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Frank Easterbrook

From Ballotpedia
Frank Easterbrook
United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Tenure
1985 - Present
Years in position
40
Education
Bachelor's
Swarthmore College, 1970
Law
University of Chicago Law School, 1973
Personal
Birthplace
Buffalo, NY


Frank Hoover Easterbrook is afederal judge on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by PresidentRonald Reagan to a new seat created by statute (98 Stat. 333). He served as chief judge of the court from 2006 to 2013. In addition, Easterbrook is a senior lecturer of law at the University of Chicago Law School.[1][2]

Education

Easterbrook graduated from Swarthmore College with his bachelor's degree in 1970. Easterbrook graduated with high honors and was Phi Beta Kappa at Swarthmore. He earned hisJ.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973. During a period of his legal studies, he served as editor of the law review.[1][2]

Professional career

Judicial career

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name:
Court:United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 245 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: August 1, 1984
DefeatedAABA Rating:
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: September 5, 1984
QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: April 3, 1985 September 28, 1984
ApprovedAConfirmed: April 3, 1985
ApprovedAVote: Voice vote
DefeatedAReturned: October 18, 1984


Easterbrook was first nominated to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit by PresidentRonald Reagan on August 1, 1984, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. Hearings on Easterbrook's nomination were held before theUnited States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 5, 1984, and Easterbrook's nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) on September 28, 1984. Under Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the standing rules of the Senate, Easterbrook's nomination was returned to President Reagan on October 18, 1984. Easterbrook's nomination was resubmitted on February 25, 1985, and was reported by Sen. Thurmond on April 3, 1985; that same day, the Senate confirmed Easterbook on a voice vote. Easterbrook received his commission on April 4, 1985. Easterbrook served as chief judge of the court from 2006 to 2013.[1][3][4]

Noteworthy cases

Hal Turner threatens fed. judges (2009)

See also:United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (United States, v. Harold Turner, 1:09-cr-00542)

Judge Easterbrook faced a death threat from a blogger inNew Jersey after his ruling inNational Rifle Ass'n of Amer., Inc. v. City of Chicago, 567 F.3d 856, 857 (7th Cir. 2009). The death threat happened after Easterbrook, along with judgesRichard Posner andWilliam Bauer unanimously upheld a ban on handguns in the City of Chicago. The judges ruled that the Second Amendment does not preempt Chicago's handgun ban.[5]

Hal Turner, a popular blogger, wrote of his outrage over the decision, suggesting that the judges should be killed and that he would provide information about their home addresses. Initially, Turner was charged in a case where the judges did not participate; in December 2009 that case was declared a mistrial after the jury was deadlocked.[6]

On March 2, 2010, Judge Easterbrook, along with fellow Seventh Circuit judgesRichard Posner andWilliam Bauer, were called to testify in theEastern District of New York. The trial was moved to New York over security issues.[7]

When asked by the prosecuting attorney if the Supreme Court overturned his ruling inMcDonald v. Chicago and whether Turner could be correct on his statement, Judge Easterbrook responded by saying, "This blog post says any judge who decides a case incorrectly who should be assassinated. That is not the way the system works."[7]

In August 2010, Turner was convicted in his second trial, and sentenced to 33 months in prison. He appealed, claiming again that he had engaged in political speech protected by the First Amendment. TheSecond Circuit upheld the conviction, saying that while Turner had a constitutionally protected right to criticize courts, he had no such right, and it is against the law, to threaten the lives of judges with intent. Turner argued that his statements were 'political hyperbole', but this argument was rejected.[8]

John Doe investigations

See also:John Doe investigations related to Scott Walker

TwoJohn Doe investigations, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015, were launched byMilwaukee County District AttorneyJohn Chisholm (D) into the activities of staff and associates of Gov.Scott Walker (R).[9] On February 10, 2014,Eric O'Keefe, a target in the second investigation, filed a federal lawsuit stating that the investigation was used as an instrument to shut down conservative speech and therefore violated the targets'First Amendment rights. The suit was filed with theU.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Prosecutors subsequently filed an appeal with theSeventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.[10]

