William Duane Benton (born September 8, 1950), known professionally as Duane Benton, is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Education

Benton graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972, and received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Yale Law School in 1975, where he was Managing Editor of the

Yale Law Journal The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...

and graduated alongside Justice

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

. Benton also has a Master of Business Administration from Memphis State University and a Master of Laws from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

. Subsequently, Benton was selected as a Danforth Fellow at Harvard's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

, where he completed the Senior Executive's Program.

Career

Prior to joining the federal bench, Benton served on the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1991 to 2004, where he was Chief Justice from 1997 to 1999. Benton was director of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the administration of then-Governor John Ashcroft from 1989 to 1991, and served as an administrative aide to a United States Congressman

Wendell Bailey Robert Wendell Bailey (born July 30, 1940) is an American politician from Missouri. He graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in Business Administration and owned an automobile dealership in Willow Springs. After servi ...

from 1981 to 1982. From 1983 to 1989, Benton practiced law in Jefferson City, Missouri. Benton served as a captain in the U.S. Navy/ Naval Reserve from 1972 to 2002, and as judge advocate in the U.S. Navy from 1975 to 1979. Benton has taught at the University of Missouri School of Law, and at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

Federal judicial service

Benton was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on February 12, 2004, to a seat vacated by Theodore McMillian and confirmed just over four months later by the United States Senate by a voice vote on June 24, 2004. He received his commission on July 2, 2004. In 2018, Judge Benton found that Missouri's requirement of a state license to braid hair did not violate the Constitution.

Personal life

Benton currently resides in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Missouri, with his wife Sandra and has two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Duane 1950 births 21st-century American judges Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Missouri Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Living people Northwestern University alumni Politicians from Columbia, Missouri State cabinet secretaries of Missouri United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush University of Missouri faculty University of Virginia School of Law alumni Westminster College (Missouri) faculty Yale Law School alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri