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Myron Herbert Thompson (born January 7, 1947) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
On September 17, 1980, Thompson was nominated by President
Opinion, from U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
/ref>
Education and career
Born in Tuskegee,Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, Thompson 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 Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1969 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 Yale Law School
Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
in 1972. He was an Assistant Attorney General of Alabama from 1972 to 1974, and then in private practice in Dothan, Alabama until 1980.
Federal judicial service
On September 17, 1980, Thompson was nominated by President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama vacated by Judge Frank Minis Johnson. Thompson 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 26, 1980, and received his commission on September 29, 1980. He served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1998. He took senior status on August 22, 2013. As of 2020, he is the last Democratic appointee to serve on the District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, and also the last judge appointed by a Democratic president to that court.
Notable cases
In 2013, in a redistricting case heard by a three-judge panel, Thompson disagreed with its decision contending it was an illegal use of racial quotas. He wrote that Alabama's use of the Voting Rights Act was a "cruel irony," that as the state was simultaneously arguing before the Supreme Court in '' Shelby County v. Holder'', that Section 5 should be found unconstitutional, it was "relying on racial quotas…and seeking to justify those quotas with the very provision it was helping to render inert." On October 29, 2019, Judge Thompson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Human Life Protection Act from taking effect in Alabama as prescribed on November 15, 2019. The Alabama law "imposes criminal liability on abortion providers for nearly all abortions, completed or attempted, regardless of fetal viability." In essence," the Court said, "the Act imposes a near-total ban on abortion." Judge Thompson concluded, "The court is persuaded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the Act violates an individual’s constitutional right to obtain a pre-viability abortion, and thus that it violates her constitutional rights." In 2014, in ''Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
Southeast, Inc., v. Strange,'' (also known as ''Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc., v. Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
''), Thompson ruled an Alabama law regulating abortion unconstitutional, citing the undue burden standard./ref>
See also
* List of African-American federal judges * List of African-American jurists *List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
These are lists of Article III United States federal judges by longevity of service. Senate confirmation along with presidential appointment to an Article III court entails a lifelong appointment, unless the judge is impeached, resigns, retires, ...
References
Sources
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Myron H. 1947 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter African-American judges Yale Law School alumni People from Tuskegee, Alabama Yale College alumni 21st-century American judges