Judge Marc L. Griffin | |
|---|---|
 Griffin in 1974 | |
| Born | May 25, 1956 Greensburg, Indiana, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Years active | 1993–2021 |
| Known for | World's youngest judge |
Marc L. Griffin (born May 25, 1956) is a former American lawyer who became the world's youngest judge at age 17 in 1974.
Griffin was born on May 25, 1956, in Greensburg, Indiana. In 1961, his parents moved the family to Beech Grove, Indiana.
In 1974, he graduated from Beech Grove High School. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. In 1992, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence by the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. [1]
On the nomination of the Board of Commissioners of Johnson County, Indiana Griffin was appointed and commissioned by Indiana Governor Otis Bowen on February 19, 1974, as a Justice of the Peace to fill a vacancy in that office in White River Township, Johnson County, Indiana. [2] [3]
After having appointed Griffin as a Justice of the Peace, Governor Bowen requested an official opinion from Indiana Attorney General Theodore Sendak asking how the laws which define age eligibility for holding office affected his appointment of Griffin. On March 19, 1974, Sendak issued his Official Opinion No. 1 of 1974. [4] Sendak opined that Griffin, as a 17-year-old person, was not old enough to take the oath of office as a Justice of the Peace in Indiana. [5] [6] [7] The Attorney General's opinion was only advisory and would not force Griffin from office unless his appointment was challenged successfully in court. [8] When the announcement of the opinion was picked up by the Associated Press, the story appeared in newspapers all over the United States. Editors of the news agency's newspaper members deliberately set out to hook their readers with sensational headlines that screamed controversy and catastrophe. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] In light of the Attorney General's opinion, Griffin and the Johnson County Board of Commissioners asked the county attorney to give his opinion and report back to them. Contrary to the Attorney General's opinion, the county attorney's opinion found no reason why Griffin could not hold the office. The county attorney offered to represent the Commissioners and Griffin should they be challenged in court. [14]
Griffin and Robert W. Condit were candidates in the May 1974 Republican primary election for Justice of the Peace in White River Township. [15] Condit filed a lawsuit against the Johnson County Election Board. [16] [17] Condit claimed that the Election Board was violating the law when they registered Griffin as a candidate. Condit cited the official opinion issued by Indiana Attorney General Sendak. The suit noted that the election board approved Griffin's filing as a candidate six days after the official opinion had been issued. [18] Griffin defeated Condit in the primary election. [19] After he was defeated, Condit amended his lawsuit against the Election Board by adding Griffin as a defendant. [20] [21] [22] Condit did not prevail in his suit when a court ruled that the Attorney General's opinion was not a correct interpretation of the law. The court's ruling in that case validated Griffin's eligibility to be a candidate and to serve. [23] [24]
On April 6, 1974, Griffin opened his courtroom in Greenwood, Indiana, and heard cases for the first time. [25] [26] He adjudicated civil small claims cases such as debt collection, dishonored checks, landlord-tenant issues, and property damage. On his criminal docket, he heard misdemeanor cases including vehicle moving violations, breach of the peace, shoplifting, and assault. [27] He held surety of the peace hearings and issued peace bonds which are known in the present day as protective orders. [28] He was legally authorized to perform civil marriages [29] and was doing so when he was below the marriage age in Indiana. [30] [31]
His appointive term of office ended on December 31, 1974. [3] On November 5, 1974, he won a contested general election which allowed him to continue in an elective term of office of four years. [32] However, his elective term of office was cut short when the Indiana General Assembly abolished Justice of the Peace courts statewide effective January 1, 1975. [33]
Griffin holds the Guinness World Records title of the World's Youngest Judge. [34]
In 1990, being unaware of Griffin's earlier achievement, Guinness World Records awarded the title of World's Youngest Judge to John Payton. Payton, at age eighteen years, nine months, and fourteen days old, was elected a judge as a Collin County, Texas, Justice of the Peace on November 6, 1990. [35]
Griffin had achieved the record at an age younger than Payton on his appointment as a judge on February 19, 1974, at the age of seventeen years, eight months, and twenty-five days old. Griffin also achieved the record at an age younger than Payton on being elected as a judge on November 5, 1974, at the age of eighteen years, five months, and eleven days. However, it was not until 2011 that Guinness World Records became aware of Griffin's achievements and correctly awarded the title to him, who had set the record 37 years earlier. [36] [37] [28]
Unlike most judges, his bar admissions did not come until after his judicial career. In 1993, he was admitted to the bar of the Indiana Supreme Court, [38] [39] United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In 1996, he was admitted as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States. In his first year of the practice of law he was a solo practitioner in Indianapolis. [40] From 1994 to 1997 he was a partner at Griffin & Smith in Indianapolis. From 1998 to 2021 he was a partner at Griffin, Hicks & Hicks in Greenwood, Indiana. [41] His practice focused on real estate law. [1]
Benjamin Richard Civiletti was an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney General during the Carter administration, from 1979 to 1981. The first Italian American to lead the U.S. Department of Justice, he previously served as the Deputy Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. Later he was a senior partner in the Baltimore-based law firm of Venable LLP. He specialized in commercial litigation and internal investigations working at Venable LLP.
