Bernard Thomas Moynahan Jr. (December 29, 1918 – September 30, 1999) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (in case citations, E.D. Ky.) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises approximately the Eastern half of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The United States Cour ...

Education and career

Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, Moynahan received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in 1935, and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Univers ...

in 1938. Moynahan was a prodigy, he graduated "High School at age 13" then graduated from the "University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences at age 16." Moynahan graduated from the University of Kentucky "College of Law at 19 - all with honors."''Loneliness, torment part of the job, judge learns'', The Lexington Leader, January 22, 1981. At the time of his graduation from law school, Kentucky required lawyers taking the bar to be 21 years old. "Because of his youth, he had to get special permission from the Kentucky State Bar Association before he could take the bar exam." See, ''Loneliness, torment part of the job, judge learns'', The Lexington Leader, January 22, 1981. Moynahan had a distinguished military experience. He "served in the Army Air Force in Europe during World War II ....as a navigator on a B-17 bomber." Moynahan's plane "was shot down over Germany" and he "spent 14 months as a prisoner of war." He returned home "in June 1945 to Jessamine County Ywhere his family has owned farmland since before the Civil War."''Loneliness, torment part of the job, judge learns'', The Lexington Leader, January 22, 1981. After serving as "county attorney ...for seven years, Moynahan" was appointed the "United States attorney in 1961-62." He later was appointed "as a U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky." Moynahan "was sworn in November 22, 1963, two hours before the assassination of the man who appointed him - President John Kennedy." He was in private practice in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

from 1938 to 1939, and in Nicholasville, Kentucky from 1940 to 1942. He served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

as a First Lieutenant during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1942 to 1945. He was county attorney of Jessamine County, Kentucky from 1946 to 1954, returning to private practice in Nicholasville from 1954 to 1961. He was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1961 to 1963.

Federal judicial service

On September 16, 1963, Moynahan was nominated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Hiram Church Ford Hiram Church Ford (July 28, 1884 – June 8, 1969) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Education and career Born in Scott County, Kentucky, Ford received an Artium Bacca ...

. Moynahan was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on November 4, 1963, and received his commission on November 8, 1963. He served as Chief Judge from 1969 to 1984, assuming senior status on September 30, 1984. Moynahan served in that capacity until his death on September 30, 1999, in Lexington. While service as a federal district Judge, Moynahan was instrumental in urging Congress to increase the number of federal judges in rural districts. In a 1983 interview, Judge Moynahan remarked about the increase in cases filed in federal district courts. ""The courts are being called on to judge all forms of human behavior, to run schools and cities, decide on job promotions or if a student's hair is too long.. 20 years ago when I went on the bench most of the cases we have today wouldn't be here," Moynahan added this example. "Consider a coal miner, old, broken down from years of hard work. He files a state claim for workman's compensation, a black lung case and social security claim in federal court. That's one man with three cases going, one in state court and two in federal" court. In that same ''Portrait,'' the Judge said that "He regards voting as a privilege and obligation." ""I've voted in every election, save one . . . I missed that when I was a prisoner of war."

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moynahan, Bernard Thomas Jr. 1918 births 1999 deaths People from Akron, Ohio Military personnel from Kentucky United States attorneys for the Eastern District of Kentucky Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy University of Kentucky alumni University of Kentucky College of Law alumni United States Army officers 20th-century American lawyers Kentucky county attorneys