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Remembering the Great Federal Judge Billy Roy Wilson--Lawyer, Judge, Humorist, Mule Farmer

Posted on October 28, 2025 at 03:32 PM

Remembering Federal Judge Bill Wilson–Lawyer, Judge. Humorist, Mule Farmer

Memo to Delta partners and supporters of justice nation-wide From Lee Powell, Delta Caucus Director

Arkansas and the nation lost a great champion of justice yesterday with the passing of Federal District Judge Billy Roy Willson. I was his first law clerk from 1993 to late 1995, and I know I join countless other lawyers and public servants who worked for or with him in saying he was one of the greatest jurists of our era.

Billy Roy Wilson was widely recognized as the most brilliant trial lawyer in Arkansas for many years before President William Jefferson Clinton nominated him to the federal bench in 1993. He ruled on many important cases for decades with a wise mind aimed at following the law and bringing about justice. Many legal and public policy experts across the region have commented that Clinton’s elevation of Judge Wilson to the federal court was one of his best actions as President.

Racial justice: Among the many important cases he decided was Conway School District v. Wilhoit 854 F. Supp. 1430 (Ed. Ark 1994) which prevented an attempt to dilute the rights of minority voters. He was deeply aware of Arkansas’ painful history in racial issues, and always had thoughtful and wise judgment for African Americans and other minorities. His many rulings on civil rights issues combined a progressive outlook for the downtrodden with tremendous experience in the law.

He ruled on a vast range of cases: He ruled with wisdom and a vast wealth of experience in the law over a broad range of cases on issues ranging from abortion to civil rights to criminal law and many others during four decades. He will be greatly missed.

There were so many important cases he ruled on that I can’t even scratch the surface here. If you have any thoughts, recollections or comments of any kind please pass them along to LeePowell@delta.comcastbiz.net (this is not a link so you will need to type in the email address) so that we may include them in this tribute.

Fair treatment of lawyers who came before his court: Judge Wilson was noted for his considerate treatment of the lawyers who came before him to practice. There was a limit to his patience, however.

I recall one day he was trying to soften the blow in ruling against a particular lawyer’s motion, saying, “Well, counsel for the defendant makes a strong argument and it’s a close question, but the court rules otherwise.” The lawyer mistakenly thought he saw an opening to change the judge’s mind, filed a motion to re-consider and talked on way too long about how the judge had called it a close question.

The judge patiently listened for a while, but then said, “Well the court has thought about this issue at length, but on further reflection, it’s actually not a close question. Motion denied.”

Anecdote with President Clinton: I recall visiting the White House in 1995, and President Clinton asked how Judge Wilson’s heart was–referring to an episode that thankfully turned out to be minor heart trouble. I said he was doing fine and dispensing justice right and left.

Then Clinton acted like he suddenly became very serious and said, “When you go back to Little Rock you need to remind Judge Wilson that my appointment of him to the federal court was only during ‘good behavior.’”

When I reported back to the judge about the POTUS’ comment, he replied, “Well, they should have told me about that requirement before I took this job.”

Case with Ken Starr before Judge Wilson’s court: Even in the most controversial cases, Wilson was imperturbable as far as ruling according to the law. When Webb Hubbell was indicted by the special prosecutor Ken Starr, Wilson decided to take Hubbell’s plea (which happened to be “guilty”). Starr and the crowd who were determined to portray anyone and everyone in any way connected to President Clinton as grossly corrupt, tried to make a big deal out of Wilson agreeing to take a plea. He was mistakenly thinking that everybody in Arkansas is very close to everybody else.

Actually, Wilson and Hubbell had known each other when they were both prominent lawyers in Arkansas, but they were not close and there was no reason for Wilson to recuse on something as routine as taking a plea—which does not usually require much judgment beyond determining if the defendant is drunk, mentally imbalanced or otherwise not competent to state whether he was innocent or not.

A special prosecutor complaining to a federal law clerk?I remember Ken Starr taking it upon himself to complain to me at the time that Judge Wilson was hearing Hubbell’s plea. I was surprised that a special prosecutor would be complaining to a federal law clerk about his boss’ ruling, and I just said taking a plea is about as routine as it gets and left it at that. Did he think I was going to go to my boss and tell him that Ken Starr told him to reverse his decision? I wasn’t going to argue with the man.

After taking the plea, Wilson did recuse as far as presiding over the rest of the case. This was on the basis that while the judge had no reason to be biased for or against Hubbell, Wilson was a Clinton appointee to the bench and Hubbell was a Clinton appointee to the federal executive branch, so it could give the appearance of impropriety. I thought that was the right decision.

The Wall Street Journal, true to their inaccurate and condescending view of Arkansas, said that Wilson’s decision showed that there is still some honor left in the state. But it just wasn’t a very difficult decision, either in taking the plea or in recusing from the trial. There was no big question of “honor,” and of course the insinuation was that most lawyers and other public officials in Arkansas were unethical and Wilson was an exception to the shameful rule.

Experience at the Rasputin Mule Farm: Judge Wilson also had distinguished stature as a mule farmer. I recall one time when he invited a group of law clerks and other federal court personnel out to the Rasputin Mule Farm and we had the honor of riding his mules. My mule unfortunately was not very mobile and unusually stubborn, even by mule standards. The critter stopped at a fence where there were some plants growing and just stood there feasting for a long time. I couldn’t get the mule to budge an inch.

The others rode off, and Judge Wilson finally wondered what had happened to me. So he rode back and hit the mule hard enough to get it to start moving back to the mule farm. The mule knew who was boss. I was glad that a federal judge had rescued me so I was not marooned in the middle of a field in rural Arkansas.

Comments from Harry Truman Moore, distinguished lawyer based in Paragould, Arkansas, who knew Judge Wilson for many years:

“At a meeting of lawyers in Arkansas many years ago, I asked one of the best younger lawyers I knew, William R. Wilson, as he was then known, to speak on the Voir Dire process, another noted lawyer for a criminal case, and Bill Wilson for a civil case. They wooed the crowd. One young lawyer from Springfield, MO., called them “a pair of thoroughbreds.” Judge Wilson would have been happier had they called him a ‘mule,” which was the nickname some people had used for him back then.

We didn’t do criminal work in the federal courts, and when we had a client in need of such services, Bill Wilson was the first person we called.

It was a pleasure to have known him, to have visited with him over the years about politics, and to watch him lead his mule team in a Presidential inaugural parade. My condolences to Judge Compton. We have lost a true leader, and a legend.” H.T. Moore

On another note about Judge Wilson:

The Amon Clopton rule for avoiding over-work: Wilson was a hard worker, but also had common sense about avoiding over-work, citing what he called the “Amon Clopton rule.” Amon Clopton was a worker out in west Arkansas where Wilson was from, and he learned from one of his colleagues who worked so hard one day that he was too worn out to show up for work the next. So Amon’s rule was, “Don’t ever work so hard one day that it keeps you from working at all the next day.”

Well, we feel it’s important to pay tribute to a great man when he passes. Again, if you have any comments to pass on, please do so to LeePowell@delta.comcastbiz.net

Thanks and Rest in Peace for Judge Wilson.

I will now invoke the Amon Clopton rule and stop working for a while.

Lee Powell, Executive Director, Delta Grassroots Caucus (202) 360-6347 leepowell@delta.comcastbiz.net