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John Heyburn

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John Heyburn

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Nonpartisan

Prior offices
United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard College, 1970

Law

University of Kentucky College of Law, 1976

Personal
Birthplace
Boston, Mass.


John G. Heyburn II was an Article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. He joined the court in 1992 after being nominated by President George H.W. Bush. Heyburn served as the Chief Judge of the court from 2001 to 2008. Heyburn took senior status on April 1, 2014.[1] Heyburn passed away on April 29, 2015.[2]

Education

Heyburn was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His father and grandfather were both attorneys. Heyburn graduated from Harvard University with his bachelor's degree in 1970, and earned his J.D. from the University of Kentucky Law School in 1976.

Military service

Heyburn served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976.[3]

Professional career

Heyburn was a private practice attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1976 to 1992. Heyburn also served as Special Counsel for Jefferson County Judge-Executive Mitch McConnell.[3]

Judicial career

Western District of Kentucky

On the recommendation of Senator Mitch McConnell, who Heyburn previously worked with, Heyburn was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky by President George H.W. Bush on March 20, 1992, to a seat vacated by Thomas Ballantine as Ballantine went on senior status. Heyburn was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 12, 1992 on a voice vote and received commission on August 17, 1992.[4] Heyburn assumed senior status on April 1, 2014.[3] Heyburn passed away on April 29, 2015.[2]

Judicial Committees and Commissions

In 1994, Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Heyburn to serve on the Budget Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. In January 1997, Judge Heyburn was appointed Chair of the Budget Committee and served in that capacity until December 2004.

In June 2007, Chief Justice Roberts appointed Judge Heyburn as Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The panel was tasked with determining whether cases, including national class-actions, should be centralized in a single judicial district for pretrial purposes.[5]

Noteworthy cases

Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states (2014)
See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Bourke, et al v. Beshear, et al, 3:13-cv-00750-JGH)

In February 2014, Judge Heyburn issued a preliminary ruling, determining that the State of Kentucky must recognize the marriages of four couples who were married in different states and in Canada. In the ruling, Heyburn wrote:

“ It is clear that Kentucky's laws treat gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them.[6] [7] ”

This ruling voids in part Kentucky's Marriage Amendment, which identified marriage as between one man and one woman. That ballot measure passed in 2004.[8]

Judge Heyburn also pointed out that every federal judge who has heard challenges to state recognition of same-sex marriage bans since the passage of Windsor v. United States has found them to be unconstitutional.[6]

After the ruling was announced, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who argued the case on behalf of the state, plainly said that he "did his duty" in defending the law. At that time, both Attorney General Conway and Governor Steve Beshear said it was too soon to comment on the next steps in the case.[6][9] Two weeks later, Judge Heyburn issued a final order, requiring state officials to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages. Attorney General Conway and Governor Beshear immediately filed a motion with Judge Heyburn seeking a 90-day stay of the ruling to determine whether an appeal would be filed.[10]

On March 4, 2014, Attorney General Conway announced that he would not continue to defend Kentucky's ban on the recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages:

“ Judge Heyburn got it right. The United States Constitution is designed to protect everyone’s rights, both the majority and the minority groups.[11] [7] ”

Shortly thereafter, Governor Beshear publicly stated that Kentucky would appeal Judge Heyburn's ruling, but without Conway's assistance.[11][12]

Kentucky same-sex ban found unconstitutional (2014)
See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Love et al. v. Beshear, 3:13-CV-750-H)

On July 1, 2014, Judge John Heyburn ruled that Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Similar to the 20 plus cases that had found same-sex marriage bans to be unconstitutional, Judge Heyburn found that the ban was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Heyburn chided Kentucky's argument that the exclusion of same-sex marriages held interests in the states economic security:

“ The state’s attempts to connect the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage to its interest in economic stability and in “ensuring humanity’s continued existence” are at best illogical and even bewildering. These arguments fail for the precise reasons that Defendant’s procreation argument fails.[13][7] ”
Heyburn stayed the order until the Sixth Circuit could hear and rule on the appeal.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit will hear oral arguments of the appeal on August 6, 2014.

See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ WFPL, "U.S. District Judge John Heyburn to Take Senior Judge Status," March 6, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MyCN2, "Federal judge who set Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage on path to Supreme Court dies," April 30, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of John Gilpin Heyburn, II"
  4. ↑ THOMAS, "Presidential Nominations 102nd Congress: John Heyburn (USDC, WDKY)," accessed March 4, 2014
  5. ↑ Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, "Overview of Panel," accessed March 4, 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Washington Post, "Kentucky must recognize gay marriages from other states, federal judge rules," February 12, 2014
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑ Kentucky Marriage Amendment (2004)
  9. ↑ USA Today, "Ky. ban on gay marriage from other states struck down," February 12, 2014
  10. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Kentucky Ordered to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages," February 27, 2014
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 New York Times, "Kentucky Law Official Will Not Defend Ban on Same-Sex Marriage," March 4, 2014
  12. ↑ Lexington Herald-Leader, "Beshear: Ky. will appeal federal judge's ruling in same-sex marriage case without Conway's help," March 4, 2014
  13. ↑ United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, "Love v. Beshear," July 1, 2014
Political offices
Preceded by:
Thomas Ballantine 		Western District of Kentucky
1992–2014
Seat #4 		Succeeded by:
Rebecca Grady Jennings



Kentucky courts

Federal courts:

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky

State courts:

Kentucky Supreme Court • Kentucky Court of Appeals • Kentucky Circuit Courts • Kentucky District Courts • Kentucky Family Court

State resources:

Courts in Kentucky • Kentucky judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kentucky

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