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After serving for more than 26 years as problem-solving court judge for District 3 in Nebraska, Judge Paul D. Merritt, Jr. retired from the bench on March 31, 2015.[1]
Merritt received his J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1977 and went on to work as an attorney in private practice in Ogallala, Nebraska, for 10 years. He then served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Nebraska for a year before his appointment to the bench in District 3 by former Governor Kay Orr in 1988.[1]
Regarding his time on the bench, Merritt stated that the most memorable moments of his judicial career were those spent on the drug court:
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Drug court taught me more about people in the criminal justice system than anything else I've ever done. It taught me more about people than anything else I've ever done. Not only from the interaction which you have with the people that are in drug court, but also seminars and education I went to learning how to deal with people that have co-occurring disorders, substance abuse disorders.[2]
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”
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| —Judge Paul D. Merritt, Jr., Interview with the Journal Star[3]
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In 2013, Merritt received the Distinguished Judge for Service to the Judiciary Award, the highest honor awarded by the Nebraska Supreme Court, for his dedication to teaching and his work on committees. Merritt had also consistently been one of the Nebraska Bar Associations' highest rated judges, earning a rating of over 95 percent in 2012 and 2014.[3][4]
When asked why he wanted to become a judge, Merritt stated:
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I just thought that I could help people. I thought that I could listen to what people say and make what I thought was a fair decision. ... I just thought it would be something that I would enjoy.[2]
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”
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| —Judge Paul D. Merritt, Jr., Interview with the Journal Star[3]
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The following judges retired from office in March 2015.
*Based on Judgepedia's records and recent news reports; municipal court judges not included
| Name
|
Court
|
Dates of service
|
| A. Bruce Campbell
|
United States bankruptcy court, District of Colorado
|
2001-2015
|
| Barbara D. Johnson
|
Clark Superior Court, Washington
|
1/1987-3/2015
|
| Betty Richli
|
California Fourth District Court of Appeal
|
1994-March 31, 2015
|
| Carey Hyatt
|
Maricopa County Superior Court, Arizona
|
2000-2015
|
| Cynthia J. Becker
|
Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, Georgia
|
2001-2015
|
| David Silva
|
Bee County Court, Texas
|
2007-2015
|
| David Suntag
|
Vermont Superior Court
|
1990-2015
|
| Elizabeth A. Strance
|
Hawai`i Third Circuit Court, Hawaii
|
2005-2015
|
| Elizabeth Ray
|
Texas District 165
|
2012 - 2015
|
| Fred Woods
|
California Second District Court of Appeal
|
1988-2015
|
| H. Gregory Williams
|
Edgartown District Court, Massachusetts
|
2005-2010
|
| Howard Cameron
|
St. Croix County Circuit Court, Wisconsin
|
2008-3/4/2015
|
| James McClelland
|
16th Judicial District, Louisiana
|
2009-2015
|
| Kenneth W. Quattlebaum
|
Alabama 33rd Judicial Circuit
|
2000-2015
|
| Kimberley Prochnau
|
King County Superior Court, Washington
|
|
| Lawrence E. Jahnke
|
North Dakota Northeast Central Judicial District
|
1989- 3/15/2015
|
| Mark A. Karl
|
Second Judicial Circuit, West Virginia
|
1993-2015
|
| Nikki Ann Clark
|
Florida First District Court of Appeal
|
2009-3/11/2015
|
| Patricia K. Costello
|
New Jersey Vicinage 5
|
1989-3/1/2015
|
| Patricia M. Schnegg
|
Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California
|
2000-2015
|
| Patrick J. Hegarty
|
Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California
|
|
| Patrick Taggart
|
Sauk County Circuit Court, Wisconsin
|
1993-2015
|
| Paul Merritt Jr. (Nebraska)
|
Nebraska District 3
|
1988-2015
|
| Philip D. Bush
|
Minnesota Fourth Judicial District
|
1989-3/2015
|
| Shelley Gartner
|
Vermont Superior Court
|
|
| Sherry K. Heitler
|
New York County Supreme Court, New York
|
2001-2015
|
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