George F. Gunn Jr. (October 29, 1927 – May 20, 1998) was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

, and later a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (in case citations, E.D. Mo.) is a trial level federal district court based in St. Louis, Missouri, with jurisdiction over fifty counties in the eastern half of Missouri. Th ...

Education and career

Born in Fort Smith,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, Gunn was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1945 to 1946. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Westminster College in 1950 and 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

Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is ...

in 1955. After leaving the navy, he worked in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri from 1955 to 1971. At the same time, he was an assistant general attorney of the Wabash Railroad in St. Louis from 1956 to 1958, a city attorney of Brentwood, Missouri from 1963 to 1971, and an attorney for the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis from 1968 to 1971.

State judicial service

Prior to his appointment to the

, he was a municipal judge for Rock Hill, Missouri, from 1970 to 1971, the St. Louis County Counselor, from 1971 to 1973, and a Judge of the

Missouri Court of Appeals The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (based in St. ...

from 1973 to 1982. In 1982, then-Governor

Kit Bond Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (born March 6, 1939) is an American attorney, politician and former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett W ...

appointed Gunn to the Missouri Supreme Court, where he sat until 1985.

Federal judicial service

Gunn was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

on April 17, 1985, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on May 3, 1985, and received commission on May 10, 1985. Among the cases over which Gunn presided was a lawsuit against Dillard's Department Stores alleging religious bias, and resulting in a settlement approved by Gunn that prohibited Dillards from requiring employees to work the sabbath."Religious Bias Settlement First For Applicants", ''Tyler Morning Telegraph'' (April 1, 1995), sec. 4, p. 6. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on December 1, 1996. His service terminated on May 20, 1998, due to his death in St. Louis of complications of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, George F. Jr. 1927 births 1998 deaths Westminster College (Missouri) alumni Washington University School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges Missouri state court judges Missouri Court of Appeals judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri United States Navy sailors 20th-century American lawyers