Amul Thapar

Amul Thapar
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Assumed office
May 25, 2017
Appointed by Donald Trump
Preceded by Boyce F. Martin Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
In office
January 4, 2008 – May 25, 2017
Appointed by George W. Bush
Preceded by Joseph Martin Hood
Succeeded by Robert E. Wier
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky
In office
March 20, 2006 – January 2008
President George W. Bush
Preceded by Gregory F. Van Tatenhove
Succeeded by Kerry B. Harvey
Personal details
Born Amul Roger Thapar
(1969-04-29) April 29, 1969
Troy, Michigan, U.S.
Education Boston College (BS)
UC Berkeley School of Law (JD)

Amul Roger Thapar (born April 29, 1969) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Early life and education

Thapar was born in Troy, Michigan to parents who had immigrated from India. He was raised in Toledo, Ohio,[1] where his father, Raj Thapar, owns a heating and air-conditioning supply business.[2] His mother, Veena Bhalla, owned a restaurant. She sold her business after the September 11 attacks and served as a civilian clinical social worker assigned to assist veterans. His parents are divorced. According to his father, the family encouraged Thapar to become a physician but he dreamed of becoming a justice on the United States Supreme Court.[3]

Thapar received a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College in 1991 and a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1994.

Career

Private practice

Thapar was a law clerk to S. Arthur Spiegel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio from 1994 to 1996, and then to Nathaniel R. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1996 to 1997.[4] He was an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law from 1995 to 1997 and from 2002 to 2006.

Thapar was an attorney at the law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C. from 1997 to 1999.[4] He was a trial advocacy instructor at the Georgetown University Law Center from 1999 to 2000.[4] He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1999 to 2000.[4] He was general counsel to Equalfooting.com from 2000 to 2001.[4] He returned to private practice at the Squire, Sanders & Dempsey firm in Cincinnati, Ohio from 2001 to 2002.[5]

United States Attorney

Thapar returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 2002 to 2006, and was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2006 to 2007.[6][7]

While an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he was appointed to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee (AGAC) and chaired the AGAC's Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture subcommittee. He also served on its Terrorism and National Security subcommittee, Violent Crime subcommittee, and Child Exploitation working group.[8]

Thapar also led the Southern Ohio Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which successfully prosecuted approximately 40 perpetrators of mortgage fraud. He led the successful investigation and prosecution of a conspiracy ring to provide illegal aliens with fraudulent driver's licenses.[5]

Federal judicial service

Service as district court judge

On May 24, 2007, Thapar was nominated by President George W. Bush for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky seat vacated by Joseph Martin Hood.[9][10] The American Bar Association rated Thapar Unanimously Well Qualified, with one committee member abstaining.[11] Thapar was confirmed by the Senate on December 13, 2007[12] and received his commission on January 4, 2008.[13] The appointment made Thapar the first United States federal judge of South Asian descent.[14] His service was terminated on May 25, 2017, upon his elevation as a Circuit Judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

As a district court judge, Thapar heard cases in Covington, Kentucky outside of Cincinnati, as well as in London and Pikeville.[15] While on the bench, Thapar has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, University of Virginia School of Law, and Northern Kentucky University.[16] He has been an invited guest at Federalist Society programs.[17] Thapar was America's first federal district judge of South Asian descent.[18][14]

Notable cases as a district court judge

In 2013, Thapar was assigned to a case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee due to the impending retirement of Judge Thomas Phillips from the Knoxville court.[19] The case involved a high-profile break-in by peace protesters at the Y-12 National Security Complex's Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility in July 2012.[20][21] The three protesters, aged 57 to 82, were convicted.

On May 10, 2013, Thapar cited the definition of the federal crime of terrorism to keep the protesters in jail until their sentencing on February 18, 2014.[21][22] Thapar sentenced one of the defendants, 84-year-old nun Megan Rice, to 35 months in prison for breaking into the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and using blood to deface a bunker holding bomb-grade uranium, a demonstration that exposed serious security flaws; Rice had asked not to receive leniency and said she would be honored to receive a life sentence.[21] The two other defendants were sentenced to more than five years in prison, in part because they had much longer criminal histories. The activists' attorneys asked the judge to sentence them to time they had already served, about nine months, because of their record of goodwill. Thapar said he was concerned they showed no remorse and he wanted the punishment to be a deterrent for other activists.[23]

On appeal, the Sixth Circuit reversed the most serious convictions against the protesters and, in May 2015, ordered their immediate release from custody, noting that the protesters' sentencing guidelines now recommended substantially less time in custody than they had already served.[24]

Service on court of appeals

On March 21, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Thapar to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to the seat vacated by Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr., who retired on August 16, 2013.[25][26][27] On April 24, 2017, Thapar received a unanimous well qualified rating from the American Bar Association.[28] On April 26, 2017 the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on his nomination.[29] On May 18, 2017, his nomination was reported to the floor of the Senate by a party line vote of 11–8 with one Democrat not voting. He was confirmed by the full Senate with a vote of 52–44 on May 25, 2017.[30] He received his commission on May 25, 2017. Thapar became the second Indian American judge of United States courts of appeals.[31]

