Frank Quill Nebeker (April 23, 1930 – January 4, 2024) was an American jurist who served as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

and the

District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort ...

Life and career

Born in

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 ...

, Nebeker received an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in history from

Weber College Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

, a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in political science from the

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 ...

, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. During his law school years, Nebeker worked as a correspondence secretary in the White House. He began his legal career in 1956 as a trial attorney in the Internal Security Division of the Department of Justice. Two years later, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, serving from 1962 to 1969 as the Chief of the Appellate Division. His reputation as an appellate counsel led to his appointment in 1969 as an Associate Judge on the

, where he had a reputation as a judicial conservative. He led several of his colleagues in opposition to Chief Judge Theodore R. Newman Jr., the first black chief judge of the court. He retired from the D.C. Court of Appeals in 1987, and served as a senior judge of that court until December 2021. Nebeker's retirement was short. He was confirmed as Director of the

Office of Government Ethics The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of intere ...

, responsible for developing and monitoring the rules which govern the conduct of those in the Executive Branch, and served from December 1987 to October 1989. When Congress provided for judicial review of veterans benefits decisions and created the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals (now the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims),

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

appointed Nebeker, with the consent of the Senate, to be its first Chief Judge. In November 2000, he retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and served in recall status until December 20, 2021. Nebeker died in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, on January 4, 2024, at the age of 93.

References

External links

* Material on this page was adapted from th
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims biography of Judge Frank Q. Nebeker
a source in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

.
D.C. Court of Appeals bio

Interview with Hon. Frank Nebeker, Oral History Project, Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nebeker, Frank Q. 1930 births 2024 deaths Weber State University alumni University of Utah alumni American University alumni Washington College of Law alumni Judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims United States Article I federal judges appointed by George H. W. Bush Assistant United States attorneys Lawyers from Salt Lake City