James D. Heiple
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James Dee Heiple (September 13, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American attorney and jurist. He was elected as a justice of the
Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...
in 1990, and went on to serve as its chief justice briefly in 1997, and continued to serve on the court until his retirement in 2000.James D. Heiple at Illinoiscourts.gov


Early life and education

Born in
Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
, Heiple received a B.S. from
Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...
in his hometown. He studied law in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, and received a J.D. from the
University of Louisville School of Law The University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, commonly referred to as The University of Louisville School of Law or the Brandeis School of Law, is the law school of the University of Louisville. Established in 1846, it is the ol ...
in 1957. Heiple later received an
LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...
from the
University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...
.


Career

After admission to Illinois bar, Heiple entered private legal practice with his father in
Tazewell County, Illinois Tazewell County () is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 131,343. Its county seat and largest city is Pekin. It is pronounced with a short "a", to rhyme with "razz" rather than "raze." ...
, with offices in
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
and Pekin, until 1970. He specialized in
municipal law Municipal law is the national, domestic, or internal law of a sovereign state and is defined in opposition to international law. It encompasses the laws enacted by national, state, or local governments and is concerned with regulating the behavi ...
and acted as
corporation counsel The corporation counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer who handles civil claims against the city in some U.S. municipal and county jurisdictions, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corp ...
for many municipalities. During this period, he also worked as an appellate law clerk, public defender, special master in chancery, manager of two banks, and farm-owner. He served as president of the Illinois Judges Association and
Tazewell County Bar Association Tazewell may refer to: People *Tazewell (name) Places United States * Tazewell, Georgia *Tazewell, Virginia Tazewell () is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefiel ...
, as well as acting as chair for
Illinois State Bar Association The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among the largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISB ...
councils. Heiple was elected to the
Illinois Circuit Court The Illinois circuit courts are state courts of the judiciary of Illinois. They are trial courts of original and general jurisdiction. As of 2024, outside of Cook County which has its own circuit court, there are 24 numbered circuits, which may ...
in 1970. Ten years later, he was elected to the
Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...
. He successfully ran in 1990 to succeed retiring Illinois Supreme Court Justice
Howard C. Ryan Howard Christopher Ryan (June 17, 1916 – December 10, 2008) was an Illinois attorney and judge, including service as judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois (1970 to 1990), and that court's Chief Justice (1982–1985). Early and family life A na ...
, for whom he had previously clerked. He billed himself as a "Common Sense Choice" for north-central Illinois and won that election against
Tobias Barry Tobias G. Barry, Jr. (April 12, 1924 – April 4, 2017) was an American politician in the state of Illinois. Early life Barry was born in Chicago on April 12, 1924, to Tobias Barry Sr. who represented the area in the Illinois House of Representa ...
by less than one percentage point. Several lawyers were of the opinion that Heiple would more inclined to engage in
oral argument Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...
s and author
dissenting opinion A dissenting opinion (or dissent) is an Legal opinion, opinion in a legal case in certain legal systems written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Dissenting opi ...
s, given his reputation as "an independent thinker". Heiple authored the state Supreme Court's opinion in the controversial " Baby Richard Case" in 1994. The case involved a mother who was no longer in a relationship with the father and consequently gave up their baby for adoption without informing him. Heiple notably wrote how the state's adoption laws "are designed to protect natural parents in their preemptive rights to their own children wholly apart from any consideration of the so-called best interests of the child. If it were otherwise, few parents would be secure in the custody of their own children". In doing so, he reversed the decisions of the circuit and appeals courts and gave custody of the child to the biological father. The judgment led to criticism among the general populace and public disagreement between Heiple and elected officials, including
Jim Edgar James Robert Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A Moderate Republican (modern United States), moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he previously s ...
, the
Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...
at the time.


Censure

The Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board investigated complaints in 1996 that Heiple abused his position during several traffic stops and disobeyed police. Several legal scholars were of the opinion that the investigation resulted – at least to some degree – from the public attention drawn by the aforementioned adoption opinion and its unpopularity. He was selected by his fellow justices as the chief justice in January 1997. The formal complaint filed that same month discussed the various traffic stops in Pekin and various western Illinois counties. It ultimately led to formal censure of Heiple by the Illinois Courts Commission on April 30, 1997. This prompted his resignation as chief justice (but not the court) on May 2, 1997. On April 14, 1997, Heiple was the subject of the first judicial impeachment proceedings in Illinois in 145 years, conducted by an investigative panel of ten representatives of the
Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...
. Fellow Justice Benjamin K. Miller testified during Heiple's impeachment proceedings that Heiple had failed to let other court members know the seriousness of the Commission's investigation. The panel voted not to impeach Heiple; he remained on the bench through the end of his term in 2000. Voters elected
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
Thomas Kilbride to succeed Heiple. By the end of his tenure on the Illinois Supreme Court, he had written 175 majority opinions, 98 dissents, 27 special concurrences, and 18 partial concurrences or partial dissents.


Personal life

Heiple married Virginia Kerswill on July 28, 1956. Together, they had three children: Jeremy, Jonathan, and Rachel. His wife died in 1995, and their daughter died almost two decades later in 2014. Both his sons followed their father's footsteps and joined the legal profession. Heiple was a life member of the
National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
. Heiple died on January 18, 2021, at the
OSF Saint Francis Medical Center OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States, is a teaching hospital for the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and part of the OSF Healthcare System. The center, which is the largest hospital in ...
in
Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
. He was 87 and suffered a
brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
in the time leading up to his death.


References

Specific Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heiple, James D. 1933 births 2021 deaths Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois Bradley University alumni University of Louisville School of Law alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Lawyers from Peoria, Illinois