John Coughenour
2006 - Present
19
John C. Coughenour is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. He joined the court in 1981 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.[1]
Early life and education
A native of Pittsburg, Kansas, Coughenor graduated from the Kansas State College of Pittsburg with his bachelor's degree in 1963 and from the University of Iowa College of Law with his J.D. in 1966.[1]
Professional career
- 2006 - Present: Senior judge
- 1997-2004: Chief judge
- 1981-2006: Judge
- 1970-1973: Assistant professor of law, University of Washington
- 1966-1981: Private practice, Seattle, Wa.[1]
Judicial career
Western District of Washington
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: John C. Coughenour |
| Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Washington |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 45 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: August 11, 1981
|
 ABA Rating:
|
| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: September 15, 1981
|
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 23, 1981
|
| Confirmed: September 25, 1981
|
| Vote: Unanimous consent
|
Coughenour was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on August 11, 1981, to a seat vacated by Judge Morell Sharp. Hearings on Coughenor's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 15, 1981, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) on September 23, 1981. Coughenor was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on September 25, 1981, and he received his commission on September 28, 1981. From 1997 to 2004, he served as chief judge of the district court. Coughenor elected to take senior status beginning on July 27, 2006. He was succeeded in this position by Judge Richard Jones.[1][2]
Noteworthy cases
Red light camera fines (2011)
- See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (MICHAEL TODD et al. v. CITY OF AUBURN et al., No. C09-1232JCC)
- See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (MICHAEL TODD et al. v. CITY OF AUBURN et al., No. C09-1232JCC)
Judge Coughenor dismissed a lawsuit on March 4, 2010, stemming from cities in Washington illegally using red light cameras. A group of Washington state citizens filed a class action lawsuit in June 2009 claiming that cities, including Seattle, overcharged on fines and entered into illegal contracts with the supplier of the cameras.[3] On March 31, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision.[4]
Washington political parties to repay legal fees (2010)
On January 6, 2010, Judge Coughenor ordered the Washington State Republican and Libertarian parties to repay $70,000 in legal fees that they were awarded from a case involving their primary election system. The lawsuit involved Washington State Initiative 872, which created a top two primary system that the Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian parties argued was unconstitutional. The lower courts upheld the parties' claims; the Supreme Court of the United States, however, reversed the decision, prompting the parties to repay the legal fees.[5]
See also
- United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
- United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography from Judge John C. Coughenour," accessed May 19, 2017
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 562 — John C. Coughenour — The Judiciary," accessed May 19, 2017
- ↑ KING 5, "TIMES: Lawsuit over traffic-cam tickets dismissed," March 4, 2010
- ↑ Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, "MICHAEL TODD et al. v. CITY OF AUBURN et al.," March 31, 2011
- ↑ Seattle Times, "Judge orders GOP, Libertarians to repay state $70K," January 6, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Morell Sharp |
