David Kent Winder (June 8, 1932 – May 19, 2009) 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 District of Utah The United States District Court for the District of Utah (in case citations, D. Utah) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Utah. The court is based in Salt Lake City with another courtroom leased in thstate courthous ...

Education and career

Born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, to a locally prominent family, whose main business was a large dairy farm ( Winder Farms), Winder attended Granite High School, where played tricks such as parading a cow through the school's halls when campaigning for student-body president. Winder received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 1955. He received 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

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

in 1958. He was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Airman First Class from 1951 to 1952. He was in private practice of law in Salt Lake City from 1958 to 1977. He was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Allan Crockett, Chief Justice of the

Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice ...

from 1958 to 1959. He was a deputy county attorney of

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The co ...

, Utah from 1959 to 1963. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

of the District of Utah from 1963 to 1965. He was the chief deputy district attorney of Utah from 1965 to 1966. He served at the law firm of Strong & Hanni from 1966 to 1977. Governor Scott M. Matheson appointed Winder to Utah's Third District Court, where he served from 1977 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

Winder was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

on November 1, 1979, to the

, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. He 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 December 4, 1979, and received his commission on December 6, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1993 to 1997. He assumed senior status on June 8, 1997, serving in that status until his death.

Illness and death

Winder battled

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in his final years, and in 2007 he ceased hearing cases, due to the disease's debilitating effects and the onset of dementia. He died on May 19, 2009, in Salt Lake City at the age of 76. He was preceded in death by his wife, and was survived by his three children (son Jim was the Salt Lake County Sheriff at the time of his father's death). He was buried on the family plot at Winder Dairy on 26 May.''Courthouse Holds Viewing for late David Winder'', Salt Lake Tribune, 26 May 2009

Honors and awards

Within a year of being appointed to the bench, Winder was named ''Judge of the Year'' by the

Utah State Bar Utah State Bar is the regulatory agency established by the Utah Supreme Court to regulate the practice of law in Utah. The Utah State Bar is funded by dues from members, Bar exam dues, continuing education fees, Pro Hac Vice fees, and revenue gene ...

. In a 1996 poll of Utah lawyers conducted by the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'' newspaper, Winder was the state's highest-rated judge."SL Tribune", 20 May 2009 Lawyers considered Winder to be an outstanding jurist. A University of Utah law professor described him as "the consummate federal judge".

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winder, David Kent 1932 births 2009 deaths Assistant United States attorneys Cannon family Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Utah Lawyers from Salt Lake City Stanford Law School alumni United States Air Force airmen United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter Utah state court judges University of Utah alumni