Judge John Lawrence Carroll

Judge Carroll grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Gonzaga High School. In 1965, he graduated from Tufts University. Then he entered the United States Marine Corps and served as a Marine Flight Officer during the Vietnam War, where he flew 230 combat missions in an A-6A Intruder as a Bombardier Navigator with Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 242. His call sign was “Zard.”

Upon his return from Vietnam, while stationed at Cherry Point in North Carolina, Judge Carroll met and married in 1970 his wife of 53 years, Susan. He then attended Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law and graduated in 1974 magna cum laude. In 1975, he received his Masters of Law (LLM) from Harvard University.

After Harvard, he moved back South in 1975 to Montgomery, Alabama, to serve as the Legal Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center until 1984. During that time, he handled civil-rights cases, class actions, and various criminal matters. He represented clients on death row, and he argued before the Supreme Court of the United States twice. During this time, he also celebrated the birth of his daughter, Catherine.

Next, he moved to Macon, Georgia, to teach as a Professor of Law at Mercer University School of Law. He left Mercer in 1986 to return to Montgomery to accept an appointment as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Alabama. He sat on the bench for 14 years, until 2001.

After leaving the bench, Judge Carroll moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to become Dean of his alma mater, Cumberland School of Law. After stepping down as Dean after 13 years, he continued to teach as a professor until his retirement in 2022. During retirement, he continued to work as co-director and supervising attorney for the Cumberland Veterans Legal Assistance Clinic, a true passion of his. Since he helped launch the program in 2020, it has improved the lives of numerous veterans in Alabama.

Over his career, Judge Carroll received many honors. Some of the most important to him included his selection to be a Community Hero Olympic Torch Bearer in 1996; appointment by Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States to serve on the Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; receipt of the 2011 Chief Justice of Alabama’s Professionalism Award; receipt of an Award of Merit in 2014 from the Alabama State Bar Association for outstanding and constructive service to the legal profession; receipt of the 2017 Alabama Appleseed Brewer/Torbert Public Service Award; and receipt of the 2018 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Eleventh Circuit. He was also a frequent speaker at national seminars and sat on numerous boards.

Judge Carroll was a lifelong Catholic, and he loved teaching and mentoring. He was also an athlete and an avid sports fan. He competed in triathlons well into his seventies, and he always seemed younger than his years. He liked reading, being outdoors, watching the Atlanta Braves, listening to the Rolling Stones, eating spicy food, and drinking red wine. He was a wonderful husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, colleague, and friend.

Judge Carroll is survived by his wife of 53 years, Susan Gaskins Carroll. He also is survived by his daughter Catherine Carroll Sanders (m. William Parker Sanders) and grandsons States Carroll Sanders (11) and Forrest Weddell Sanders (7) of Atlanta, Georgia.

Services will be held at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hoover, Alabama, on September 22, 2023. Visitation will begin at 12:00 p.m., and the funeral mass will begin at 1:30 p.m. The burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, gifts made in memory of John L. Carroll may be sent to the Cumberland Clinical Programs Fund, designating exclusive use for the Veterans Legal Assistance Clinic.

By mail: Cumberland School of Law, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35229

Online: Support Cumberland School of Law by visiting https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/5187/donations/new

Services are under the direction of Ridout's Valley Chapel (205-879-3401) in Homewood.