U.S. District judge Jerry Buchmeyer dies
September 21, 2009
Texas: Jerry Buchmeyer, federal judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, passed away of natural causes on September 21, 2009. Buchmeyer was appointed to the federal bench by President Carter in 1979 and served as the chief judge of the court from 1995 to 2001.[1]
A statement from the current chief judge of the Northern District of Texas, Sidney Fitzwater, said: "Judge Buchmeyer was a giant of this court whose decisions reflected his independence, courage and intellect."[2]
Buchmeyer was considered a "champion of civil and human rights" for his housing rulings that allowed many black families to move into what had been largely white neighborhoods. He was also considered "an ultra-liberal bent on disrupting the status quo" for the same rulings, which were thought by some to go too far in attempting to right past national wrongs.[3]
"In another important ruling, Buchmeyer in 1990 struck down Dallas’s system for electing city officials, ruling that it diluted minority influence."[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ Judge Buchmeyer's Biography (dead link) from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ Houston Chronicle "Retired federal judge Buchmeyer dies," September 22, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ Dallas Morning News "Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, who transformed Dallas public housing, dies at 76," September 22, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ Wall Street Law Blog "Law Blog Obituary: U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer," September 23, 2009
