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Senior 5th Circuit U.S. judge of Austin remembered for brilliant legal mind

By Ricardo Gándara

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

William L. Garwood, an Austin-based senior judge for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, died Thursday. He was 79.

Garwood died of a heart attack at the Heart Hospital of Austin, said Howard Yancy, his son-in-law.

The jurist had served on the 5th Circuit court since 1981, achieving senior status in 1997. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

"He had the most brilliant legal mind on our court during my tenure," said Chief Judge Edith Jones, who worked with Garwood for 26 years. "He had an incredible memory for the law. He had a strong view for the interpretation of the Constitution, but his emotions never clouded his legal reasoning.

"Every person on the court loved Will Garwood as a human being," Jones said.

His best friend on the court, Judge E. Grady Jolly of Mississippi, called Garwood's passing a "grievous loss" for the 5th Circuit.

"Judge Garwood was admired for his outstanding scholarship as a judge and for his impeccable character, integrity and kindness," said Jolly, who knew Garwood for 30 years. "No one ever questioned the thoroughness or the authority of his opinions. He was modest and worked hard."

Garwood is survived by his wife of 55 years, the former Merle C. Haffler; daughter Mary Yancy of Austin; son William Garwood Jr. of Houston; and six grandchildren.

Garwood was born in Houston. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University in 1952 and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1955. He served in the Army from 1956 to 1959 before returning to Austin, where he worked in private practice for 20 years with a firm then known as Graves, Dougherty, Hearon, Moody and Garwood.

In 1979, he was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court; he served one year. His father, Wilmer St. John Garwood, had served on the state high court from 1948 to 1958.

Garwood's judicial service is marked by two notable opinions. In United States v. Lopez in 1993, Garwood, writing for a unanimous panel, invalidated the Gun-Free School Zones Act as an unconstitutional application of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. When the decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, it became the first court decision in nearly six decades to place limits on congressional power under that clause.

In United States v. Emerson in 2001, Garwood wrote the first federal appellate decision that embraced the individual-right view of the Second Amendment, a constitutional principle that was later affirmed by the Supreme Court as well.

In addition to numerous memberships in law-related associations, Garwood was involved in the community and served on several civic boards, including ones for St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Human Opportunities Corp. of Austin and Travis County, Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center and the Salvation Army.

Services are pending with Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, Lamar location.

rgandara@statesman.com; 445-3632

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