During arguments, Seventh Circuit JudgeFrank Easterbrook questioned the constitutionality of the secrecy orders, stating they were “screaming with unconstitutionality.”[11] On September 24, the Seventh Circuit reversed the injunction order and dismissed the lawsuit, based on the concern that it constituted federal interference in a state case.[12][13]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑1.01.11.21.3Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," sccessed May 31, 2016
  2. ↑2.02.1University of Chicago Law School, "Frank H. Easterbrook," accessed May 31, 2016
  3. ↑United States Congress, "PN 1039 - Frank H. Easterbook - The Judiciary," accessed May 31, 2016
  4. ↑United States Congress, "PN 102-2 - Frank H. Easterbrook - The Judiciary," accessed May 31, 2016
  5. ↑Bloomberg, "Chicago law banning handguns in city upheld by court," June 2, 2009
  6. ↑Seattle Times, "NY judge declares mistrial in NJ blogger trial," December 7, 2009
  7. ↑7.07.1New York Times, "3 U.S. Judges Testify in a Death Threat Case," March 3, 2010
  8. ↑Reuters, "U.S. court upholds radio host's conviction for threats to judges," June 21, 2013
  9. ↑United States District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin, "Case No. 14-C-139," accessed December 1, 2025
  10. ↑United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, "Defendants'-Appellants’ Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Appeal & Memorandum in Support of Motion," May 5, 2014
  11. ↑Wisconsin Reporter, "Wisconsin prosecutors appeal for protection from blowback in partisan probe," September 9, 2014
  12. ↑United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit, "Eric O'Keefe and Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc. v John T. Chisholm et al.," September 24, 2014
  13. ↑Wisconsin Reporter, "Appeals court reverses John Doe injunction, but Wisconsin’s secret war far from over," September 24, 2014

Political offices
Preceded by
-		United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
1985-Present		Succeeded by
-
US-CourtOfAppeals-7thCircuit-Seal.png
v • e
Federal judges who have served theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Active judges

   •  Amy St. Eve  •  Frank Easterbrook  •  John Z. Lee (United States Court of Appeals judge)  •  Michael B. Brennan (Wisconsin)  •  Michael Scudder  •  Joshua Kolar  •  Doris Pryor  •  Thomas Kirsch  •  Candace Jackson-Akiwumi  •  Nancy Maldonado  •  Rebecca Taibleson

Senior judges

Diane Sykes  •  Diane Wood  •  Daniel Manion  •  Ilana Rovner  •  David Hamilton (Seventh Circuit)  •  Kenneth Ripple  •  

Former judgesJohn Paul Stevens  •  Ann Williams (Federal judge)  •  Julian William Mack  •  Terence Evans  •  Joel Flaum  •  Michael Kanne  •  Richard Posner  •  John Coffey (Seventh Circuit)  •  Jesse Eschbach  •  Walter Quintin Gresham  •  William Bauer  •  Richard Cudahy  •  Thomas Fairchild  •  Philip Tone  •  William Allen Woods  •  James Graham Jenkins (Wisconsin)  •  William Henry Seaman  •  John William Showalter  •  Peter Stenger Grosscup  •  Christian Cecil Kohlsaat  •  Albert Barnes Anderson (federal judge)  •  Francis Elisha Baker  •  Samuel Alschuler  •  Evan Alfred Evans  •  Louis FitzHenry  •  George True Page  •  Walter Lindley  •  William Morris Sparks  •  James Earl Major  •  Walter Treanor  •  Francis Duffy  •  Otto Kerner, Sr.  •  Otto Kerner, Jr.  •  Harlington Wood  •  Winfred Knoch  •  William Parkinson (Indiana)  •  Luther Swygert  •  Sherman Minton  •  Latham Castle  •  Walter Cummings  •  Philip Finnegan  •  John Hastings  •  Roger Kiley  •  Wilbur Pell  •  Elmer Schnackenberg  •  Robert Sprecher  •  Hardress Swaim  •  Amy Coney Barrett  •  
Former Chief judges

Diane Sykes  •  Diane Wood  •  Joel Flaum  •  Richard Posner  •  William Bauer  •  Thomas Fairchild  •  William Morris Sparks  •  James Earl Major  •  Francis Duffy  •  Luther Swygert  •  Latham Castle  •  Walter Cummings  •  John Hastings  •  


