American judge
Hiram Heartsill Ragon
(
; March 20, 1885 ? September 15, 1940) was a
United States representative
from
Arkansas
and a
United States district judge
of the
United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
.
Education and career
[
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Born on March 20, 1885, in Dublin, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in
Logan County
, Ragon attended the common schools,
Clarksville High School
, the College of the Ozarks (now the
University of the Ozarks
) in Clarksville and graduated from the
University of Arkansas
in
Fayetteville
.
[2]
[3]
He received a
Bachelor of Laws
in 1908 from the
Washington and Lee University School of Law
.
[3]
He was admitted to the bar in 1908 and entered private practice in
Clarksville
, Arkansas from 1908 to 1923.
[3]
He was a member of the
Arkansas House of Representatives
from 1911 to 1913.
[3]
He was district attorney in Clarksville from 1916 to 1920.
[3]
Party political posts
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Ragon was Secretary of the Democratic Arkansas state convention in 1918, Chairman of the Democratic Arkansas state convention in 1920, and a delegate to the
1920 Democratic National Convention
.
[2]
Congressional service
[
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Ragon was elected as a
Democrat
to the
United States House of Representatives
of the
68th United States Congress
and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1923, until his resignation effective June 16, 1933, having been appointed to the federal bench.
[2]
Federal judicial service
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Ragon was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
on May 12, 1933, to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
vacated by Judge
Frank A. Youmans
.
[3]
He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
on May 12, 1933, and received his commission on May 17, 1933.
[3]
His service terminated on September 15, 1940, due to his death in
Fort Smith
, Arkansas.
[2]
[3]
He was interred in Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith.
[2]
United States v Miller
[
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]
In 1939, Ragon authored an opinion in United States v. Miller, 26 F. Supp. 1002, stating that a federal statute violated the
Second Amendment
. Ragon was in reality, in favor of the gun control law and was part of an elaborate plan to give the government a sure win when they appealed to the supreme court which they promptly did. Miller, who was a known bank robber, had just testified in court against his whole gang and would have to go into hiding as soon as he was released. Ragon knew that Miller would not pay for an attorney to argue the case at the supreme court and so the government would have a sure win because the other side would not show up. The plan worked perfectly.
[4]
His opinion was reversed by the
United States Supreme Court
in
United States v. Miller
(1939).
References
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Sources
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External links
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