Jimm Larry Hendren
Jimm Larry Hendren (born June 11, 1940 in Gravette, Arkansas) is the US District Judge. He is well known for ruling in favor of Billy Ray and Mary Nell Counts, a couple in Cedarville, Arkansas, in the 2003 lawsuit Counts et ux. v. Cedarville School Board. The court decided that the local school's rule requiring parents' written consent to read the Harry Potter books was unconstitutional.[1] The district court's opinion can be found here, and the decision was cited as precedent in subsequent censorship cases.[2]
Hendren graduated with an LL.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1965. Later that year Hendren would join the JAG Corps of the United States Navy, returning in 1968, for a year, to his private practice in Bentonville, Arkansas, which he would expand in later years. In 1970 Hendren became a United States Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander, a position he would hold until 1983. Meanwhile, in 1977, he became a probate judge (Chancellor) of Arkansas' Sixteenth Chancery District, before returning again to his private practice.[3]
He was nominated by George H. W. Bush as a District Court Judge for the Western District of Arkansas on November 5, 1991, to a new seat created by 104 Statute 5089. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 1992, and Hendren received the commission on March 18, 1992. He served as the chief judge from 1997 until he assumed senior status on December 31, 2012.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ "Judge Smites Harry Potter Restrictions in Arkansas". American Library Association. 2003-04-28. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
- ↑ "Fayetteville Rethinks Restricted Reads". American Library Association. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
- ↑ "Judges of the United States Courts". Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- ↑ "Judges of the United States Courts". Retrieved 2013-01-13.
External links
- Jimm Larry Hendren at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
Legal offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by new seat |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas 1992–2012 |
Succeeded by Timothy L. Brooks |