Judge William Alsup was confirmed July 30, 1999, by the United States Senate to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He was nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton.
    A Jackson native who attended Provine High School, Alsup is a 1967 honors graduate in mathematics of Mississippi State University. He went on to enroll at Harvard University, where he received a law degree, with honors, in 1971, and a master's in public policy in 1972.
    For a year after graduation, he served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. During this time, the nation's highest court considered several historic appeals, including the Roe vs. Wade abortion rights issue, constitutionality of the death penalty, and journalistic privileges.
    Alsup's professional career led him to private practice in San Francisco, Calif. After five years, he accepted an appointment to Washington, D.C., as assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General in the Justice Department. After two years in the nation's capital, he returned to San Francisco and private practice.
    In 1997, the Clinton Administration asked him to serve as a special trial counsel for a major government case brought to block the merger of two leading defense contractors. This federal service immediately preceded his nomination to the district court bench.
    In addition to the law, Alsup spends considerable time exploring and helping to conserve the Golden State's Sierra Nevada mountain range. He has been involved in more than 100 explorations and is the author of two books published by the Yosemite Association. The latest, "Missing in the Minarets: The Search for Walter A. Starr Jr., "details the mysterious 1933 disappearance of San Francisco attorney among the rugged peaks. Alsup and his wife, Suzan, are the parents of two children.