Heartsill Ragon

Heartsill Ragon (/ˈræɡən/; March 20, 1885 – September 15, 1940) was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Johnson County in the Arkansas River Valley. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1911 to 1915, beginning a twenty year career in Democratic politics. Ragon represented the Arkansas 5th in the United States House of Representatives from 1923 to 1933. He resigned following appointment as judge United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Early life

Born in Dublin, Arkansas, Ragon attended the local public schools. He graduated from Clarksville High School, and briefly attended the College of the Ozarks (now known as the University of the Ozarks) in Clarksville, Arkansas. Ragon graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and earned a law degree from the Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1908 and commenced practice in Clarksville.

Politics

Ragon represented Johnson County in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1911 to 1915. Following these terms, he served as Johnson County District Attorney from 1916 to 1920. During this time, Ragon became heavily involved in the Democratic Party of Arkansas, serving as secretary of the state convention in 1918, and chairman of the 1920 state convention. Ragon was selected as a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention.

Ragon was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1923, until his resignation effective June 16, 1933, having been appointed judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on May 12, 1933. The Arkansas 5th would be disbanded on January 3, 1963.

Federal judgeship

Ragon served in the federal judge position until his death on September 15, 1940.

In 1939, Judge 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.^[1]

His opinion was reversed by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Miller (1939).

Notes

References

External links

• Heartsill Ragon at Find a Grave