User:Microplastic Consumer/Darrell Castle

Darrell Lane Castle (born 11 October, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician who was the Constitution Party nominee in the 2016 Presidential Election. He branded himself as a Conservative, Christian, and Anti-abortion candidate in contrast to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Castle is the last living founder of the Constitution Party. During the 2008 Presidential election, Castle was the party's Vice-Presidential nominee.

Early life and career
Castle attended Ketron High School in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated from Tennessee State University in 1970. During the Vietnam War, he served in the United States Marine Corps before going on to obtain a Juris Doctor from Memphis State University (which is now called the University of Memphis).

By 1984, he opened his own law firm, Darrell Castle & Associates, which is still operational. The firm operates in bankruptcy, personal injury, social security disability, workers' compensation, and nursing home abuse. Recently in 2022, the firm would take part in a Children's mental health lawsuit.

Constitution Party
Castle was one of five original founders of the Constitution Party in 1992, which was created to support the candidacy of Howard Phillips. He served multiple party offices including as the Chairman of the Constitution Party of Tennessee and as Vice-Chairman of the national party.

2008 Vice-Presidential Campaign
Castle was nominated to be the Vice-Presidential candidate to Chuck Baldwin in 2008 on the first ballot.

2016 Presidential Campaign
Despite not appearing on any primary ballots, the Constitution Party nominated Castle at their nominating convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. He defeated Scott Copeland of Texas and Tom Hoefling of Nebraska. His top policy positions included running a "10th Amendment Presidency", banning abortion , returning Federal Land to states , ending the Federal Reserve , along with exiting the United Nations and NATO.

He was named by The Collegian as an alternative to Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. Polls showed Castle reaching 0.9% of the vote.

Personal life
In 1998, Castle and his wife founded the Mia’s Children Foundation, a Christian organization in Romania aiding homeless Romani children. Castle's daughter, Joanna Castle Miller, attended New York University and is a comedy writer based in Los Angeles. Despite being a liberal, she produced a YouTube-documentary series on her father's campaign and said she would consider voting for him.