American judge (born 1946)
Clark Waddoups
(born April 21, 1946) is a
senior
United States district judge
of the
United States District Court for the District of Utah
.
Education and legal career
[
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]
Waddoups received his
Bachelor of Arts
degree from
Brigham Young University
in 1970 and his
Juris Doctor
from the
S.J. Quinney College of Law
at the
University of Utah
in 1973. He was most recently a partner in the law firm of Parr, Waddoups, Brown, Gee & Loveless where he was a trial lawyer specializing in commercial litigation, including
antitrust
,
securities
, labor/employment,
banking
, construction, environmental and
insurance
claims. Waddoups has represented clients in industries such as heavy manufacturing, broadcasting, banking and finance, automotive, oil, and real estate.
Community and professional involvement
[
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]
Waddoups practiced for
O'Melveny & Myers
, a large
California
law firm for seven years in
Los Angeles
before joining Parr Waddoups in 1981. Prior to that, he served as a
law clerk
for Judge
J. Clifford Wallace
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
, from 1973 to 1974.
Prior to his appointment, Judge Waddoups, who is admitted to practice in California and before all state and federal courts in Utah, was a registered lobbyist in the State of Utah, an active member of the
Utah Supreme Court
Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence, and past President of the A. Sherman Christensen
American Inn of Court
.
Federal judicial service
[
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]
Waddoups was nominated by President
George W. Bush
on April 29, 2008. He was confirmed by the
Senate
on September 26, 2008.
[1]
He received his commission on October 21, 2008. He assumed
senior status
on January 31, 2019.
[2]
Tenure as federal judge
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Waddoups has been the presiding judge in over 600 cases since his confirmation in 2008, involving contract, real property, torts, civil rights, labor, bankruptcy, intellectual property, social security, and more.
[3]
Notable rulings and selected opinions
[
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]
Kody Brown, et al. v. Gary Herbert, Governor of Utah, et al.
[
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]
On July 13, 2011,
Kody Brown and family
, from the TLC reality television show
Sister Wives
, filed a complaint in the United States 10th District Court,
District of Utah
, to challenge Utah's polygamy laws.
[4]
Jonathan Turley
of
George Washington University
represented the plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiffs were found to have legal
standing
, though no charges have been filed against them. On December 13, 2013, approximately eleven months after he heard oral arguments in the case, Judge Waddoups rendered a 91-page decision
[5]
striking down the
cohabitation
clause of Utah's polygamy statute as unconstitutional, but also allowing Utah to maintain its ban on multiple marriage licenses.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Unlawful cohabitation, where prosecutors did not need to prove that a marriage ceremony had taken place (only that a couple had lived together), had been a major tool used to prosecute polygamy in Utah since the 1882
Edmunds Act
.
[9]
HB 497
[
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]
Judge Waddoups blocked an immigration law signed by Gov.
Gary Herbert
in March 2011 that would require police to check citizenship status upon arrest. According to ABC News, Waddoups "issued his ruling in Salt Lake City just 14 hours after the law went into effect, saying that there is sufficient evidence that at least some portions of the Utah legislation will be found unconstitutional.
[10]
United States v. John and Susan Ross
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In December of 2009, Judge Waddoups sentenced two
Davis School District
employees, John and Susan Ross, for money laundering and fraud. The couple pleaded guilty and received 36 months probation, 3,000 hours of community service, $10,000 in fines, and $350,000 in
restitution
. Waddoups issued no jail time, against the prosecutors request, causing some to ask whether the judge was "going easy" on
white-collar crimes
.
[11]
Fitisemanu v. United States
[
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]
In December 2019, Waddoups ruled that
Samoans
should be recognized as U.S. citizens.
[12]
[13]
This decision was later reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
[14]
and is pending certiorari before the Supreme Court of the United States.
[15]
References
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- ^
Senate confirms new judge for Utah
,
Deseret News
, 9/27/2008
- ^
Clark Waddoups
at the
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
, a publication of the
Federal Judicial Center
.
- ^
"Cases filed in the Utah District Court Before Judge Clark%20waddoups"
.
- ^
"Brown v. Herbert"
(PDF)
.
- ^
Waddoups, Clark (December 13, 2013),
Memorandum Decision And Order Granting In Part Plaintiffs' Motion For Summary Judgement, Case No. 2:11-cv-0652-CW
, archived from
the original
on May 30, 2014
, retrieved
December 14,
2013
- ^
Schwartz, John (September 14, 2013),
"A Law Prohibiting Polygamy is Weakened"
,
The New York Times
, retrieved
2014-01-13
- ^
Mears, Bill (December 14, 2013),
"
'Sister Wives' case: Judge strikes down part of Utah polygamy law"
,
CNN.com
, CNN
, retrieved
2014-01-13
- ^
Stack, Peggy Fletcher
(December 14, 2013),
"Laws on Mormon polygamists lead to win for plural marriage"
,
The Salt Lake Tribune
, retrieved
2014-01-13
- ^
Embry, Jessie L. (1994),
"Polygamy"
, in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.),
Utah History Encyclopedia
, Salt Lake City, Utah:
University of Utah Press
,
ISBN
0874804256
,
OCLC
30473917
, archived from
the original
on 2017-04-17
, retrieved
2015-01-08
- ^
[1]
, 5/10/2011
- ^
Ross Sentence
, 12/15/2009
- ^
"U.S. should recognize American Samoans as citizens, judge says"
.
NBC News
. 13 December 2019
. Retrieved
2019-12-17
.
- ^
Casiano, Louis (2019-12-12).
"American Samoans should be recognized as US citizens, federal judge decides"
.
Fox News
. Retrieved
2019-12-17
.
- ^
"Fitisemanu v. United States, No. 20-4017 (10th Cir. 2021)"
.
Justia Law
. Retrieved
2022-06-19
.
- ^
"Three American Samoans, in ask for birthright citizenship, answer Gorsuch's call for a chance to overturn Insular Cases"
.
SCOTUSblog
. 2022-05-13
. Retrieved
2022-06-19
.
External links
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