Joel Martin Flaum (November 26, 1936 – December 4, 2024) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

and a United States District Judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

Education

Born in

Hudson, New York Hudson is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. On the east side of the Hudson River, f ...

, Flaum 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

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

in 1958, 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

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

in 1963, and a

Master of Laws 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 same institution in 1964. He was a

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

Lieutenant Commander, JAG Corps from 1981 to 1992.

Career

Flaum was in private practice in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, from 1964 to 1965. He then transitioned into public service as an Assistant State's Attorney of

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

, from 1965 to 1969. He served as a Lecturer, Northwestern University School of Law from 1967 to 1969, and he helped found the Police Legal Advisory Program at Northwestern. Flaum was an Assistant Attorney General of Illinois from 1969 to 1970, and he became First Assistant Attorney General of Illinois from 1970 to 1972. He was First Assistant

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 Northern District of Illinois from 1972 to 1975.

Federal judicial service

On November 18, 1974, at the age of 38, Flaum was nominated by President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Philip Willis Tone. Flaum 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 18, 1974, and received his commission on December 20, 1974. Flaum's service terminated on June 1, 1983, due to elevation to the Seventh Circuit Court. Flaum was then nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

on April 14, 1983, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Robert Arthur Sprecher. Flaum was confirmed by the Senate on May 4, 1983, and received his commission on May 5, 1983. He served as Chief Judge from 2000 to 2006. Flaum assumed senior status on November 30, 2020.

Notable opinions

In March 2017, Flaum found that police officers could not be sued for needlessly destroying property during a search because they had prevented the owner from witnessing which officers had caused the damage. Judge David Hamilton partially dissented, arguing that the owner should not have been required to instead plead a novel " conspiracy of silence" claim. On April 4, 2017, Flaum wrote a concurrence when the 7th Circuit upheld (in an 8–3 vote) that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Flaum wrote: "Consequently, employment discrimination based on an employee’s interracial relationship is, in part, tied to an enumerated trait: the employee’s race. This type of discrimination is prohibited by Title VII. The same principle applies here. Ivy Tech allegedly refused to promote Professor Hively because she was homosexual—or (A) a woman who is (B) sexually attracted to women. Thus, the College allegedly discriminated against Professor Hively, at least in part, because of her sex. I conclude that Title VII, as its text provides, does not allow this." Flaum was joined by

Kenneth Francis Ripple Kenneth Francis Ripple (born May 19, 1943) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Education and career Ripple was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received an Artium Baccalaur ...

in his concurrence, and the two of them joined part of the majority opinion written by

Diane Wood Diane Pamela Wood (born July 4, 1950) is an American attorney who serves as the director of the American Law Institute and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. She previously served as a circuit judge on the United States C ...

. On April 19, 2018, Flaum was the deciding vote in blocking Indiana's fetal burial requirement. Flaum was also in the 3–0 majority to block Indiana's ban on abortions due to race, sex, or disability. The majority opinion was written by William J. Bauer, and the 2–1 and 3–0 discrepancy comes from the partial dissent of

Daniel Anthony Manion Daniel Anthony Manion (February 1, 1942 – August 31, 2024) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He ...

. On June 25, 2018, Flaum again cast the decisive vote in favor of abortion rights, to deny rehearing of the April 2018 cases. The U.S. Supreme Court partially overturned and partially declined to review the opinion in '' Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc.'' Despite his 2018 votes in favor of abortion rights, on November 1, 2019, Flaum voted to rehear a case after a three-judge panel blocked Indiana's parental notification requirements. Flaum joined a dissent written by Michael Stephen Kanne. On September 7, 2018, Flaum ruled that the felon dispossession statutes that barred felons from getting rifles does not violate the Second Amendment. Flaum was joined by

over the dissent of

Amy Coney Barrett Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2020 as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth wom ...

. In June 2020, Flaum, joined by Judge Amy St. Eve and then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett, held that during resentencing under the

First Step Act The First Step Act, formally known as the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, is a bipartisan criminal justice bill passed by the 115th U.S. Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in ...

, a previous sentence over double the

United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines are rules published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that set out a uniform policy for sentencing individuals and organizations convicted of felonies and serious (Class A) misdemeanors in the Unite ...

range could not simply be reimposed without explanation.

Personal life and death

Flaum was married to Delilah Flaum and previously had been married to television producer Thea Flaum. He died in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on December 4, 2024, at the age of 88.

Awards

Flaum was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given b ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by 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 ...

in 2008 in the area of government and law.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaum, Joel 1936 births 2024 deaths Assistant United States attorneys Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni People from Hudson, New York Union College (New York) alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford United States Navy officers United States Navy reservists