Ronald Reagan
v • e
Federal judges nominated byRonald Reagan
1981

Bartlett •Beam •Becker •Bork •Cacheris •Cardamone •Chapman •Coughenour •Cox •Crow •Cyr •Doumar •Eschbach •Forrester •Garwood •Gibson •Glasser •Hall •Hamilton •Head •Jones •Kiser •Krenzler •Lee •Magnuson •McLaughlin •Miner •Moore •Nowlin •O'Connor •Pierce •Posner •Potter •Russell •Ryan •Shabaz •Sprizzo •Stevens •Waters •Wilhoit •Wilkins •Winter

1982

Acker •Acosta •Altimari •Bell •Bissell •Black •Bullock •Caldwell •Coffey •Contie •Coyle •Dowd •Fagg •Fong •Fox •Gadbois •Gibson •Ginsburg •Hart •Higginbotham •Hogan •Irving •Jackson •Jolly •Kanne •Kovachevich •Krupansky •Lynch •Mansmann •McNamara •Mencer •Mentz •Mihm •Moody •Nordberg •Paul •Pieras •Plunkett •Porfilio •Potter •Pratt •Rafeedie •Restani •Roberts •Scalia •Selya •Telesca •Wellford

1983

Baldock •Barbour •Barry •Bowman •Carman •Carter •Curran •Davis •Dorsey •Feldman •Fish •Flaum •Gibbons •Hallanan •Harris •Hinojosa •Hull •Hupp •Katz •Keenan •Kelly •Kram •Laffitte •Limbaugh, Sr. •Limbaugh, Sr. •Milburn •Nesbitt •Nevas •O'Neill •Rymer •Sharp •Starr •Vinson •Vukasin •Wexler •

Woods
1984

Barker •Beezer •Biggers •Billings •Bissell •Boyle •Brewster •Browning •DiCarlo •Duhe •Garcia •George •Hall •Hargrove •Higgins •Hill •Holland •Ideman •Jarvis •Keller •Leavy •Lee •Legge •Leisure •Little •Livaudais •Longobardi •McKibben •Milburn •Newman •Norgle •Prado •Rea •Rosenblatt •Rovner •Scirica •Smith, Jr. •Sneeden •Stotler •Suhrheinrich •Torruella •Wiggins •Wilkinson

1985

Alley •Altimari •Anderson •Aquilino •Archer •Arnold •Baldock •Batchelder •Battey •Broomfield •Brown •Brown •Brunetti •Buckley •Cobb •Conmy •Cowen •Davidson •Dimmick •Duff •Easterbrook •Edgar •Farnan •Fernandez •Fitzpatrick •Fuste •Greene •Gunn •Guy •Hall •Hilton •Holderman •Hughes •Johnson •Jones •Korman •Kozinski •La Plata •Leinenweber •Letts •Lovell •Ludwig •Maloney •Mansmann •Marcus •McDonald •Meredith •Miller •Mills •Miner •Motz •Nelson •Noonan •Porfilio •Revercomb •Rhoades •Ripple •Rodriguez •Rosenbaum •Roth •Ryan •Sam •Scott •Sentelle •Silberman •Sporkin •Stanton •Stapleton •Strand •Strom •Tacha •Tevrizian •Thompson •Todd •Tsoucalas •Walker •Walter •Weber •Williams •Wilson •Wingate •Wolf •Wollman •Young •Zloch

1986

Anderson •Boggs •Bryan •Cedarbaum •Cholakis •Conway •Davies •Dearie •Dubina •Duggan •Edmondson •Fawsett •Fitzwater •Gex •Graham •Hackett •Hansen •Henderson •Hittner •Howard •Jensen •Kay •Kleinfeld •Kosik •Lagueux •Lechner •Magill •Mahoney •Manion •McAvoy •McQuade •Norris •O'Scannlain •Rehnquist •Ryskamp •Scalia •Selya •Simpson •Smalkin •Spencer •Stiehl •Wilkins •Williams •Woodlock •Zatkoff

1987

Alesia •Beam •Bell •Conboy •Cowen •Cummings •Daronco •Doty •Dwyer •Ebel •Ellis •Gadola •Gawthrop •Greenberg •Harrington •Howard •Hoyt •Hutchinson •Kanne •Kelly •Larimer •Leavy •Lew •Marsh •Mayer •McKinney •Michel •Mukasey •Musgrave •Niemeyer •Parker •Phillips •Politan •Pro •Raggi •Reasoner •Reed •Scirica •Sentelle • Smith •Smith •Stadtmueller •Standish •Tinder •Torres •Trott •Turner •Van Antwerpen •Voorhees •Webb •Whipple •Wolin •Wolle •Wood •Zagel