Western District of Washington 1981–2006 Seat #2 |
Succeeded by: Richard Jones
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |
Bartlett • Beam • Becker • Bork • Cacheris • Cardamone • Chapman • Coughenour • Cox • Crow • Cyr • Doumar • Eschbach • Forrester • Garwood • Gibson • Glasser • Hall • Hamilton • Head • Jones • Kiser • Krenzler • Lee • Magnuson • McLaughlin • Miner • Moore • Nowlin • O'Connor • Pierce • Posner • Potter • Russell • Ryan • Shabaz • Sprizzo • Stevens • Waters • Wilhoit • Wilkins • Winter | ||
| 1982 |
Acker • Acosta • Altimari • Bell • Bissell • Black • Bullock • Caldwell • Coffey • Contie • Coyle • Dowd • Fagg • Fong • Fox • Gadbois • Gibson • Ginsburg • Hart • Higginbotham • Hogan • Irving • Jackson • Jolly • Kanne • Kovachevich • Krupansky • Lynch • Mansmann • McNamara • Mencer • Mentz • Mihm • Moody • Nordberg • Paul • Pieras • Plunkett • Porfilio • Potter • Pratt • Rafeedie • Restani • Roberts • Scalia • Selya • Telesca • Wellford | ||
| 1983 |
Baldock • Barbour • Barry • Bowman • Carman • Carter • Curran • Davis • Dorsey • Feldman • Fish • Flaum • Gibbons • Hallanan • Harris • Hinojosa • Hull • Hupp • Katz • Keenan • Kelly • Kram • Laffitte • Limbaugh, Sr. • Limbaugh, Sr. • Milburn • Nesbitt • Nevas • O'Neill • Rymer • Sharp • Starr • Vinson • Vukasin • Wexler • Woods | ||
| 1984 |
Barker • Beezer • Biggers • Billings • Bissell • Boyle • Brewster • Browning • DiCarlo • Duhe • Garcia • George • Hall • Hargrove • Higgins • Hill • Holland • Ideman • Jarvis • Keller • Leavy • Lee • Legge • Leisure • Little • Livaudais • Longobardi • McKibben • Milburn • Newman • Norgle • Prado • Rea • Rosenblatt • Rovner • Scirica • Smith, Jr. • Sneeden • Stotler • Suhrheinrich • Torruella • Wiggins • Wilkinson | ||
| 1985 |
Alley • Altimari • Anderson • Aquilino • Archer • Arnold • Baldock • Batchelder • Battey • Broomfield • Brown • Brown • Brunetti • Buckley • Cobb • Conmy • Cowen • Davidson • Dimmick • Duff • Easterbrook • Edgar • Farnan • Fernandez • Fitzpatrick • Fuste • Greene • Gunn • Guy • Hall • Hilton • Holderman • Hughes • Johnson • Jones • Korman • Kozinski • La Plata • Leinenweber • Letts • Lovell • Ludwig • Maloney • Mansmann • Marcus • McDonald • Meredith • Miller • Mills • Miner • Motz • Nelson • Noonan • Porfilio • Revercomb • Rhoades • Ripple • Rodriguez • Rosenbaum • Roth • Ryan • Sam • Scott • Sentelle • Silberman • Sporkin • Stanton • Stapleton • Strand • Strom • Tacha • Tevrizian • Thompson • Todd • Tsoucalas • Walker • Walter • Weber • Williams • Wilson • Wingate • Wolf • Wollman • Young • Zloch | ||
| 1986 |
Anderson • Boggs • Bryan • Cedarbaum • Cholakis • Conway • Davies • Dearie • Dubina • Duggan • Edmondson • Fawsett • Fitzwater • Gex • Graham • Hackett • Hansen • Henderson • Hittner • Howard • Jensen • Kay • Kleinfeld • Kosik • Lagueux • Lechner • Magill • Mahoney • Manion • McAvoy • McQuade • Norris • O'Scannlain • Rehnquist • Ryskamp • Scalia • Selya • Simpson • Smalkin • Spencer • Stiehl • Wilkins • Williams • Woodlock • Zatkoff | ||
| 1987 |
Alesia • Beam • Bell • Conboy • Cowen • Cummings • Daronco • Doty • Dwyer • Ebel • Ellis • Gadola • Gawthrop • Greenberg • Harrington • Howard • Hoyt • Hutchinson • Kanne • Kelly • Larimer • Leavy • Lew • Marsh • Mayer • McKinney • Michel • Mukasey • Musgrave • Niemeyer • Parker • Phillips • Politan • Pro • Raggi • Reasoner • Reed • Scirica • Sentelle • Smith • Smith • Stadtmueller • Standish • Tinder • Torres • Trott • Turner • Van Antwerpen • Voorhees • Webb • Whipple • Wolin • Wolle • Wood • Zagel | ||
| 1988 |
Arcara • Babcock • Brorby • Butler • Cambridge • Camp • Conlon • Cox • Dubois • Duhe • Ezra • Forester • Friedman • Garza • Hutton • Jordan • Kennedy • Lake • Lamberth • Lifland • Lozano • Marovich • Nygaard • Patterson • Schell • Smith • Smith • Tilley • Waldman • Zilly | ||
