Cecil F. Poole was the first African-American United States attorney and federal judge for the Northern District of California. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, Poole earned his undergraduate and law degrees from University of Michigan and his master’s in law from Harvard in 1939. After serving as an Air Force officer during WWII, he became the top federal prosecutor for Northern California until his appointment as a judge for the U.S. District Court for Northern California in 1976 and the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals in 1979. In this interview, Poole discusses his private practice in San Francisco, representing enlisted men in court martials, sentencing guidelines, the Caryl Chessman execution, and his experiences as an African-American lawyer and judge. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting the Northern California U.S. District Court.