1988

Arcara •Babcock •Brorby •Butler •Cambridge •Camp •Conlon •Cox •Dubois •Duhe •Ezra •Forester •Friedman •Garza •Hutton •Jordan •Kennedy •Lake •Lamberth •Lifland •Lozano •Marovich •Nygaard •Patterson •Schell •Smith •Smith •Tilley •Waldman •Zilly

v • e
John Doe investigations related to Scott Walker
Background
Lawsuits
State court lawsuits: •Three Unnamed Petitioners v. Gregory A. Peterson •Eric O'Keefe, et al. vs. Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, et al. •Two Unnamed Petitioners v. Gregory A. Peterson •Christopher Brekken v. Bruce J. Landgraf •Christopher L. Wiesmueller v. Neal Nettesheim •Francis D. Schmitz v. Gregory A. Peterson •Cynthia Archer v. John Chisholm, et. al. •Federal court lawsuits: •Eric O'Keefe and Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc. v. Francis Schmitz, et. al. •Relevant rulings: •McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission •Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission •Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Thomas Barland •Citizens for Responsible Government v. Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, et. al. •Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. •Wisconsin Coalition for Voter Participation Inc., et. al. v. State of Wisconsin Elections Board, et. al.
Prosecutors
Special prosecutor: •Francis Schmitz •Personnel in Milwaukee County DA's Office: •John Chisholm •Bruce Landgraf •David Budde •David Robles •Robert Stelter •District attorneys in the five John Doe counties •John Chisholm •Ismael Ozanne •Jane Kohlwey •Larry Nelson •Kurt Klomberg
Courts
Judges
Attorneys
Attorneys of JD targets: •Steven Biskupic •Todd Graves • Michael Bresnick •Edward Meyers •Dean Strang •Matthew O'Neill •David Rivkin • Andrew Grossman •Attorneys of JD prosecutors and judges: •Patrick Fiedler • Samuel Leib •Randall Crocker •Douglas Knott •Joseph M. Russell
Supporters of JD investigations
Media
Elected Officials
Government Accountability Board
•Wisconsin Government Accountability Board •Current board members: •Gerald Nichol •Timothy Vocke •Thomas Cane •Harold Froehlich •John Franke •Elsa Lamelas •Past board members: •Thomas Barland •Michael Brennan •Staff: •Kevin Kennedy •Dean Nickel •Jonathan Becker •Shane Falk • Nathan Judnic • Elizabeth Blackwood • J. Douglas Haag •Vendors: •Digital Intelligence
Targets of John Doe I
Prosecuted: •Kelly Rindfleisch •Darlene Wink •Kevin Kavanaugh •Tim Russell •Brian Pierick • Wiliam Gardner •Investigated: •Friends of Scott Walker • Christopher Wiesmueller •John Hiller •Jim Villa •Cindy Archer •Jailed by prosecutors/No charges filed: •Christopher Brekken •Andrew P. Jensen, Jr. •Home or office raided: •Kelly Rindfleisch •Cindy Archer •Darlene Wink •Tim Russell •Brian Pierick • Christopher Wiesmueller •Compelled to testify: •R.J. Johnson
Targets of John Doe II
Individuals: •Kelly Rindfleisch •Eric O'Keefe •R.J. Johnson •Deborah Jordahl •Jed Sanborn •Carol Valley •William Eisner •Keith Gilkes •Sean Hannity •Charlie Sykes •Organizations: •Wisconsin Club for Growth •Club for Growth •Wisconsin Right to Life •United Sportsmen of Wisconsin •Coalition Partners, LLC •R.J. Johnson and Associates • Nonbox • TenCAPITOL •Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce •American Federation for Children •Americans for Prosperity •Americans for Prosperity Wisconsin •Right Direction Wisconsin PAC •Republican State Leadership Committee • Committee to Elect a Republican Senate •Wisconsin Recall Action Fund •Jobs First Coalition •Ending Spending Action Fund • Mary Stitt & Associates •Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce •League of American Voters •Citizens for a Strong America •Republican Party of Wisconsin •Republican Governors Association •American Crossroads •Wisconsin Family Action
Other