Kermit Edward Bye (January 13, 1937 – March 20, 2021) was a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...

Early life and education

Born in

Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, Lincolnshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Houn ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, Bye earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

in 1959 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 ...

in 1962 from the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Professional career

After completing law school, Bye worked as deputy state securities commissioner in North Dakota from 1962 until 1964 and as a special assistant attorney general in North Dakota from 1964 until 1966. He then 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 ...

for the District of North Dakota from 1966 until 1968. Bye joined the Vogel law firm in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1968, and practiced at that firm until his judicial confirmation in 2000.

Federal judicial service

President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

nominated Bye to the

on April 22, 1999, to fill a vacancy created by the 1998 death of Judge John David Kelly, who was Bye's friend and former law partner. "I'm very pleased in the trust the president has placed in me and I'm honored to be able to follow my friend and 30-year law partner into this position," Bye told the Associated Press on the day of his nomination. "But it's unfortunate that this opportunity for me arose from his death." Bye's nomination was unanimously approved by the United States Senate's Judiciary Committee on November 17, 1999, but languished because of an impasse between Clinton and Senate Republicans over the president's use of

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

s. Ultimately, the Senate confirmed Bye to the seat on the Eighth Circuit in a 98-0 vote on February 24, 2000, and he received his commission on March 9, 2000. "The process involved...can be complex at best, certainly at times confusing and at times even frustrating," Bye told his supporters at his June 1, 2000, swearing-in. But "when it all works out, then it doesn't seem so bad after all." Bye assumed senior status on April 22, 2015. He retired from active service on September 1, 2016.

Cases

* '' United States v. Neil Scott Kramer''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bye, Kermit Edward 1937 births 2021 deaths Assistant United States attorneys Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit People from Traill County, North Dakota United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of North Dakota alumni 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges