Joseph Farnan
Joseph James Farnan, Jr. was a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Farnan retired from the court July 31, 2010.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
A native of Pennsylvania, Farnan graduated from King's College with his bachelor's degree in 1967 and later graduated from the University of Toledo College of Law with his J.D. in 1970.[4]
Professional career
- 1981-1985: U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware
- 1979-1981: Chief deputy attorney General, State of Delaware
- 1976-1979: County attorney, New Castle County, Delaware
- 1972-1976: Private practice, Wilmington, Delaware
- 1972-1975: Assistant public defender, State of Delaware
- 1970-1972: Director, Criminal Justice Program, Wilmington College, New Castle, Delaware[4]
Judicial career
District of Delaware
On the recommendation of Delaware's at-large Congressman Thomas Evans Farnan was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on June 21, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. Farnan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 16, 1985, and received commission on July 18, 1985. Farnan was the chief judge of the court from 1996 to 2000.[4]
Noteworthy cases
School prayer lawsuit
Judge Farman issued a ruling on February 22, 2010, that the Indian River School Board can begin its meetings with a prayer or moment of silence. Judge Farman dismissed the lawsuit that was filed by two Jewish families who claimed the school district violated the First Amendment on the principle of separation of Church and State. The judge issued in his opinion that the school district did not violate the First Amendment.[5]
See also
External links
- Judge Farnan's Webpage at the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (dead link)
- Judge Farnan's Biography (dead link) from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ The News Journal, "Longest-serving federal judge in Del. to retire," January 27, 2010
- ↑ Delaware Online, "Longtime federal judge will step down," February 1, 2010
- ↑ Farnan Law Firm Web Site, "Joseph Farnan Biography"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Judge Farnan's Biography (dead link) from the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ USA Today, "Federal judge in Delaware throws out school prayer lawsuit," February 24, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: NA |
District of Delaware 1985–2010 Seat #4 |
Succeeded by: Richard G. Andrews
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |
Bartlett • Beam • Becker • Bork • Cacheris • Cardamone • Chapman • Coughenour • Cox • Crow • Cyr • Doumar • Eschbach • Forrester • Garwood • Gibson • Glasser • Hall • Hamilton • Head • Jones • Kiser • Krenzler • Lee • Magnuson • McLaughlin • Miner • Moore • Nowlin • O'Connor • Pierce • Posner • Potter • Russell • Ryan • Shabaz • Sprizzo • Stevens • Waters • Wilhoit • Wilkins • Winter | ||
| 1982 |
Acker • Acosta • Altimari • Bell • Bissell • Black • Bullock • Caldwell • Coffey • Contie • Coyle • Dowd • Fagg • Fong • Fox • Gadbois • Gibson • Ginsburg • Hart • Higginbotham • Hogan • Irving • Jackson • Jolly • Kanne • Kovachevich • Krupansky • Lynch • Mansmann • McNamara • Mencer • Mentz • Mihm • Moody • Nordberg • Paul • Pieras • Plunkett • Porfilio • Potter • Pratt • Rafeedie • Restani • Roberts • Scalia • Selya • Telesca • Wellford | ||
| 1983 |
Baldock • Barbour • Barry • Bowman • Carman • Carter • Curran • Davis • Dorsey • Feldman • Fish • Flaum • Gibbons • Hallanan • Harris • Hinojosa • Hull • Hupp • Katz • Keenan • Kelly • Kram • Laffitte • Limbaugh, Sr. • Limbaugh, Sr. • Milburn • Nesbitt • Nevas • O'Neill • Rymer • Sharp • Starr • Vinson • Vukasin • Wexler • Woods | ||
| 1984 |
Barker • Beezer • Biggers • Billings • Bissell • Boyle • Brewster • Browning • DiCarlo • Duhe • Garcia • George • Hall • Hargrove • Higgins • Hill • Holland • Ideman • Jarvis • Keller • Leavy • Lee • Legge • Leisure • Little • Livaudais • Longobardi • McKibben • Milburn • Newman • Norgle • Prado • Rea • Rosenblatt • Rovner • Scirica • Smith, Jr. • Sneeden • Stotler • Suhrheinrich • Torruella • Wiggins • Wilkinson | ||
| 1985 |
Alley • Altimari • Anderson • Aquilino • Archer • Arnold • Baldock • Batchelder • Battey • Broomfield • Brown • Brown • Brunetti • Buckley • Cobb • Conmy • Cowen • Davidson • Dimmick • Duff • Easterbrook • Edgar • Farnan • Fernandez • Fitzpatrick • Fuste • Greene • Gunn • Guy • Hall • Hilton • Holderman • Hughes • Johnson • Jones • Korman • Kozinski • La Plata • Leinenweber • Letts • Lovell • Ludwig • Maloney • Mansmann • Marcus • McDonald • Meredith • Miller • Mills • Miner • Motz • Nelson • Noonan • Porfilio • Revercomb • Rhoades • Ripple • Rodriguez • Rosenbaum • Roth • Ryan • Sam • Scott • Sentelle • Silberman • Sporkin • Stanton • Stapleton • Strand • Strom • Tacha • Tevrizian • Thompson • Todd • Tsoucalas • Walker • Walter • Weber • Williams • Wilson • Wingate • Wolf • Wollman • Young • Zloch | ||
| 1986 |
Anderson • Boggs • Bryan • Cedarbaum • Cholakis • Conway • Davies • Dearie • Dubina • Duggan • Edmondson • Fawsett • Fitzwater • Gex • Graham • Hackett • Hansen • Henderson • Hittner • Howard • Jensen • Kay • Kleinfeld • Kosik • Lagueux • Lechner • Magill • Mahoney • Manion • McAvoy • McQuade • Norris • O'Scannlain • Rehnquist • Ryskamp • Scalia • Selya • Simpson • Smalkin • Spencer • Stiehl • Wilkins • Williams • Woodlock • Zatkoff | ||
| 1987 |
Alesia • Beam • Bell • Conboy • Cowen • Cummings • Daronco • Doty • Dwyer • Ebel • Ellis • Gadola • Gawthrop • Greenberg • Harrington • Howard • Hoyt • Hutchinson • Kanne • Kelly • Larimer • Leavy • Lew • Marsh • Mayer • McKinney • Michel • Mukasey • Musgrave • Niemeyer • Parker • Phillips • Politan • Pro • Raggi • Reasoner • Reed • Scirica • Sentelle • Smith • Smith • Stadtmueller • Standish • Tinder • Torres • Trott • Turner • Van Antwerpen • Voorhees • Webb • Whipple • Wolin • Wolle • Wood • Zagel | ||
| 1988 |
Arcara • Babcock • Brorby • Butler • Cambridge • Camp • Conlon • Cox • Dubois • Duhe • Ezra • Forester • Friedman • Garza • Hutton • Jordan • Kennedy • Lake • Lamberth • Lifland • Lozano • Marovich • Nygaard • Patterson • Schell • Smith • Smith • Tilley • Waldman • Zilly | ||
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Delaware • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Delaware
State courts:
Delaware Supreme Court • Superior Court of Delaware • Delaware Court of Chancery • Delaware Family Court • Delaware Court of Common Pleas • Delaware Justice of the Peace Courts • Delaware Alderman's Courts
State resources:
Courts in Delaware • Delaware judicial elections • Judicial selection in Delaware