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Lawrence Piersol

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Lawrence Piersol

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

Tenure

2009 - Present

Years in position

Prior offices:

United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

Years in office: 1993 - 2009

Education

Bachelor's

University of South Dakota, 1962

Law

University of South Dakota School of Law, 1965

Personal

Birthplace

Vermillion, SD

Lawrence L. Piersol is afederal judge onsenior status with theUnited States District Court for the District of South Dakota. He joined the court in 1993 after being nominated by PresidentBill Clinton.

Early life and education

A native ofVermillion, South Dakota, Piersol graduated from the University of South Dakota with both his bachelor's degree andJ.D. in 1962 and 1965 respectively.^[1]

Military service

Piersol served in the U.S. Army's judge advocate general corps from 1965 to 1968.^[1]

Professional career

1993-Present:United States District Court for the District of South Dakota

2009-Present: Senior judge

1999-2005: Chief judge

1993-2009: Judge

1968-1993: Private practice,Sioux Falls, S.D.^[1]

Judicial career

District of South Dakota

Nomination Tracker

Nominee Information
Name: Lawrence L. Piersol
Court:United States District Court for the District of South Dakota
Progress
Confirmed 106 days after nomination.
ANominated: August 6, 1993
AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: October 20, 1993

QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)

AReported: November 18, 1993
AConfirmed: November 20, 1993
AVote: Voice vote

Piersol was nominated by PresidentBill Clinton onAugust 6, 1993, to a seat vacated byDonald Porter. TheAmerican Bar Association rated PiersolUnanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Piersol's nomination were held before theSenate Judiciary Committee on October 20, 1993, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen.Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on November 18, 1993. Piersol was confirmed on a voice vote of theU.S. Senate on November 20, 1993, and he received his commission on November 22, 1993. Piersol served aschief judge of the district court from 1999 to 2005. He elected to takesenior status beginning on July 31, 2009. He was succeeded in this position by JudgeJeffrey Viken.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Noteworthy cases

Libertarian Party candidate off the ballot (2014)

South Dakota Secretary of StateJason Gant refused to place a Libertarian Party’s nominee for Public Utilities Commissioner on the ballot in the 2014 election. Ryan Gaddy, the nominee, was not an official member of the party when its convention was held. State law requires all candidates to be members of the party that nominates them in order to be placed on the ballot. Gaddy sent in a change of party form the Monday following the convention. As a result, Secretary of State Gant refused to put Gaddy on the ballot, leading to a lawsuit in federal court.

Judge Lawrence Piersol agreed with the secretary of state that Gaddy had no right to be on the ballot because state law prohibited it. Further, he concluded that the state law requiring a candidate to be a member of the nominating party is constitutional. Candidates from the Republican, Democratic, and Constitution parties were on the ballot for Public Utilities Commissioner.

Articles:

Iowa man threatens federal judge (2009)

See also:United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (United States, v. Robert Emil Swanson, 2009 WL 1052945)

Judge Piersol sentenced anIowa man for threatening federal JudgeLinda Reade of theNorthern District of Iowa. The case was heard in South Dakota as judges in both theNorthern District of Iowa andSouthern District of Iowa recused themselves.^[4]

Robert E. Swanson, who was convicted of threatening Judge Reade, faced a minimum of two years under federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors pushed for a harsher term because of his criminal record, which included convictions for a rape in 1974, a sexual assault in 1980, and an assault in 1986.^[4]

Piersol commented that "Swanson's past crimes should be considered, even though they weren't included in the guidelines." Federal prosecutor Matthew Whitaker concurred with Piersol, saying, "because they were so long ago ... that skewed his history and made him seem less dangerous than he really was." Piersol sentenced Swanson to eight years in federal prison.^[4]