Service as district court judge
On May 24,2007,President George W. Bush nominated Thapar to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky seat vacated by judge Joseph Martin Hood. [9] [10] The American Bar Association rated Thapar Unanimously Well Qualified, with one committee member abstaining. [11] Thapar was confirmed by the Senate on December 13,2007. [12] He received his commission on January 4,2008. [13] [14] According to the Trump administration,that appointment made Thapar the first United States federal judge of South Asian descent. [15] [16] His service on the district court terminated on May 30,2017,upon elevation to the court of appeals. [13]
Thapar began his career "First in Ohio as a line prosecutor pursuing drug dealers,gang members,and terrorist financiers. Then in Kentucky as a U.S. attorney and a trial judge known for his work ethic,writing,and teaching:he covered 3 far-flung courthouses in his own district (Covington,London,and Pikeville),volunteered to hear additional cases in Texas and on the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits,wrote award–winning opinions,and lectured regularly at UVA,Vanderbilt,Yale,Harvard,and other top schools." [17]
As a district court judge,Thapar heard cases in Covington,Kentucky outside of Cincinnati,as well as in London and Pikeville. [18] While on the bench,Thapar has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School,University of Virginia School of Law,and Northern Kentucky University. [19] He has been an invited guest at Federalist Society programs. [20]
Thapar is known for his folksy and engaging writing style that is meant to be understood by everyday people. In an opinion about amount in controversy requirements holding that the amount was "exactly one penny short of the jurisdictional minimum of the federal courts" (Freeland v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co.,632 F.3d 250,252 (6th Cir. 2011)),Thapar wrote about the humble penny,which "tend[s] to sit at the bottom of change jars or vanish into the cracks between couch cushions." [17] In another case,Thapar explained that if the owner of a bar "promised to pour [a] man a glass of Pappy Van Winkle but gave him a slug of Old Crow instead,well,that would be fraud." [21]
Notable cases as a district court judge
- In 2013,Thapar was assigned to a case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee due to the impending retirement of Judge Thomas Phillips from the Knoxville court. [22] The case involved a high-profile break-in by peace protesters at the Y-12 National Security Complex's Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility in July 2012. [23] [24] The three protesters,aged 57 to 82,were convicted.
- On May 10,2013,Thapar cited the definition of the federal crime of terrorism to keep the protesters in jail until their sentencing on February 18,2014. [24] [25] Thapar sentenced one of the defendants,84-year-old nun Megan Rice,to 35 months in prison for breaking into the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and using blood to deface a bunker holding bomb-grade uranium,a demonstration that exposed serious security flaws;Rice had asked not to receive leniency and said she would be honored to receive a life sentence. [24] The two other defendants were sentenced to more than five years in prison,in part because they had much longer criminal histories. The activists' attorneys asked the judge to sentence them to time they had already served,about nine months,because of their record of goodwill. Thapar said he was concerned they showed no remorse and he wanted the punishment to be a deterrent for other activists. [26]
- On appeal,the Sixth Circuit reversed the most serious convictions against the protesters and,in May 2015,ordered their immediate release from custody,noting that the protesters' sentencing guidelines now recommended substantially less time in custody than they had already served. [27]
Court of appeals service
On March 21,2017,President Donald Trump nominated Thapar to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. [28] [29] [30] Thapar received a unanimous well qualified rating from the American Bar Association. [31] On April 26,2017,the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on his nomination. [32] On May 18,2017,his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–8 vote,with one Democrat not voting. [33] On May 24,2017,the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 52–48 vote. [34] On May 25,2017,his nomination was confirmed by a 52–44 vote. [35] He received his commission on the same day. [13] Thapar became the second Indian American judge of United States courts of appeals. [36]
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported when Thapar was nominated to the 6th Circuit that "lawyers across the political spectrum praised [him] as a highly intellectual,thoughtful and hard-working judge." [21]
Thapar also speaks at law schools across the country on originalism,textualism,civility,and other topics. He teaches at the University of Virginia Law School on the judicial philosophies of Justices Scalia and Thomas. [3]
In 2018,Thapar published a law review article about the role of judges. He criticized "pragmatic" judging and argued that judges should not be "politicians in robes." [37]
Thapar's opinion for a unanimous panel in Novak v. City of Parma (2022) held that it was reasonable for officers to think that a man might have been impersonating a police officer when he created a parody Facebook page for the Parma,Ohio,police department. Since impersonation,unlike parody,is not protected speech,Thapar reasoned that there was probable cause for the arrest and thus it could not be retaliatory under Nieves v. Bartlett . [38]
