Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr.
Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming | |
| In office September 27, 2006 – October 23, 2014 | |
| Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming | |
| In office 1986–1992 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Alan Bond Johnson |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming | |
| In office September 16, 1975 – September 27, 2006 | |
| Appointed by | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Ewing Thomas Kerr |
| Succeeded by | Nancy D. Freudenthal |
| United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming | |
| In office 1974–1975 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Richard V. Thomas |
| Succeeded by | |
| 23rd Attorney General of Wyoming | |
| In office 1971–1974 | |
| Governor | Stanley K. Hathaway |
| Preceded by | James E. Barrett |
| Succeeded by | David B. Kennedy |
| Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party | |
| In office 1967–1971 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr. July 11, 1922 Rawlins, Wyoming |
| Died | October 23, 2014 (aged 92) Boulder, Colorado |
| Children | Philip A. Brimmer |
| Residence | Cheyenne, Wyoming |
| Education | University of Michigan (B.A.) University of Michigan Law School (J.D.) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942-1946 |
Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr., known as Bud Brimmer (July 11, 1922 – October 23, 2014), was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.
Education and career[]
Brimmer was born in Rawlins in Carbon County in southern Wyoming, to the attorney Clarence A. Brimmer Sr. and the former Geraldine Zingsheim. Brimmer received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at which he was the editor of the university's The Michigan Daily. In 1944 Brimmer joined the United States Army Air Forces, in which he attained the rank of sergeant and served until 1946. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1947. Brimmer joined his father's law firm, Brimmer & Brimmer, through which he gained experience as a trial attorney. He was in private practice in Rawlins from 1947 to 1971. He was the state chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party from 1967 to 1971, when he was appointed by Governor Stanley K. Hathaway as the state attorney general, a post he filled until 1974.[1] Brimmer was a Republican candidate in the 1974 Wyoming gubernatorial primary. He polled nearly a quarter of the Republican vote, a strong fourth-place finish, but he lost the nomination to trucking executive of Cody, who in turn was defeated in the general election by a Democrat, Edgar Herschler. Another candidate in the gubernatorial primary was Malcolm Wallop of Sheridan, who in 1976 won one of the United States Senate seats from Wyoming.[2] Brimmer was in private practice in Rawlins once again in 1974, while he also ran for governor, and was briefly the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming in 1975.
Federal judicial service[]
On July 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford nominated Brimmer to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming vacated by Judge Ewing Thomas Kerr. Brimmer was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 1975, and received his commission the following day. He served as Chief Judge from 1986 to 1992 and assumed senior status on September 27, 2006. He was succeeded by Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal, the wife of Democratic former Governor Dave Freudenthal. He took inactive senior status in June 2013, but remained a federal judge until his death.[3]
Notable case[]
In 2008 Brimmer ordered a new trial for James Harlow, a Wyoming State Penitentiary inmate who had been on death row after conviction of murdering a prison officer in 1997. Brimmer said that Harlow had been denied a fair trial in the state court because his public defender had been made to fear he would be dismissed for representing Harlow and for seeking more state revenues for the public defenders office.[3]
Personal[]
Brimmer's son Philip A. Brimmer became a federal judge in Colorado in 2008, an appointee of President George W. Bush.[4] Clarence Brimmer died at the age of 92 in Boulder, Colorado.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b "Former federal judge Brimmer dies at 92". Billings Gazette. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- ^ Congressional Quarterly Press Guide to U.S. Elections, 2005 edition, p. 1607
- ^ a b "U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer retires at 90". Billings Gazette. June 27, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
- ^ Felisa Cardona (October 6, 2008). "Denver and the West: Judicial service runs in the family". Denver Post. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
Sources[]
- Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Judges of the United States
- 1922 births
- 2014 deaths
- Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
- United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford
- 20th-century American judges
- United States Attorneys for the District of Wyoming
- United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
- University of Michigan Law School alumni
- Wyoming Attorneys General
- Wyoming lawyers
- Wyoming Republicans
- People from Rawlins, Wyoming
- Politicians from Cheyenne, Wyoming
- The Michigan Daily alumni
- United States Army Air Forces soldiers