Ira De Ment

Ira De Ment
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
In office April 15, 2002 – July 16, 2011
Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
In office March 18, 1992 – April 15, 2002
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Truman McGill Hobbs
Succeeded by	Mark Fuller
Personal details
Born	(1931-12-21)December 21, 1931 Birmingham, Alabama
Died	July 16, 2011(2011-07-16) (aged 79) Montgomery, Alabama
Education	University of Alabama (BS) University of Alabama School of Law (JD)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army United States Air Force
Years of service	1953 – 1989
Rank	Major general
Awards	Legion of Merit Air Force Distinguished Service Medal

Ira De Ment (December 21, 1931 – July 16, 2011) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Education and military service

De Ment was born on December 21, 1931, in Birmingham, Alabama. De Ment attended Phillips High School in Birmingham in 1945 and graduated in 1949. After his graduation, he attended Marion Military Institute as a military student and graduated in 1951. De Ment received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama in 1953 and after graduating from the University of Alabama, De Ment served in the United States Army Infantry in Germany from 1953 to 1955, and in the United States Army Reserve and then the United States Air Force Reserve until 1989. He rose to the rank of major general and was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. He previously had received the Legion of Merit. He attended the University of Alabama School of Law and received a Juris Doctor in 1958.

Legal career

De Ment was a law clerk for Justice Pelham J. Merrill of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1958 to 1959, when he briefly served as an assistant state attorney general of Alabama, and then as an Assistant United States Attorney of the Middle District of Alabama from 1959 to 1961. He was in private practice in Montgomery, Alabama from 1961 to 1969, working as an assistant city attorney for the City of Montgomery, Alabama from 1965 to 1969. He was the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama from 1969 to 1977, returning to private practice in Montgomery until 1992. He was a special counsel to Alabama Governor Fob James from 1980 to 1982, to Governor George C. Wallace from 1983 to 1986, and to Governor Guy Hunt from 1987 to 1988, and in 1991. He was the Chief Judge of the Wake Island Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992.

Federal judicial service and death

On November 14, 1991, De Ment was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama vacated by Judge Truman McGill Hobbs. De Ment was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 1992, and received his commission on March 18, 1992. He assumed senior status on April 15, 2002. On July 17, 2011, he died of the effects of Parkinson's disease.

Sources

• Ira DeMent at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.