Claude Harris

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Claude Harris Jr (born June 29, 1940 in Bessemer; died October 2, 1994 in Birmingham) was a circuit court judge, U.S. Attorney and Representative of the 7th Congressional District of Alabama from 1987 to 1993.

Harris, the son of Claude and Lemana Hogue Harris, earned his bachelor of science from the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama in 1962 and his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1965. He served in the Alabama Army National Guard and as an assistant district attorney in Tuscaloosa County. In 1977 he became a circuit court judge in Tuscaloosa County, stepping down in 1985 to run for the 7th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives left open by Richard Shelby's election to the U.S. Senate. Harris was elected as a Democrat in 1986 and re-elected in 1988 and 1990. The district was re-drawn after the 1990 U.S. census as a majority minority district, and he did not run for reelection in 1992.

President Bill Clinton appointed Harris to serve as U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 1993. He died in office in October 1994 and is buried at Memory Hill Gardens in Tuscaloosa.

Harris and his wife, Barbara had two sons.

Preceded by:
Richard Shelby
U.S. House of Representatives, 7th District
1987-1993
Succeeded by:
Earl Hilliard
Preceded by:
Jack Selden
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama
1993-1994
Succeeded by:
Walter Braswell (interim)