Consideration for Supreme Court

On September 23, 2016, Thapar was included in a second list of individuals Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump "would consider as potential replacements for Justice Scalia at the United States Supreme Court."[32][33]

After the June 2018 announcement by sitting Justice Anthony Kennedy that he would retire from the court, Thapar remains on a Trump "short-list."[34] Thapar was one of six judges interviewed by President Trump early in July while being considered to fill the vacancy.[35]

Personal life

According to Thapar's father, his son was raised to be culturally Hindu but not devout. Thapar married Kim Schulte, a real estate agent, and converted to Catholicism.[3][1] The couple resided in Covington, Kentucky with their three children.[1]

Thapar's father told The Courier-Journal in December 2016 that his son was so conservative that he "nearly wouldn't speak to me after I voted for Barack Obama."[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Potential nominee profile: Amul Thapar". SCOTUSblog. July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Ky judge on Trump's short list for high court". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Meet the Kentuckian on Trump's short list for Supreme Court justice". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nominee Report" (PDF). Alliance for Justice. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. 1 2 "U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works". Epw.senate.gov. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Presidential Nomination 1345, 109th United States Congress". United States Congress. February 17, 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20061206184244/http://www.usdoj.gov:80/usao/kye/usattorney/index.html
  8. ↑ "Judge Amul Thapar | Faculty | Law School". law.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Presidential Nomination 607, 110th United States Congress". United States Congress. May 24, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  10. ↑ Rutkus, Denis Steven, and Bearden, Maureen (October 2008). "CRS Report for Congress, Nominations to Article III Lower Courts by President George W. Bush During the 110th Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
  11. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III Judicial Nominees, |110th Congress", accessed May 2, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Washington Summary – ABA Governmental Affairs Office | Governmental Affairs Office". www.americanbar.org. December 14, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Amul Thapar | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit" (PDF). AFJ Nominee Report.
  14. 1 2 "The Front-Runners and Full List of Potential Supreme Court Nominees". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Trump to nominate federal Judge Amul Thapar to 6th Circuit Court of Appeals". Kentucky.com. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Ky judge on Trump's short list for high court". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Hon. Amul Thapar". www.fed-soc.org. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  18. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Judge Amul R. Thapar for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit". whitehouse.gov. March 21, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Notice" (PDF). United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, Office of the Clerk.
  20. ↑ Us v. Walli (Criminal No. 12-107-ART), April 30, 2013, retrieved May 2, 2017 .
  21. 1 2 3 Gang, Duane W. (February 18, 2014). "Nun sentenced to 35 months in nuclear plant break-in". USA Today. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Sentencing for Y-12 Protesters Postponed until January". Knoxville News Sentinel. September 13, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2017 – via Questia. (Subscription required (help)).
  23. ↑ "Nun, 84, gets 3 years in prison for breaking into nuclear weapons complex". CBS News. February 18, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Sister Megan Rice, Freed From Prison, Looks Ahead to More Anti-Nuclear Activism". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Presidential Nomination 105, 115th United States Congress". United States Congress. March 21, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Congressional Record".
  27. ↑ "President Trump Sends Nominations to the Senate". March 21, 2017.
  28. ↑ "American Bar Association Judicial Ratings" (PDF).
  29. ↑ "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov.
  30. ↑ "Senate roll call vote PN105". United States Senate. May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Amul Thapar becomes second Indian-American judge of US Court of Appeals". Hindustan Times. May 26, 2017.
  32. ↑ Flores, Reena (September 23, 2016). "Donald Trump will expand list of possible Supreme Court picks". CBS News. Retrieved September 23, 2016 – via MSN.
  33. ↑ "Donald J. Trump Finalizes List of Potential Supreme Court Justice PicksS". www.donaldjtrump.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  34. ↑ Savage, David (July 3, 2018). "Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Supreme Court nominee, has defended overturning precedents". LA Times. Retrieved July 3, 2018. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, a Washington veteran who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Barrett, 46, have been seen as the front-runners. White House advisors say Judges Thomas Hardiman from Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge from Michigan and Amul Thapar from Kentucky are also top candidates from Trump’s previously announced list of 25 judges, legal scholars and politicians.
  35. ↑ Roberts, John. "Trump completes interviews of Supreme Court candidates, short-list down to 6". Fox News. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Gregory F. Van Tatenhove		 United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky
2006–2008		 Succeeded by
Kerry B. Harvey
Preceded by
Joseph Martin Hood		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
2008–2017		 Succeeded by
Robert E. Wier
Preceded by
Boyce F. Martin Jr.		 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
2017–present		 Incumbent
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