James Holderman
James F. Holderman was a judge for theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by PresidentRonald Reagan. He became Chief Judge in 2006 and served in the position untilJune 30, 2013.[1] OnDecember 31, 2013, Holderman tooksenior status.[2] Holderman retired from the court on April 20, 2015.[3]
Education
Holderman received his B.S. from the University of Illinois in 1968 and hisJ.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1971.[2]
Professional career
- 1993-Present: Adjunct professor, University of Illinois College of Law
- 1986-Present: Adjunct professor, John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois
- 1983-2000: Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School
- 1982-1984: Adjunct professor, Northwestern University School of Law
- 1981-1983: Adjunct professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law
- 1978-1985: Private practice, Chicago, Illinois
- 1972-1978: Assistant U.S. attorney, Chicago, Illinois
- 1971-1972: Law clerk, HonorableEdward McManus,Northern District of Iowa[2]
Judicial nominations and appointments
Northern District of Illinois
On the recommendation of Senator Charles Percy, Holderman was nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by PresidentRonald Reagan on February 25, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333 which was approved by Congress. Holderman was confirmed by the U.S.Senate on April 3, 1985, on and received his commission onApril 4, 1985. Holderman has served as thechief judge of the court from 2006 until June 30, 2013. He tooksenior status on December 31, 2013 and retired on April 20, 2015.[2][3]
Noteworthy cases
Illinois housing for the disabled case (2009)
Judge Holderman de-certified a class action lawsuit brought by nine Illinois citizens who suffered from Down Syndrome. The group had sued to compel Illinois officials to move them into community-based settings, and generally to be placed in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their needs.[4]
The ruling issued by the judge said that the settlement proposal was "considerably broader than was necessary" to address the plaintiff's case against the State ofIllinois.[4] Holderman de-certified the class and ruled that Mr. Ligas and the other plaintiffs may continue to pursue their cases, but not as a class-action lawsuit.
Mr. Ligas, who has down syndrome and holds a job, sued the state in 2005 in order to leave a 96-bed site for placement in a small residential home. The lawsuit alleged that Illinois officials declined to provide funding for the placement in violation of provisions in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Social Security Act.[4]
"The judge (Holderman) in no way ruled on the merits here," said Barry Taylor, a lawyer with Equip for Equality, a group which represented the plaintiffs. "No one disputes that Illinois has not done enough to provide services for people with developmental delays," Taylor said after the ruling was issued.[4]
Judge Holderman's ruling halted a proposed settlement between the plaintiffs and the Illinois Department of Human Services. The settlement would have ordered for all adults who live in institutional settings to be evaluated annually, to see if they are eligible to move into a group home.[4]
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich trial (2009)
- See also:United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (United States, v. Rod Blagojevich, et al., 1:08-cr-00888)
- See also:United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (United States, v. Rod Blagojevich, et al., 1:08-cr-00888)
Holderman presided over parts of the corruption trial against formerIllinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The judge granted prosecutors permission to release incriminating recordings to attorneys for Blagojevich and the other individuals secretly taped in the conversations.
Federal prosecutors sought to release the recorded conversations after the Illinois House panel that was investigating Blagojevich requested information that might help them reach a decision. The panel was investigating Blagojevich's actions in order to decide whether he would be impeached. Holderman indicated the tapes might have been subsequently released to the special investigative committee.[5]
Prosecutors had said the release of too many recordings could damage their investigation but offered to make available four calls in which Blagojevich allegedly sought campaign contributions in exchange for signing legislation that diverted casino funds to the state's horse racing industry. This allegation was also noted in the FBI indictment linking Blagojevich to quid pro quo transactions, in which he indicated an intent to trade the open Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama for political favors. As Governor, Blagojevich had the sole authority to appoint someone to the seat.[5]
Additionally, earlier in the proceedings, on January 5, 2009, Holderman granted a motion by US Attorney for theNorthern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald to extend the deadline for obtaining an indictment against Blagojevich.[6]The judge accepted Fitzgerald's argument that the case had grown too complex to obtain an indictment within the usual 30 day deadline.[6] Holderman said that "the ends of justice served by the extension outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendants to a speedy trial".[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑Daily Journal, "1st Hispanic judge for US district court in Chicago says juries need to be more diverse," July 2, 2013
- ↑2.02.12.22.3Judge Holderman Biography from theFederal Judicial Center
- ↑3.03.1The Republic, "Federal judge who approved wiretaps of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich retiring," April 21, 2015
- ↑4.04.14.24.34.4Chicago Tribune, "Housing for disabled: Judge rejects proposed settlement to lawsuit," July 8, 2009
- ↑5.05.1Chicago Tribune, "Judge allows tapes to be released," January 6, 2009
- ↑6.06.16.2FOX News, "James Holderman Grants 90 Day Extension," January 5, 2009
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: NA-New Seat | Northern District of Illinois 1985–2013 Seat #19 | Succeeded by: John Robert Blakey |
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| 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 | ||
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- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- Appointed by Ronald Reagan
- Confirmed 1985
- Federal Article III judges
- Federal judiciary nominee, February 1985
- Former federal judge
- Former federal judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Illinois
- Noteworthy case
- Northern District of Illinois, Seat 19
- Former federal judge, Northern District of Illinois
- Former chief judge
- Former Article III judges
