Anthony Alaimo

Born in Termini Imerese in Sicily, Italy, Alaimo received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio Northern University in 1940, and then served as an aviator in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, from 1941 to 1945. He achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant. Alaimo spent much of World War II as a prisoner of war, captured after the plane he was co-piloting was shot down.[2]

After the war, Alaimo received a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1948 and entered the private practice of law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1948 to 1957, and in Brunswick, Georgia from 1957 to 1971.[3]

On November 29, 1971, President Richard Nixon nominated Alaimo to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia created by 84 Stat. 294. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 2, 1971, and received his commission on December 9, 1971.[3] He served as Chief Judge from 1976 to 1990, and assumed senior status on July 1, 1991, serving in that role until his death.[3] Alaimo was also a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1990 to 1993.[3]

The pace of Alaimo's court earned it the nickname "the Rocket Docket."[2]

Alaimo died on December 30, 2009, after being admitted to a Southeast Georgia Health System hospital in Brunswick, Georgia for treatment of an undisclosed condition. He was 89 years old.[4]

• Anthony Alaimo receives an honorary degree at the age of 89
• Anthony A. Alaimo at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Coppola, Vincent. 2009. The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.