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Roger Owen DeBruler (August 5, 1934 – February 13, 2017) was an American
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
,
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, and
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 ...
who served as a justice of the
Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...
from September 30, 1968 to August 8, 1996.Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt,
Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices
, ''
Indiana Law Review Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (IU McKinney) is the law school of Indiana University Indianapolis, a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. The school has been based in Lawrence W. Inlow Hall in Indianapolis ...
'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced i
Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page


Biography

DeBruler was born in
Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...
,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
. DeBruler attended public school in Evansville. He then attended
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
, majoring in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and receiving his A.B. in 1958. He then joined the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
before returning to Bloomington and attending the
Indiana University Maurer School of Law The Indiana University Maurer School of Law is the law school of Indiana University Bloomington, a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. Established in 1842, the school is named after alumnus Michael S. "Mickey" Maurer, an Indianapo ...
, graduating in 1960 with his LL.B. and being admitted to the bar. After graduating, DeBruler moved to
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
and began practicing law. DeBruler served as Deputy City
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 ...
of Indianapolis from 1960 to 1963. DeBruler, a Democrat, was appointed by
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Matthew E. Welsh Matthew Empson Welsh (September 15, 1912 – May 28, 1995) was an American politician who was the Governor of Indiana, 41st governor of Indiana and a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, serving from 1961 to 1965. Hi ...
as judge of the Steuben County
Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...
in 1963 and was re-elected to the same position in 1964. DeBruler was appointed to the
Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...
in 1958 by Governor Roger D. Branigin following the death of Justice Donald Mote. There was some controversy over whether DeBruler should stand for re-election to his position on the bench in 1968 or 1970 due to conflicting understandings of the provisions of the state constitution on the matter. In the end, he ended up standing for re-election in 1970 and won. He and Dixon Prentice were the last two Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court to be directly elected to the court—amendments to the state constitution made it so future justices would be appointed by the governor from a short list provided by the non-partisan Judicial Nominating Commission. During his long career on the court, he authored 886 majority
opinions An opinion is a judgement, Point of view (philosophy), viewpoint, or Proposition, statement that is not conclusive, as opposed to facts, which are truth, true statements. Definition A given opinion may deal with subjectivity, subjective matters ...
, 590 dissenting opinions, and about 270 concurring opinions. A notable dissent came from DeBruler in the case of whether a man who quit his jobs for religious reasons was entitled to unemployment benefits. DeBruler's dissent was granted ''
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...
'' and adopted by the
United States Supreme Court 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 U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
. The principles of DeBruler's dissent were later enshrined by the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
into the 1993
Religious Freedom Restoration Act The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at through (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religio ...
. DeBruler also opposed the
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 ...
, believing it to be in violation of the state constitution's Bill of Rights. Other important opinions by DeBruler led to greater protection from searches and seizures by the state government (specifically protection of government searches of automobiles) and greater protection for Hoosier juveniles from
interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...
by the state government. DeBruler increasingly sided with the Republican Justices of the court following the appointment of Justices Randall Shepard and Brent Dickson in the mid-1980s. DeBruler's opinions had a large influence on Indiana
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
. DeBruler retired from the court in 1996, succeeded by Justice Theodore R. Boehm. DeBruler was the longest serving Justice of the court in the 20th Century and the third longest serving overall. After leaving the court, DeBruler spent a year in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and took classes at a local university while abroad. DeBruler married Karen Steenerson of Steuben County. DeBruler once went on a trip to the
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
with his sons, Roger Jr. and Joseph. DeBruler lived in Lockerbie Square, the oldest intact residential neighborhood in Indianapolis. He was also a patron of the
Indianapolis Public Library The Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL), formerly known as the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library, is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis, Indiana, ...
and was a fan of the work of
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
and
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
. DeBruler died in 2017.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBruler, Roger O. 1934 births 2017 deaths People from Evansville, Indiana Indiana University Bloomington alumni Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court American judges Indiana Democrats