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Richard Cebull

From Ballotpedia

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Richard Cebull

Nonpartisan

Prior offices:

United States District Court for the District of Montana

Years in office: 2013 - 2013

Years in office: 2001 - 2013

Education

Bachelor's

Montana State University, 1966

Law

University of Montana School of Law, 1969

Personal

Birthplace

Billings, MT

Richard F. Cebull was anArticle III federal judge for theUnited States District Court for the District of Montana. He joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.^[1] He served as the court'sChief Judge from 2008 to March 18, 2013 and as a senior judge from March 18, 2013 to May 3, 2013.

He fully retired from the court effectiveMay 3, 2013, amidst controversy and calls for his retirement after it became public that he had sent a racist email about PresidentBarack Obama.^[2]^[3]

Early life and education

AMontana native, Cebull graduated from Montana State University with his bachelor's degree in 1966 and later graduated from the University of Montana Law School with hisJ.D. degree in 1969.^[1]

Professional career

Cebull became a private practice attorney licensed in the State ofMontana from 1969 to 1997 and also served as a part-time Trial Judge in the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court from 1970 to 1972.^[1]

Judicial career

District of Montana

Cebull started his career as afederal magistrate judge for theDistrict of Montana in1998 as the judge was appointed to a full eight-year term. Judge Cebull served on the bench for three years until his nomination to an Article III judgeship in 2001.^[1]

On the recommendation of U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, Cebull was nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush on May 17, 2001 to a seat vacated byJack Shanstrom as Shanstrom assumed senior status. Cebull was confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 2001 on a unopposed 93-0-7 vote and received commission onJuly 25, 2001.^[4] Cebull served as thechief judge from 2008 until March 18, 2013, when he took on senior status. Cebull fully retired from the court on May 3, 2013.^[5]

Noteworthy cases

USA v. Travis Henry (2009)

See also:United States District Court for the District of Montana (USA v. Travis Henry, CR-08-123-BLG-RFC)

Judge Cebull presided in the drug case of former Denver Bronco running back Travis Henry. Henry and co-defendant James Mack of Bow Mar, CO were arrested in October of 2008 after authorities in Montana found six pounds of marijuana and about 6.6 pounds of cocaine that the pair allegedly had supplied.^[6]

TheUnited States Attorney for theDistrict of Montana said in its complaint that Henry trafficked cocaine betweenColorado and Montana,and one of his associates had delivered six pounds of cocaine to Billings, MT on previous occasions.^[6]

On April 15, 2009, Henry agreed with the Montana U.S. Attorney's Office to a plea agreement. The plea deal allowed the former NFL player to plead guilty to a single cocaine conspiracy charge in exchange for two other charges being dropped.^[6]

On July 16, 2009, Judge Cebull sentenced Travis Henry to three years in federal prison. Cebull also ordered him to undergo drug rehabilitation and ordered five years probation. If Henry completes his rehabilitation successfully, Judge Cebull will reduce his sentence by one year.^[7]

News

Controversial email

In March 2012, Richard Cebull, thechief judge for theUnited States District Court for the District of Montana, called for a probe on himself after he forwarded a racist email aimed against PresidentBarack Obama from his office email account. Cebull, aGeorge W. Bush appointee and graduate of Montana State University and the University of Montana Law School, has been the chief judge of the district since 2008 and prior to appointment, served as a magistrate for the court. Cebull denies that he is racist and argues that the email was forwarded as a political message against Obama. He told the press, "To say it's inappropriate and stupid is an extreme understatement. There is no doubt it's racist. It wasn't forwarded for that purpose. If anything, it was political." The forwarded message read:

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.

"A little boy said to his mother, 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"^[8]

Cebull has apologized and begun the process for filing a judicial complaint against himself. Appellate Court executive Cathy Catterson told the press, "Cebull has publicly acknowledged that he has acted inappropriately. Judge Cebull has initiated the process by which a complaint of judicial misconduct will be brought against him. The Judicial Council is expected to act expeditiously in investigating and resolving this matter." While it is difficult to remove a federal judge from office, some groups have called for Cebull's resignation. Bob Edgar, president and CEO of Common Cause told the press, "If he has any respect for his office and for ideals of equality and human dignity on which our country was founded, Judge Cebull will step down today. The message he has acknowledged circulating demonstrates a lack of judicial temperament that ought to disqualify him from further service." The judicial council will investigate the matter and rule on the conduct of the judge.^[8]

Update:

An investigation, covering four years of correspondence sent from Cebull's official federal email, found that the former judge sent several inappropriate emails during that period. In the correspondence he disparaged many different minority groups and discussed his personal opinions regarding controversial issues such as immigration, gun control, civil rights and more.^[9]

However, the investigation did not discover any rulings or courtroom interactions which displayed bias. As a result, the Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the following consequences: Cebull received a public reprimand, would not be assigned new cases (as a senior judge) for 180 days, he had to complete training on judicial ethics, racial awareness and the elimination of bias, and he had to publicly apologize for a second time.^[10]^[9]