Richard William Riggs (November 21, 1938 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 94th justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest State court (United States), state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.

from 1998 to 2006.

Early life and education

He was born on November 21, 1938, in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of 17,395 ...

, where he lived until 1950 when his family moved to

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County, Oregon, Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many High tech, high-te ...

. In Oregon he graduated from Hillsboro High School. Riggs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

in 1961.Appellate Courts Supreme Court Rives Kistler Age: 54. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', April 28, 2004. He then served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

from 1961 to 1992. Riggs retired from the Navy with the rank of captain and earned 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 the

University of Oregon School of Law The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus i ...

in 1968.

Career

Riggs served as president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association from 1973 to 1974, and has been on the board of governors for the Western Trial Lawyers Association. He was a member of both

Phi Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International ( or P.A.D.) is a North American professional fraternity composed of pre-law and law students, legal educators, attorneys, judges, and government officials. It is one of the largest professional law ...

and

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

. In 1993, he helped to found the Oregon Academy of Family Law Practitioners and has worked with the organization since its inception.

Judicial service

William Riggs became a circuit court

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

for

Multnomah County, Oregon Multnomah County is one of the Oregon counties, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The stat ...

in 1978, serving until 1988. From 1988 to 1998 he was a judge for the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals on October 24 of 1988 to replace

George Van Hoomissen George Albert Van Hoomissen (born March 7, 1930) is an American attorney in the state of Oregon. He previously served as the 87th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and previously served as a judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Portland, ...

who had been elected to the

.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Appeals Court Judges of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved January 13, 2008. Riggs was then elected to the court later in 1988 to fill a position vacated by John C. Warden and then re-elected in 1994. He resigned from the appeals court in September 1998. On September 8, 1998, Oregon Governor

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 35th and 37th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. In February 2015, shortly after beginning his fourth term, ...

appointed Riggs as the ninety-fourth justice to the state supreme court. He replaced

Susan P. Graber Susan Pia Graber (born July 5, 1949) is an American attorney and jurist. She is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A native of Oklahoma, she ...

who had resigned in April. That fall Riggs won election to a full six-year term, and then re-election in 2004. While on the court he authored the majority opinion in '' State v. Guzek'', regarding the penalty phase of

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

trials that was then heard before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. He resigned from the court in September 2006 and Oregon Governor

Ted Kulongoski Theodore Ralph Kulongoski ( ; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the List of Governors of Oregon, 36th governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrati ...

appointed

Martha Lee Walters Martha Lee Walters (born October 23, 1950) is an American labor attorney and who served as the 43rd Supreme Court of Oregon, chief justice of Oregon from 2018 to 2022; she was a member of the court from 2006 to 2022. She became the first female ju ...

to fill the position.Capitol Insider.
Oregon Bar Association. Retrieved January 13, 2008.

Personal life

He lived in

Wilsonville, Oregon Wilsonville is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded with the name Boones Landing for the Boones Ferry that crossed the Willamette River, the communit ...

, and had two children by his first marriage, Jeff and Laura. He was married three times. Riggs died on April 23, 2022, from a heart attack.

References

External links

Supreme Court Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggs, R. William 1938 births 2022 deaths Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Oregon state court judges Portland State University alumni University of Oregon School of Law alumni Oregon Court of Appeals judges People from Wilsonville, Oregon People from Hinsdale, Illinois Hillsboro High School (Oregon) alumni United States Navy captains United States Navy reservists Lawyers from Hillsboro, Oregon