--- title: "Charles Randolph Butler Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/charles-r-butler-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Charles Randolph Butler Jr. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama - State: Alabama - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Alabama, 1988-2005 - District attorney, Mobile County, AL, 1971-1975 - Assistant public defender, Mobile County, AL, 1969-1970 - As Senior Judge, Butler continues to hear cases in the Southern District of Alabama and remains a respected figure in the federal judiciary Southern District of Alabama | United States District Court ### Education - Washington and Lee University — B.A. (1962) - University of Alabama School of Law ### Additional information - Judicial record includes over 3,600 district court cases (1985–2016), with a strong emphasis on civil rights, contract, and public policy matters. - Awarded the Alabama State Bar’s Judicial Award of Merit in 2003. - Chief Judge: 1994–2003. - Commissioned: October 17, 1988. - Appointed: April 28, 1988, by President Ronald Reagan to replace. - Confirmed: October 14, 1988, by the U.S. Senate (voice vote). - Private practice in Mobile, AL (1966–1969, 1975–1988). - U.S. Army lieutenant, 8th Artillery, 7th Howitzer Battalion (1962–1964). - Born March 28, 1940, New York City. - Date of birth: 1940-01-01 - A. - Presided over high-profile corruption trials, including those of Mobile City Commissioner Lambert Mims and Mobile County Commissioner Freeman Jockisch. - Contact (court office): Southern District of Alabama, 155 St. Joseph Street, Mobile, AL 36602 Phone: (251) 690‐2175 Southern District of Alabama | United States District Court. - Birth place: New York, NY ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### presentation procedure Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: 31 IN COURTHOUSE * * * This matter is before the Court on its own motion to establish a uniform policy regarding the possession and use of laptop computers, cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants, or other electronic devices in all courthouses in the Southern District of Alabama. Effective immediately, members of the bar, paralegals… [F:\HOME\LJT\DOCS\STANDORD\stdo31.wpd](https://www.alsd.uscourts.gov/sites/alsd/files/STDO31.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378636) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378636) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378636) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/483/charles-randolph-butler-jr/) - [F:\HOME\LJT\DOCS\STANDORD\stdo31.wpd](https://www.alsd.uscourts.gov/sites/alsd/files/STDO31.pdf) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/483/charles-randolph-butler-jr/) - [Wikidata: Charles Randolph Butler Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5081927) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/charles-r-butler-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/charles-r-butler-jr", "name": "Charles Randolph Butler Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Charles Randolph Butler Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.