Campbell was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 24, 1940, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to a new seat authorized by 54 Stat. 219. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1940, and received his commission on October 10, 1940. He served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1958 to 1961, and as Chief Judge from 1959 to 1970. He assumed senior status on March 19, 1970. He served as Assistant Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1971 to 1988. His service terminated on October 19, 1988, due to his death in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the time of his death, he was the longest-tenured federal judge in the United States.
Notable cases
Early in his time on the bench he conducted one of the fewtreason trials ever held in the United States. In 1965, Campbell took on Chicago kingpin Sam Giancana. When Giancana was asked to testify before a Chicago Grand Jury, he invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent. Campbell granted Giancana immunity from prosecution and ordered him to testify. After Giancana refused, he spent the next year in jail on contempt charges.
Supreme Court consideration
When Supreme Court JusticeFelix Frankfurter died in 1965, many thought Campbell was certain to be appointed to the Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson instead chose Abe Fortas, who resigned four years later. When asked about the missed opportunity many years later, Campbell said, "Although I knew Johnson intimately and personally, he was bigoted enough not to want two Catholics on the Supreme Court."
Controversy
Although Campbell is regarded as a forefather in the state of today's justice system, he has been criticized by some prominent investigative persons for his actions. In 1947, General Motors and a number of its allies in the scheme to buy out all trolley systems in the United States, using a number of front corporations, were indicted on federal anti-trust charges. Two years later the workings were exposed during a trial in Chicago. The investigative journalist Jonathan Kwitny later argued that the case was "A fine example of what can happen when important matters of public policy are abandoned by government to the self-interest of corporations." Judge Campbell was not so outraged. As punishment, he ordered GM and the other companies to pay a fine of $5,000 each. The executives were fined $1 each. The actions by GM and its allies illegally created zero competition and opened the automobile production to America without further challenge.
Award and honors
In 1970 the Library of the United States Courts of the Seventh Circuit was named "The William J. Campbell Library of the United States Courts". Campbell also received the following recognition:
