Terence Curtis Kern (born September 25, 1944) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 Northern District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (in case citations, N.D. Okla.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

Education and career

Kern was born in

Clinton, Oklahoma Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 8,521 at the time of the 2020 census. History The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E. Blake, decided to locate a town i ...

. He received a

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 from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in 1966, 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 Oklahoma College of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law is the law school of the University of Oklahoma. It is located on the University's campus in Norman, Oklahoma. The College of Law was founded in 1909 by a resolution of the OU Board of Regents. Accordi ...

in 1969, and a

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 Judicial Process from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

in 2004. While at Oklahoma State University, he was in the

Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based officer tr ...

from 1962 to 1964. He was in the

Oklahoma Army National Guard The Oklahoma Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Oklahoma National Guard. The Commander-in-Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard is the Governor of Oklahoma. He appoints the State Adjutant General (TAG) who is a Major G ...

from September 1969 to April 1970 and the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

from March 1970 to August 1975, achieving the rank of specialist 4. He was a general attorney of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

, Division of Compliance, Bureau of Deceptive Practices from 1969 to 1970. He was in private practice in

Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 24,725 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 1.8% increase over the 2010 census figure of 24,283. The Ardmo ...

from 1970 to 1994.

Federal judicial service

On March 9, 1994, Kern was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to a new seat on the

created by 104 Stat. 5089. 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 June 8, 1994, and received his commission on June 9, 1994. He served as chief judge from 1996 to 2003. He assumed senior status on January 4, 2010.

Notable case

On January 14, 2014, Kern held that the Oklahoma Constitution's definition of marriage as limited to "the union of one man and one woman" violates the

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pr ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment. The suit, '' Bishop v. Oklahoma'', had been filed by two lesbian couples against the Tulsa County Clerk and others. The ruling has been stayed pending appeal. The

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

banning same-sex marriage was passed by the voters in 2004, and its legislative history was cited in the ruling.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Terence C. 1944 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma Oklahoma National Guard personnel Oklahoma State University alumni People from Clinton, Oklahoma United States Army reservists United States Army soldiers United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni