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Statement on the Passing of the Honorable Gene Carter

Monday, November 22, 2021

Statement on the Passing of the Honorable Gene Carter

Senior U.S. District Judge Gene Carter passed away on November 17, 2021, after decades of distinguished judicial service to the people of Maine.  He served as a Justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 1980 to 1983.  In 1983, when Judge Gignoux assumed senior status, President Reagan appointed Gene Carter as the District of Maine’s twelfth judge. As a District Judge, he was committed to maintaining an efficient docket as well as mentoring new lawyers who worked in his chambers. He served as Chief Judge of the District of Maine from 1989 to 1996.  In that role, Judge Carter directed the efforts to redesign and renovate the Edward T. Gignoux United States Courthouse in Portland.  Judge Carter assumed senior status in 2003.

Judge Carter was a proud Mainer.  He was born in Milbridge.  He graduated from Bangor High School in 1954 and the University of Maine in 1958.  There, he met Judith Ann Kittridge, who became his devoted wife.  Together, they raised two sons in Maine, Matthew and Mark. 

Before joining the Maine bar and entering private practice in the Bangor area, Carter attended New York University School of Law as a Root-Tilden Scholar graduating in 1961.  After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk for Circuit Judge J. Spencer Bell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps, achieving the rank of captain. 

Judge Carter will be remembered as an independent, hard-working jurist who prioritized resolving each case before him fairly and swiftly.  However, all of his judicial colleagues and the employees of the District of Maine will especially remember Judge Carter’s keen sense of humor and his sincere dedication to the rule of law and our court family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit:

Jack Montgomery