Richard George Kopf (December 1, 1946 – January 17, 2025) was a

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 District of Nebraska United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Background

Kopf received his

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 Kearney State College (now the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska S ...

) in 1969, where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

fraternity. He received 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 ...

from the

University of Nebraska College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is the law school of the University of Nebraska system. It was founded in 1888 and became part of University of Nebraska in 1891. According to Nebraska's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 70.3% of th ...

in 1972. He was 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 ...

for Judge Donald Roe Ross 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 ...

for two years following law school and then entered private practice in Lexington,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. In 1984, he served as counsel for the State of

in the impeachment of the Nebraska Attorney General. Kopf died on January 17, 2025, at the age of 78.

Federal judicial service

Kopf served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska from 1987 to 1992. Kopf 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 7, 1992, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Warren Keith Urbom Warren Keith Urbom (December 17, 1925 – July 28, 2017) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Education and career Born in Atlanta, Nebraska, Urbom was a Technical Sergeant in the U ...

. 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 May 21, 1992, and received commission on May 26, 1992. He served as chief judge from 1999 to 2004. He assumed senior status on December 1, 2011.

Controversial opinions

Kopf received considerable press coverage for abortion-related decisions, particularly for his 474-page opinion striking down a ban on late-term abortions in '' Carhart, et al., v. Ashcroft''. His decision included the apology "I apologize for the length of this opinion. I am well aware that appellate judges have plenty to do and that long-winded opinions from district judges are seldom helpful.... Nonetheless, I pity the poor appellate judge who has to slog through this thing. I am truly sorry." In 2007 Kopf dismissed

without prejudice ''Prejudice'' is a legal term with different meanings, which depend on whether it is used in criminal, civil, or common law. In legal context, ''prejudice'' differs from the more common use of the word and so the term has specific technical mea ...

a case over the use of the words "

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

" and "

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

" in a rape trial in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Tory Bowen had filed a lawsuit against Judge Jeffre Cheuvront for violating her right to free speech in a rape trial; Kopf dismissed the suit because Bowen had not shown enough evidence to demonstrate her lawsuit was not frivolous. Cheuvront had barred the words "

" and "

" from the trial, but allowed words such as "

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

" and "intercourse" to be used instead.

Awards and honors

Kopf served as president and board chair of the historical society for the Eighth Circuit. He served as administrator of the Robert Van Pelt Inn of Court, a legal professional organization, until 2008; the organization gave Kopf its

Mentor Award the same year.

Personal blog

From 2013 to 2015, Kopf maintained a personal blog entitled ''Hercules and the Umpire: The Role of the Federal Trial Judge''. On August 8, 2013, Kopf published a blog, " Shon Hopwood and Kopf’s terrible sentencing instincts" relaying that he had given Hopwood a 12-year prison term for bank robbery, having then misjudged him as a "punk". Hopwood subsequently became a successful criminal attorney and a

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

professor. Kopf ended the blog after members of his courthouse staff indicated that it was an embarrassment to the court.

References

External links

* * Richard Kopf's Blog: {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopf, Richard G. 1946 births 2025 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush University of Nebraska at Kearney alumni University of Nebraska College of Law alumni United States magistrate judges Lawyers from Toledo, Ohio People from Lexington, Nebraska 21st-century American judges