Fred Cowan is a

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

politician. He currently serves as a Kentucky Circuit Judge of the 30th judicial district in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He is a former

Kentucky Attorney General The Attorney General of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), the state's chief law enforcement officer (K ...

(1988–1992) and former member of the

Kentucky State House of Representatives The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

for the 32nd district (1982–1987). Cowan is one of the few Kentuckians who has been elected to all three branches of Kentuckian State Government. Cowan was born on October 11, 1945, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Mary Virginia Wesley of

Union County, Kentucky Union County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 13,668. Its county seat is Morganfield. The county was created effective January 15, 1811. The county is located on the left (east ...

, and Frederic Sr., also of New York City. At age 8 he moved to

Sturgis, Kentucky Sturgis is a home rule-class city in Union County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,898 at the 2010 census. Located in northwest Kentucky, the city was founded in 1890 and named for Samuel Sturgis, who owned the land now occupied by ...

and a year later moved to Louisville where he attended Bloom Elementary, Highland Middle, and Atherton High School. In 1967 Cowan graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

and served in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

in Dessie, Ethiopia (1967–1969). While in Ethiopia, he taught English at Woizero Siheen High School and became fluent in Amharic. Once he returned to the US, he taught 5th grade in North Carolina before moving to Little Rock, Arkansas where he was a copy editor at the Arkansas Democrat and then started a grassroots consumer organization. In Little Rock, he met and married Linda Marshall Scholle, granddaughter of

Lenore Marshall Lenore Guinzberg Marshall (September 7, 1899, New York City – September 23, 1971, Doylestown, Pennsylvania) was an American poet, novelist, and activist. Life She was the daughter of Harry and Leonie (Kleinert) Guinzburg. She graduated from Bar ...

and great-granddaughter of

Louis Marshall Louis Marshall (December 14, 1856 – September 11, 1929) was an American corporate, constitutional and civil rights lawyer as well as a mediator and Jewish community leader who worked to secure religious, political, and cultural freedom for a ...

. Fred and Linda moved to Massachusetts for Fred to attend Harvard Law School where he graduated in 1978. Cowan moved to Louisville and worked for the campaign of Harvey Sloane for Governor of Kentucky in 1978–1979. After the unsuccessful campaign, Cowan practiced law with former Brown, Todd and Heyburn (

Frost Brown Todd Frost Brown Todd LLP is a law firm based in the Southern and Midwestern United States. It resulted from the 2000 merger of Frost & Jacobs LLP, a Cincinnati-based firm, with Brown Todd & Heyburn PLLC, a Louisville-based firm. It has over 575 attor ...

) and ran for State Representative, defeating a ten-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent. In 1987 he ran for

Attorney General of Kentucky The Attorney General of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), the state's chief law enforcement officer (K ...

and defeated Todd Hollenbach in the Democratic primary. As Attorney General he successfully argued Stanford v. Kentucky before the United States Supreme Court in 1989. In 2005, the case was reversed by Roper v. Simmons. Before being elected Judge in 2006, he practiced law from 1992 to 2006 with Lynch, Cox, Gillman and Mayhan (now Lynch, Cox, Gillman and Goodman). Cowan is the younger brother of author Roberta Bondi, older brother of History Detective and Antiques Roadshow appraiser

Wes Cowan C. Wesley Cowan (born September 4, 1951 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American anthropologist, auctioneer, and appraiser of antiques. He is an owner of Cowan's Auctions, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. Education and career Cowan is a licensed auct ...

and first cousin of actress and singer Kassie Wesley DePaiva. He and Linda have three daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Fred Living people Kentucky state court judges 1945 births Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky Atherton High School alumni Dartmouth College alumni Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky Attorneys General Harvard Law School alumni