John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. (born September 29, 1925) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

. Copenhaver was the last actively serving district judge appointed 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 ...

Education and career

Copenhaver was born in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. His father, John T. Copenhaver, Sr. was mayor of

and twice a Republican candidate for governor of the state. According to the

Charleston Gazette-Mail The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is a non-daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the '' Charleston Daily Mail''. It is one of nine papers owned by HD M ...

, his father "was known as 'Jumping John' for his colorful and sometimes controversial behavior." His mother was Ruth Cherrington. He attended

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

from 1942 to 1944. He received an '' Artium Baccalaureus'' degree from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

in 1947 and a '' Legum Baccalaureus'' degree from

West Virginia University College of Law The West Virginia University College of Law is the professional school for the study of law at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The law school was established on February 20, 1878, as the first professional s ...

in 1950. He was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1944 to 1946, rising to the rank of

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

. After law school, he became 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 ...

to Judge Ben Moore of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1950 to 1951. He was in private practice in Charleston from 1951 to 1958, and a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1958 to 1973. Copenhaver was both an adjunct professor at the West Virginia University College of Law and a faculty member of the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of re ...

from 1970 to 1976, and a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1973 to 1976.

Federal judicial service

Copenhaver was nominated by President

on August 26, 1976 to be a federal judge of the

, to a seat vacated by Judge

Kenneth Keller Hall Kenneth Keller Hall (February 24, 1918 – July 8, 1999) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the ...

. 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 September 1, 1976, and received his commission on September 3, 1976. He assumed senior status on November 1, 2018.

References

Sources

*
Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copenhaver, John Thomas Jr. 1925 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia Military personnel from West Virginia United States Army personnel of World War II United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford West Virginia University alumni West Virginia University College of Law faculty West Virginia University College of Law alumni The Citadel alumni

Education and career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

Sources