United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

Appeals toEighth CircuitEstablishedMarch 25, 1867Judges3Chief JudgeRobert F. Rossiter Jr.Officers of the courtU.S. AttorneyJan W. Sharp (acting)U.S. MarshalScott E. Kraclwww.ned.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (in case citations, D. Neb.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nebraska. Court offices are in Omaha and Lincoln.

Appeals from the District of Nebraska are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of February 28, 2021^[update] the acting United States attorney is Jan W. Sharp.

Notable case

In May 2005, Judge Joseph Bataillon struck down a constitutional amendment passed by Nebraska voters in 2000 that would have banned gay marriages. That decision, however, was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In its opinion issued on July 14, 2006, the Eighth Circuit held: the amendment rationally related to legitimate state interests, and therefore did not violate the Equal Protection Clause; the amendment could not be considered a bill of attainder; the amendment did not violate homosexuals' First Amendment right to associate; and the amendment did not violate homosexuals' First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Current judges

As of April 10, 2024^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
22	Chief Judge	Robert F. Rossiter Jr.	Omaha	1956	2016–present	2021–present	—	Obama
23	District Judge	Brian C. Buescher	Omaha	1975	2019–present	—	—	Trump
24	District Judge	Susan M. Bazis	Lincoln	1968	2024–present	—	—	Biden
17	Senior Judge	Richard G. Kopf	Lincoln	1946	1992–2011	1999–2004	2011–present	G.H.W. Bush
19	Senior Judge	Joseph Bataillon	Omaha	1949	1997–2014	2004–2011	2014–present	Clinton
21	Senior Judge	John M. Gerrard	Lincoln	1953	2012–2023	2018–2021	2023–present	Obama

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Elmer Scipio Dundy	NE	1830–1896	1868–1896	—	—	A. Johnson	death
2	William Douglas McHugh	NE	1859–1923	1896–1897[Note 1]	—	—	Cleveland	not confirmed
3	William Henry Munger	NE	1845–1915	1897–1915	—	—	Cleveland	death
4	Thomas Charles Munger	NE	1861–1941	1907–1941	—	1941	T. Roosevelt	death
5	Joseph William Woodrough	NE	1873–1977	1916–1933	—	—	Wilson	elevation to 8th Cir.
6	James A. Donohoe	NE	1877–1956	1933–1956	1948–1956	—	F. Roosevelt	death
7	John Wayne Delehant	NE	1890–1972	1942–1957	1956–1957	1957–1972	F. Roosevelt	death
8	Richard Earl Robinson	NE	1903–1991	1956–1972	1957–1972	1972–1991	Eisenhower	death
9	Robert Van Pelt	NE	1897–1988	1957–1970	—	1970–1988	Eisenhower	death
10	Warren Keith Urbom	NE	1925–2017	1970–1990	1972–1986	1990–2017	Nixon	death
11	Robert Vernon Denney	NE	1916–1981	1971–1981	—	1981	Nixon	death
12	Richard A. Dier	NE	1914–1972	1971–1972	—	—	Nixon	death
13	Albert Gerard Schatz	NE	1921–1985	1973–1985	—	—	Nixon	death
14	C. Arlen Beam	NE	1930–present	1981–1987	1986–1987	—	Reagan	elevation to 8th Cir.
15	Lyle Elmer Strom	NE	1925–2023	1985–1995	1987–1994	1995–2023	Reagan	death
16	William G. Cambridge	NE	1931–2004	1988–2000	1994–1999	—	Reagan	retirement
18	Thomas Michael Shanahan	NE	1934–2011	1993–2004	—	2004–2011	Clinton	death
20	Laurie Smith Camp	NE	1953–2020	2001–2018	2011–2018	2018–2020	G.W. Bush	death

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

See also

• Courts of Nebraska
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Nebraska

Footnotes

Further reading

• John R. Wunder and Mark R. Scherer, Echo of Its Time: The History of the Federal District Court of Nebraska, 1867-1933. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2019.

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska Official Website