alsup: An Oral History Conducted by Leah McGarrigle, 2016-2017”. Transcription by Christine Sinnott Book design by Anna McGarrigle Judge William Alsup was born in Mississippi in 1945 and lived there until he left for Harvard Law School in 1967. At Harvard, he earned a law degree plus a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government. In 1971–72, he clerked for Justice William O. Douglas of the United States Supreme Court and worked with him on the Abortion Cases and the “Trees Have Standing” case, among others. Alsup and his young family then returned to Mississippi, where he practiced civil rights law, went broke, and eventually relocated to San Francisco. There he be- came a trial lawyer, a practice interrupted by two years of appel- late practice as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the United States Department of Justice (from 1978–80). In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated him and the Senate conirmed him as a United States District Judge in San Francisco. He took the oath of oice on August 17, 1999, and serves still on active status. He has presided over a number of high-proile trials with more than two hundred of his opinions reprinted in oicial reporters despite not having asked for them to be published. Two prior works include Missing in the Minarets, the true story of the 1933 search for mountaineer Pete Starr, who went missing in the Minarets region of the High Sierra, published in 1999 by the Yosemite Association (now the Yosemite Conservancy) and Such A Landscape!, the true story of the 1864 expedition of the California Geological Survey in the High Sierra, published by the Yosemite Association in 1986. Judge Alsup is married with two children and two grandchildren, still loves ilm photography, and remains an avid mountaineer. Judge William Alsup in 2016. Photo by Jason Doiy. Previous page: Last light on a clearing storm in the Ritlea Range I've been blessed in life. Every job I've had taught me something worthwhile and I've relished them all. Every friend and colleague has given me more than I've returned (despite my eforts other- wise). Most of all, my wife Suzan and two children, Allison and John, rank at the top of my blessings. I don't know why Leah McGarrigle would have ofered to do this oral history and the research that went with it as a gift. It proved to be a monumental endeavor. Leah has become yet another blessing in a long life enriched by others. She even enlisted her daughter Anna to design this book. My faithful secretary Kathy Young or- chestrated the interviews. I thank all three. William Alsup Contents Interview History by Leah McGarrigle, Oral Historian Introduction by Danny Cupit Introduction by Joseph Garrett Interview One ...........................................................................................................................1 Early family history Texas to Mississippi Father and the Second World War Sisters Willanna and Sandy School and segregation Favorite subjects Interview Two .........................................................................................................................11 2325 Terry Road Meeting Junior Feild, 1950 Holding up Nell’s General Store Planting corn, the vegetable garden and fruit trees Sunday dinners and holiday meals The Space Program and the Chick Experiment, 1962 Paper route for The State Times and ice-cream truck operator The survey crew Interview Three ......................................................................................................................25 Childhood pals Brown v. Board of Education Counter protest against Escobedo v. Illinois The John Birch Society's “Impeach Earl Warren” Billboard, February 1963 Higgen Hogs Club; high school election and protest Backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger, letter to the editor, June 6, 1963 – "We Are For the Civil Rights for Negroes" Cusp of social change from high school to college Martin Luther King speech in Chicago, 1966 James Meredith, March 1966 The Murder of Medgar Evers Judge Thelton Henderson and John Doar in Jackson, Mississippi Paying respects to Charles Evers with Danny Cupit Interview Four ........................................................................................................................37 Interest in science, ham radio and the mechanical arts Inluence of the Second World War on thinking about democracy and civil rights Civil War seemed barely over Family trips: Cuba and Guatemala Expectations regarding education Interview Five .........................................................................................................................47 Maternal side of the family James Meredith and Ole’ Miss, 1962 Evolving perspective on equality James Meredith’s one man protest, 1966 Tougaloo rally and Dick Gregory Provine High School, National Merit inalist Applying to college, starting Mississippi State in August 1963 Debate team and decision to apply to law school Mississippi State men’s basketball team and integrated tournaments The YMCA campus program; Kermit Clardy; becoming the VP Attending YMCA meeting and Martin Luther King speech in Chicago, August 1966 Interview Six ...........................................................................................................................61 The Speaker Ban, Aaron Henry, President of the Mississippi NAACP Senior year; the YMCA and the Young Democrat boards Acceptance to Harvard Law School Mandate For Change: organizing campaign for student body president Summer job working with analog computers Music; anti-war protests MacTavish’s Kitchens in Oban, Scotland and traveling in Europe Marriage to Suzan, August 31, 1968 Mentors Interview Seven ......................................................................................................................73 Starting Harvard Law School and academic environment, 1967-1968 Kennedy School of Government: Masters of Public Policy and Law Degree Friends, including Terry Barnett Spring 1971: applying for clerkship with Justice Douglas Move to Washington, D.C. and start of clerkship Summer 1969: job with Los Angeles law irm Summer 1970: working for Mississippi Research & Development Center Reviewing petitions for cert; Justice Douglas in Goose Prairie, Washington Start of Supreme Court term Interview Eight .......................................................................................................................85 Early life and career of Justice Douglas Role of law clerk to Justice Douglas; opinion writing process President Nixon and Watergate, 1972 The C&O hike and Save the Canal efort by Justice Douglas U.S. Supreme Court clerkship workload Interview Nine ........................................................................................................................97 (continued) Supreme Court, work schedule Howard Hughes and Hughes Air West case Sierra Club v. Morton: footnotes, concurring opinion, “trees have standing” premise Roe v. Wade: right to privacy and issue of re-argument Interview Ten ........................................................................................................................ 109 (continued) Roe v. Wade, Justice Douglas’s concurring opinion; research for draft Justice Douglas at oral argument Journalists’ Privilege and the First Amendment Returning to Mississippi to practice law Black sanitation workers union case, 1972 Leaving Mississippi and joining Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, 1973 Interview Eleven ................................................................................................................... 117 Morrison & Foerster in the 1970s, litigation department and irm-wide events “Roadmap to Victory” Crocker Bank litigation Bob Raven, war hero, “As a concession to the shortness of life” Joining the Solicitor General’s oice, 1978 Transition from private practice; Solicitor General Wade McCree Sioux Nation v. United States, digging into the record including Native American history Kissinger FOIA case Interview Thirteen ............................................................................................................... 137 Back to Morrison, the DQ University pro bono cases Dennis Banks; the Department of Education Billing hours More about arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court Being a trial lawyer Industrial Union Department v. American Petroleum Institute, (OSHA), 1980 Interview Fourteen ............................................................................................................... 145 Types of cases at Morrison & Foerster OPM Leasing RICO case Peter Morton, Andrew Lloyd Weber, John Eastman Preparing for trial More pro bono cases: class action against slum landlord Save Bodie campaign and becoming honorary California State Park ranger in 1993 Yosemite, Such a Landscape (1964 California Geological Survey through the Sierra) Yosemite Association Board, Yosemite Restoration Trust, General Management Plan of 1980 Wilderness photography Interview Fifteen .................................................................................................................