Joseph Tyree Sneed III (July 21, 1920 – February 9, 2008) was an American jurist who served as United States Deputy Attorney General and then as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for nearly 35 years until his death. He was the father of Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. ^{[1] [2]}

Early life and education

Joseph Tyree Sneed III was born on July 21, 1920, in Calvert, Texas. ^{[3] [4]} He was the son of Cara Carlton (Weber) and Harold Marvin Sneed (January 6, 1883 – Dec 27, 1934), a rancher and landowner. ^{[3] [5] [6]} He spent his youth working summers as a cowboy on his uncle's ranch in the Texas Panhandle. ^[4]

Sneed received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southwestern University in 1941. ^[3] He served as a staff sergeant in the Army Air Corps during World War II. ^[3] Sneed attended the University of Texas School of Law, where he received his Bachelor of Laws, Order of the Coif in 1947. ^{[3] [4]} He was also a visiting student at the London School of Economics and the University of Ghana. ^[4] He subsequently received a Doctor of Juridical Science from Harvard Law School in 1958. ^[3]

Career

Academia

Sneed was an assistant professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law from 1947 to 1951. ^[3] He became an associate professor in 1951 and was made a full professor in 1954. He taught at the University of Texas until 1957. ^[3]

Sneed was a professor of law at Cornell Law School from 1957 to 1962, followed by the Stanford Law School from 1962 to 1971. ^[3] He was professor of law and dean of the Duke University School of Law from 1971 to 1973. ^{[3] [4] [7]}

Judicial service

Sneed was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat vacated (formerly occupied) by Judge Frederick George Hamley on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 25, 1973. ^{[3] [4]} He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 1973, and received his judicial commission on August 24, 1973. He assumed senior status on July 21, 1987. ^[8]

Sneed ruled in favor of three-strikes law; LGBT employment discrimination; and the eviction of substance abusers by their landlords. ^[9] He was part of a three-judge panel that replaced Whitewater special prosecutor Robert B. Fiske with Kenneth Starr in 1994. ^{[4] [9]}

Personal life

Sneed married Madelon Juergens Sneed in 1944. ^[3] She was a portrait and abstract artist who died in 1998. ^[4] Together they had a son and two daughters, including Carly Fiorina. ^[3] They resided in San Francisco, California. ^[4]

Death

Sneed died on February 9, 2008, in San Francisco at the age of 87. ^{[10] [3] [4]}

References

Sources

• Joseph Tyree Sneed III at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• Joseph Tyree Sneed III at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• New York Times coverage of Whitewater
• www.netmagic.net
• Iraq Timeline (1994)
• Appearances on C-SPAN