Harry E. Claiborne

Harry E. Claiborne
Harry Claiborne prior to being sworn in as a federal judge
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
In office 1980 – October 9, 1986
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
In office September 1, 1978 – October 9, 1986
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Personal details
Born	(1917-07-02)July 2, 1917 McRae, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	January 19, 2004(2004-01-19) (aged 86) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Alma mater	Cumberland School of Law

Harry Eugene Claiborne (July 2, 1917 – January 19, 2004) was a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from 1978 until his impeachment and removal in 1986. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, Claiborne was only the fifth person in United States history to be removed from office through impeachment by the U.S. Congress and the first since Halsted Ritter in 1936. He was the first federal judge to be sent to prison.

Claiborne was born in 1917 in McRae, Arkansas. He attended Ouachita Baptist University and Cumberland School of Law before serving in the United States Army during World War II. After the war he settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he established himself as a flamboyant and well-known defense attorney representing many prominent people with ties to Las Vegas, including entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, and Carol Burnett, and mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, Joe Conforte, and Benny Binion.

Claiborne served one term as a Democratic state assemblyman and ran unsuccessfully against Howard Cannon in the 1964 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Nevada. The two remained friends, however, and Cannon later recommended Claiborne to President Carter for an open federal district court judicial seat in 1978. He rose to chief judge of the U.S. district court in Nevada and held that position from 1980 to 1986.