WHMB-TV is a religious independent television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Family Broadcasting Corporation. WHMB's studios are located on Greenfield Avenue in Noblesville, and its transmitter is located on Walnut Drive in northwestern Indianapolis.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is a federal district court in Indiana. It was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern and southern. The Southern District is divided into four divisions, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville, and New Albany. Appeals from the Southern District of Indiana are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The court has five judges, four full-time United States magistrate judges and two part-time magistrate judges.
Theodore Edward Rokita is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 44th and current Attorney General of Indiana. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms as Secretary of State of Indiana from 2002 to 2010. When Rokita was elected to office in 2002 at age 32, he became the youngest secretary of state in the United States at the time.
John Daniel Tinder is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
David Frank Hamilton is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. On March 17, 2009, he became President Barack Obama's first judicial nominee when he was named for a seat on the Seventh Circuit. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 19, 2009, in a 59–39 vote.
Lemuel Ertus Slack, often called L. Ert Slack, was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 29th Mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Miss America 1922 was the second annual Miss America pageant, held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey from September 7–9, 1922.
Beth Robinson is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any federal court of appeals. Robinson served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2011 to 2021.
The 1901 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1901 Western Conference football season. The Boilermakers compiled a 4–4–1 record and outscored their opponents by a total of 138 to 66 in their fourth, non-consecutive season under head coach D. M. Balliet. John F. G. Miller was the team captain.
Sigma Nu Phi (ΣΝΦ), also known as Adelphia Sigma Nu Phi, was a professional law fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association.
Curtis Theophilus Hill Jr. is an American prosecutor from the Republican Party who served as the 43rd Attorney General of Indiana from 2017 to 2021. He was the first African American to be elected to a statewide office in Indiana.
Linley E. Pearson is an American politician, lawyer, and judge who served as the thirty-seventh Attorney General of Indiana from January 12, 1981 to January 11, 1993.
Theodore Lorraine Sendak was an American politician who served as the thirty-sixth Attorney General of Indiana from January 13, 1969 to January 12, 1981.
The National Baseball Commission was the governing body of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from 1903 to 1920. It consisted of a chairman, the presidents of the National League (NL) and American League (AL), and a secretary. The commission was formed as part of the peace agreement between the AL and NL and abolished following the Black Sox Scandal. It was replaced with the Commissioner of Baseball.
Nathaniel Quentin Moran is an American politician and attorney who has served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 1st congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the Tyler, Texas city council from the 5th district and as the county judge of Smith County, Texas.
The 1946 Indiana Inercollegiate Conference football season was the season of college football played by the 15 member schools of the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) as part of the 1946 college football season.
Sherman Minton was nominated to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by U.S. President Harry S. Truman on September 14, 1949 after the death in office of Wiley Rutledge created a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Per the Constitution of the United States, Minton's nomination was subject to the advice and consent of the United States Senate, which holds the determinant power to confirm or reject nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nomination was met with a mixed reception and faced active opposition stemming both from the belief that Minton would be a liberal justice and from his history as a New Deal-supporting member of the United States Senate. There was an unsuccessful effort to compel Minton to testify before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Nevertheless, the nomination was approved by a 48-16 vote of the United States Senate on October 4, 1949.