Rhesa H. Barksdale

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Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale (born 1944 in Jackson, Mississippi) is a federal appeals court judge who has served on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals since 1990.

[edit] Education and legal training

Barksdale received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1966 and earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1972. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Byron White from 1972 to 1973.

[edit] Professional career

Barksdale was in private practice in Jackson, Mississippi from 1973 to 1990. He was an instructor in constitutional law at the University of Mississippi Law School from 1975 to 1976. He was chairman of the Mississippi Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program from 1982 to 1985.

[edit] Federal judicial service

Barksdale was nominated to a seat on the Fifth Circuit vacated by Alvin B. Rubin by President George H. W. Bush on November 17, 1989. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 9 and received his commission on March 12.