9,901 articles
Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Hickok (James Butler Hickok, 1837-1876), American frontiersman, Kansas lawman, and gambler; famous for the 1865 Tutt shootout, the 1867 Harper's legend, and his 1876 murder in Deadwood.
Wiley Rutledge
Wiley Blount Rutledge (1894-1949), American jurist, FDR's last Supreme Court appointee (1943-1949), former dean of Washington University and Iowa law schools, known for Yamashita and Everson dissents and civil liberties advocacy.
Wilhelmina M. Wright
Wilhelmina M. Wright, born 1964, is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge in Minnesota since 2016, appointed by President Barack Obama.
Will and testament
Will and testament: a legal document stating a testator's wishes for distributing their estate after death. Covers formalities, capacity, Roman origins, the Statute of Wills 1540, probate, and forced heirship versus testamentary freedom.
Will contest
A will contest, or contest of a will, is a court challenge to a will's validity brought after the testator's death, usually on grounds such as undue influence or lack of capacity.
Willem Holleeder
Willem Holleeder, Dutch organized crime figure nicknamed De Neus, took part in the 1983 Heineken kidnapping and was sentenced to life in 2022 for instigating five underworld murders.
William A. Fletcher
William A. Fletcher, born 1945, is a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, appointed by President Clinton in 1998 after teaching law at Berkeley.
William and Zachary Zulock
William Dale Zulock and Zachary Jacoby Zulock, a married Oxford, Georgia couple, were sentenced in December 2024 to 100 years in prison without parole for sexually abusing their two adopted sons and producing child sexual abuse material.
William B. Shubb
William B. Shubb, born 1938, is a senior United States district judge for the Eastern District of California, appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
William B. Traxler, Jr.
William B. Traxler, Jr., also known as William Byrd Traxler, Jr., is a senior judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998.
William Barr
William Pelham Barr (born 1950), 77th and 85th U.S. Attorney General under George H. W. Bush and Trump, former GTE/Verizon general counsel, known for the Mueller report summary and 2020 election-fraud statement.
William Bentvena
William "Billy Batts" Bentvena (1933–1970) was a New York mobster tied to the Gambino family, a defendant in the 1960 federal Bentvena narcotics conspiracy case, and the real-life model for Billy Batts in Goodfellas.
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (1723–1780), English jurist and first Vinerian Professor of English Law at Oxford, wrote Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769), the most influential law book in Anglo-American common law.
William Bonin
William George Bonin (1947-1996), the "Freeway Killer," murdered 14 teenaged boys in Southern California, 1979-1980, with four accomplices; twice-paroled sex offender, sentenced to death twice, first executed by lethal injection in California, 1996.
William Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius (Brocious, Brosius), outlaw leader of the Clanton Gang or Cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, 1878–1882; killed Marshal Fred White in 1880, acquitted; death at Wyatt Earp's hands in 1882 disputed.
William Brodie
William "Deacon" Brodie (1741–1788) was an Edinburgh cabinetmaker, locksmith, guild deacon, and town councillor who secretly led a burglary gang, robbed the Excise Office in 1788, was hanged 1 October 1788, and inspired Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde.
William Buckley (convict)
William Buckley (1780–1856), the "Wild White Man", English convict transported for life on the Calcutta, escaped Sullivan Bay in 1803 and lived about 32 years with the Wathaurung people until 1835.
William C. Bryson
William Curtis Bryson is an American jurist serving as a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit since 2013.
William C. Canby, Jr.
William C. Canby, Jr. (born 1931) is an American jurist, a senior judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
William C. Griesbach
William C. Griesbach, born 1954 in Milwaukee, is a senior United States district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin who served as chief judge from 2012 to 2019.
William Cranch
William Cranch (1769–1855), nephew of John Adams, was Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Circuit Court from 1801 to 1855 and the second, self-appointed Supreme Court reporter, publisher of the nine-volume Cranch Reports (U.S. Reports vols. 5–13).
William D. Benton
William D. Benton, also known as William Duane Benton, is an American jurist serving as a senior judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals since 2026.
William de Longchamp
William de Longchamp (d. 1197), bishop of Ely, chancellor, papal legate, and chief justiciar under Richard I, governed England 1190–1191 during the Third Crusade, was deposed in October 1191, and later negotiated Richard's release from captivity.
William E. Britt
William E. Britt, also known as William Earl Britt, is an American retired federal district judge in North Carolina, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
William Edward Wells
William Edward Wells is the name of several unrelated men, including a Florida man sentenced to death whose case reached the United States Supreme Court in 2023.
William F. Jung
William Frederic Jung, born in 1958, is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the Middle District of Florida since 2018, appointed by President Donald Trump.
William F. Kuntz II
William F. Kuntz II is an American jurist, a United States district judge for the Eastern District of New York appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011.
William F. Nielsen
William F. Nielsen, or William Fremming Nielsen, is an American jurist on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, appointed in 1991.
William French Smith
William French Smith (1917–1990), also called Bill Smith, was the 74th U.S. Attorney General (1981–1985) under Ronald Reagan, his former personal lawyer and Kitchen Cabinet chairman, known for antitrust easing and the 1984 Crime Act.
William G. Young
William G. Young, born 1940, is an American jurist serving as a senior United States district judge for the District of Massachusetts, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985.