Pasco Bowman II
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Pasco Middleton Bowman II (born December 20, 1933) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior
United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western Dist ...
.


Early life and education

Bowman was born in Harrisonburg,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and grew up in New Market and Timberville, Virginia. He graduated from New Market High School and received a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in English from Bridgewater College in 1955. He earned a Juris Doctor from
New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...
in 1958, where he was a Root-Tilden scholar and served as managing editor of the ''
New York University Law Review The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a c ...
''. He then went into private practice of law. From 1958 to 1964, with time out for military service and his Fulbright year at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
, he was associated with the
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
law firm of
Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisiti ...
.


Career

Bowman was a member of the faculty of
University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law schools in continuous ...
from 1964 to 1970. He was then
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...
and professor at
Wake Forest University School of Law The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredite ...
from 1970 to 1978, and a visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law from 1978 to 1979. He was dean and professor at the
University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law The University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law is a public law school located on the main campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri, near the Country Club Plaza. It was founded in 1895 as the Kansas Cit ...
from July 1979 to July 1983. He attended
The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, also known as The JAG School or TJAGLCS, is a graduate-level division federal service academy located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The center is ...
at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
and entered
Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...
from 1959 to 1984.


Federal judicial service

On May 24, 1983, President Ronald Reagan nominated Bowman to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western Dist ...
to fill a seat vacated by Judge Jesse Smith Henley. The
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
confirmed Bowman on July 18, 1983, and he received his commission on July 19, 1983. He served as Chief Judge from 1998 to 1999. He took
senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
on August 1, 2003. Bowman completed the graduate program for judges at the University of Virginia School of Law and received his
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...
from the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
in 1986. His service to the federal judiciary includes tours of duty on the Criminal Law Committee, the Federal-State Jurisdiction Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Federal Judicial Center. Notably, Bowman authored the Eighth Circuit's opinion in ''
Clinton v. Jones ''Clinton v. Jones'', 520 U.S. 681 (1997), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation, in federal court, against him or her, for acts do ...
'' that held the Constitution does not protect the President from federal civil litigation involving actions committed before entering office. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment 9—0. Conservative commentator
Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...
clerked for Bowman.


Possible Supreme Court candidacy

Judge Bowman was on the short list of candidates to fill the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
vacancy created by the retirement of Justice
Lewis F. Powell Jr. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. (September 19, 1907 – August 25, 1998) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1972 to 1987. Born in Suffolk, Virginia, he graduat ...
in 1987.‘KC Judge Being Considered for Vacancy: Appellate Jurist Was also Mentioned for High Court Opening in 1987’; ''
The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...
'', July 22, 1990, p. 2
Bowman was favored for Powell’s seat by
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
arch-conservative Jesse Helms. However, alongside devout Mormon John Clifford Wallace, Bowman was viewed by the Senate’s Democratic majority as the most controversial amongst the thirteen or fourteen nominees proposed by President Reagan after Robert Bork was rejected.Epstein, Aaron; ‘3 High Court Hopefuls Deemed OK’; ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.insider trading should be repealed. White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker heard objections to Bowman from Joe Biden and
Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...
on October 26, 1987, and with Republicans needing Democratic support to prevent a repeat of Bork’s debacle, the seat ultimately went to Judge
Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
. Bowman may also have been considered by George H. W. Bush to replace the retired William J. Brennan Jr. in 1990, although he failed to make the final shortlist for Brennan’s replacement.


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Pasco Middleton II 1933 births 20th-century American judges Bridgewater College alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Deans of law schools in the United States Living people New York University School of Law alumni People from Harrisonburg, Virginia People from New Market, Virginia United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Georgia faculty University of Virginia School of Law alumni University of Virginia School of Law faculty Wake Forest University faculty 21st-century American judges Cravath, Swaine & Moore people People from Rockingham County, Virginia