Richard Fred Suhrheinrich (born August 15, 1936) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit serving in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

He had been a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Education and career

Born in Lincoln City, Indiana, Suhrheinrich earned his

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 in 1960 from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, his

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 ...

with honors in 1963 from the Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) and his

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 ...

in 1990 from the University of Virginia School of Law. Suhrheinrich was an assistant

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

for Macomb County, Michigan, in 1967 and was an associate

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of law at the Detroit College of Law from 1975 to 1985. He co-founded, with Richard Kitch, the law firm Kitch & Suhrheinrich. The firm originally specialized in medical malpractice defense. Now the Kitch firm, the firm has since grown into a full-service law firm with seven offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Currently, Suhrheinrich is a Distinguished Jurist & Professor at the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School teaching various legal courses.

Federal judicial service

Suhrheinrich was 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 September 6, 1984, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan vacated by Judge R. James Harvey. 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 October 3, 1984, and received commission on October 4, 1984. His service terminated on July 13, 1990, due to elevation to the court of appeals. Suhrheinrich was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

on April 18, 1990, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Albert J. Engel Jr. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 28, 1990, and received commission on July 10, 1990. He assumed senior status on August 15, 2001, and was succeeded by Judge David McKeague.

Notable case

He made national news on December 22, 2005, when he authored ''ACLU v. Mercer County'', in which an appeals panel of the Sixth Circuit unanimously upheld the continued display of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

in a

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

courthouse. In his opinion, Suhrheinrich stated that the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

does not demand "a wall of separation between church and state," denying a claim by the ACLU. In addition, he criticized the ACLU's "repeated references to the 'separation of church and state'", stating that "this extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome." Judge

Alice M. Batchelder Alice M. Moore Batchelder (born August 15, 1944) is an American attorney and jurist. She is currently a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She ...

joined in the opinion, while District Judge Walter Herbert Rice merely concurred in the decision but not the opinion.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhrheinrich, Richard Fred 1936 births 20th-century American lawyers American prosecutors Detroit College of Law alumni Detroit College of Law faculty Indiana lawyers Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Living people People from Spencer County, Indiana United States court of appeals judges appointed by George H. W. Bush United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Virginia School of Law alumni Wayne State University alumni