Ted Stewart | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | |
Assumed office September 1, 2014 | |
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | |
In office 2011–2014 | |
Preceded by | Tena Campbell |
Succeeded by | David Nuffer |
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | |
In office November 11,1999 –September 1,2014 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | John Thomas Greene Jr. |
Succeeded by | Howard C. Nielson Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | Brian Theadore Stewart 1948 (age 74–75) Logan,Utah |
Relations | Chris Stewart (brother) |
Education | Utah State University (B.S.) University of Utah (J.D.) |
Brian Theadore Stewart (born 1948) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Born in Logan,Utah,Stewart received a Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State University in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. [1]
From 1974 until 1980,Stewart worked in private legal practice in Salt Lake City. He then served as an assistant to United States Senator Orrin Hatch in 1980,and then worked as an administrative assistant to United States Representative James V. Hansen from 1981 until 1985. From 1985 until 1992,Stewart was a commissioner on the Public Service Commission of Utah. From 1993 until 1998,Stewart served as the executive director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources. [1] From 1998 until becoming a federal judge in 1999,Stewart served as a chief of staff to then-Utah Governor Mike Leavitt. [1] [2]
Stewart was a visiting professor at Utah State University in 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. He was also a visiting professor at Weber State University in 1997. [1]
In mid-1999,President Bill Clinton nominated Stewart to federal district court to fill a seat vacated by Judge John Thomas Greene Jr.,who assumed senior status in November 1997. [1] [3] Clinton,a Democrat,nominated Stewart,a Republican,because Stewart was a friend of Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah,and Hatch at that time was the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. [4] Clinton did so as a courtesy to Hatch,hoping the gesture would encourage Republican senators to act to confirm many of the president's languishing judicial nominees. [4]
However,Hatch demanded that Stewart be confirmed before senators could consider other judicial nominees. [4] That enraged Senate Democrats,who refused to allow for a vote on Stewart. That prompted Republican senators to take the then very rare move of filing for cloture on the nomination of a federal district judge. On September 21,1999,Democrats unified to successfully filibuster Stewart's nomination,by a 55–44 vote on the Senate floor that may well have been the only successful filibuster ever on a federal district court nominee. [4] [5]
Two weeks later,Democratic and Republican senators announced a deal that paved the way for votes on the nominations of Stewart and two other judicial nominees. [6] On October 5,1999,the Senate confirmed Stewart by a 93–5 vote. [7] Stewart received his judicial commission on November 11,1999. [1] He served as Chief Judge from 2011 to 2014. He assumed senior status on September 1,2014. [1]
Stewart made the initial ruling in favor of the terms-of sale restrictions on the easement in the LDS plaza by the Salt Lake Temple. [8]
On August 1,2023,Stewart dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Free Speech Coalition against the state of Utah. The lawsuit claimed that a Utah law requiring an age verification system on websites containing pornography violated the First Amendment. The Free Speech Coalition stated that it would appeal Judge Stewart's ruling. [9] [10]
Stewart is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With his brother,Chris Stewart,he wrote the book Seven Miracles That Saved America:Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope ,which was published in 2009,and the book The Miracle of Freedom:7 Tipping Points that Saved the World ,which was published in 2011. [11] In 2017,he wrote the book Supreme Power:7 Pivotal Supreme Court Decisions That Had a Major Impact on America .
Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush since before his presidency.
In the United States Senate,the nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule by a simple majority,avoiding the two-thirds supermajority normally required to invoke cloture on a measure amending the Standing Rules. The term "nuclear option" is an analogy to nuclear weapons being the most extreme option in warfare.
Priscilla Richman is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 1995 to 2005.
Henry William Saad is a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The Gang of 14 was a bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully,at the time,negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called "nuclear option" by Senate Republican Majority over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats.
Richard Allen Griffin is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously,he was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
David William McKeague is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Susan Bieke Neilson was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit,and before that,a state trial judge in Michigan.
Helene N. White is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously,she was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
During President George W. Bush's two term tenure in office,a few of his nominations for federal judgeships were blocked by the Senate Democrats either directly in the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the full Senate floor in various procedural moves,including the first use of a filibuster to block a Federal Appeals Court nominee. Republicans labeled it an unwarranted obstruction of professionally qualified judicial nominees.
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations,Congress confirmed 329 judgeships,173 during the 111th &112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congresses.
Robert Leon Wilkins is an American lawyer and jurist serving as United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He previously served as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 2010 to 2014.
Robert James Shelby is an American attorney and judge serving as the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Brian Jordan Davis is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 6,2018,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Utah,concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate,elections to the United States House of Representatives,and various state and local elections. The primaries took place on June 26.
Thomas Alvin Farr is an American attorney. Farr was nominated by President Donald Trump for a judgeship on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2017,and again in 2018. Farr was considered a controversial nominee due to his alleged involvement in suppression of African-American voters. On November 29,2018,Republican U.S. Senators Jeff Flake and Tim Scott announced their opposition to Farr's nomination,together with unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats,made it impossible for Farr's nomination to be confirmed.
Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Donald Trump,President of the United States from 2017 to 2021,entered office with a significant number of judicial vacancies,including a Supreme Court vacancy due to the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. During the first eight months of his presidency,he nominated approximately 50 judges,a significantly higher number than any other recent president had made by that point in his presidency. By June 24,2020,200 of his Article III nominees had been confirmed by the United States Senate. According to multiple media outlets,Trump significantly impacted the composition of the Supreme Court and lower courts during his tenure.
The 2005 debate on the nuclear option was a political debate in the United States Senate regarding the possible use of the nuclear option to allow a simple majority to confirm judicial nominees. At the time,three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn were required to end debate on nominations under Rule XXII of the Senate's standing rules.
Brian Craig Buescher is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.