--- title: "Henry Travillion Wingate | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/henry-travillion-wingate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Henry Travillion Wingate U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi - State: Mississippi - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: active - 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. Mississippi, 1985-present - He held the role of Chief Judge of the Southern District of Mississippi from 2003 to 2010 - Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of Mississippi, 1984-1985 - In 1984, he became assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, leading Operation Pretense, a major corruption investigation - Assistant district attorney, Mississippi Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial District, 1980-1984 - Special assistant attorney general of Mississippi (1976–1980) and assistant district attorney for the Seventh Judicial District (1980–1984) - Adjunct professor, Mississippi College School of Law, 1978-1983 - Special assistant attorney general, State of Mississippi, 1976-1980 - He held the role of a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Legal Services Office (1973–1976), as a senior assistant defense counsel and trial counsel - senior assistant defense counsel, 1973-1974 - After law school, Wingate was a law clerk at Community Legal Aid in Jackson (1972–1973) and worked in private practice. - American federal judge serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi - Official site: Southern District of Mississippi – Judge Henry T. Wingate Southern District of Mississippi ### Education - Yale University — J.D. (1972) - Yale Law School in — J.D. (1972) - B.A. in Philosophy of Religion from Grinnell College in 1969 ### Additional information - U.S. Naval Reserve, 1983-present - Adjunct lecturer, Tidewater Community College, 1976-present - Private practice, Jackson, MS, 1973-present - Nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1985, Wingate was confirmed by the Senate on October 16, 1985, and commissioned on October 17, 1985. - Adjunct instructor, Golden Gate University, 1975-1976 - trial counsel, 1974-1976 - U.S. Navy lieutenant, Naval Legal Services Office, 1973-1976 - Born January 6, 1947, in Jackson, Mississippi. - Date of birth: 1947-01-01 - Notable as the first African American appointed to a life‐tenured federal judgeship in Mississippi. - Wingate grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was active in school government, athletics, and civil rights activism, including integrating the Paramount movie theater and the Jackson public library. - At Yale, he was part of the Black Law Students Union - received a fellowship to work with a Southern civil rights organization - Birth place: Jackson, MS ## 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 ### 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/1389941) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389941) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389941) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3513/henry-travillion-wingate/) - [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/3513/henry-travillion-wingate/) - [Wikidata: Henry Travillion Wingate](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16117152) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/henry-travillion-wingate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/henry-travillion-wingate", "name": "Henry Travillion Wingate | KnowJudges", "description": "Henry Travillion Wingate, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. 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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.