Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Potter received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Duke University in 1947.
[2] Potter was a campaign worker for Republican Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, who recommended his appointment to the federal bench to President Ronald Reagan.
In passing sentence, Potter stated: "Those of us who do have a religion are sick of being saps for money-grubbing preachers and priests.
"[4] On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the conviction but vacated the sentence, holding that "Regrettably, we are left with the apprehension that the imposition of a lengthy prison term here may have reflected the fact that the court's own sense of religious propriety had somehow been betrayed.
"[4] In 1997, in the case of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, Potter ordered the termination of desegregation busing of students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, ruling that the district had achieved "unitary" status; i.e., that it had "eliminated, to the extent practicable, the vestiges of past discrimination in the traditional areas of school operations.