James Kenneth Logan (August 21, 1929 – September 8, 2018) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distr ...

Education and career

Born in Quenemo,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, Logan was a Corporal in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, from 1947 to 1948. He received an Artium Baccalaureus from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1952 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from Harvard Law School in 1955. Upon graduation from Kansas, Logan was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1952. He was a law clerk for Judge Walter A. Huxman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 1955 to 1956. He was in private practice in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 1956 to 1957. He was an assistant professor at the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had e ...

from 1957 to 1961. He was a dean and professor of law at the University of Kansas School of Law from 1961 to 1968. He was a United States Commissioner of the

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

from 1964 to 1967. He was an Ezra Ripley Thayer teaching fellow at Harvard Law School from 1961 to 1962. He was a visiting professor of law at the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

in 1964. He was in private practice in Olathe, Kansas from 1968 to 1977. He was a visiting professor of law at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

in 1969. He was a visiting professor of law at the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

in 1976. He was a lecturer in law at the University of Kansas School of Law in 1982, and a lecturer in law at

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit t ...

in 1987 and from 1991 to 1993.

Federal judicial service

Logan was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

on November 4, 1977, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Delmas Carl Hill. 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 December 15, 1977, and received his commission on December 16, 1977. He assumed

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

on August 31, 1994. Logan served in that capacity until July 15, 1998, due to retirement.

Notable case

In 1984, Logan wrote the majority opinion in a ruling that struck down a law that permitted schools to fire teachers for homosexual conduct. The ruling, which can be seen as a precursor to '' Bostock v. Clayton County'', was affirmed by an equally divided Supreme Court. "Board of Ed. of Oklahoma City v. National Gay Task Force." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1984/83-2030. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Logan, James Kenneth 1929 births 2018 deaths Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges United States Army soldiers Harvard Law School alumni University of Michigan faculty University of Kansas alumni University of Kansas faculty