John Decker Butzner Jr. (October 2, 1917 – January 20, 2006) 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. Cou ...

of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roa ...

Education and career

Born on October 2, 1917, in Scranton,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Butzner began to become interested in the law when, as a child, he visited his uncle Billy Butzner, an attorney. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree, magna cum laude, in 1938 from the University of Scranton 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 Chi ...

in 1941 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 ...

, where he served on the board of editors of the ''Virginia Law Review''. He entered private practice in Fredericksburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

from 1941 to 1942, with his uncle's firm of Butzner & Hicks. He was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

staff sergeant in the Weather Service from 1942 to 1945, serving in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, returning to private practice in Fredericksburg from 1946 to 1958. He served as an Associate Judge of the

Virginia Circuit Court The Virginia Circuit Courts are the state trial courts of general jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Circuit Courts have jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases. For civil cases, the courts have authority to try cases with an a ...

for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit from 1958 to 1960. He served as a Judge of the Virginia Circuit Court for the Thirty-Ninth Judicial Circuit from 1960 to 1962.

Personal

Butzner's sister,

Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...

, was a leading twentieth century urbanist and reformer. Butzner married Viola Peterson within two years of the end of his military service.

Federal judicial service

Butzner was nominated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

on May 15, 1962, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Albert Vickers Bryan Albert Vickers Bryan (July 23, 1899 – March 13, 1984) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the E ...

. 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 June 15, 1962, and received his commission on June 20, 1962. His service terminated on August 1, 1967, due to elevation to the Fourth Circuit. Butzner was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 27, 1967, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by Judge

J. Spencer Bell Jesse Spencer Bell (April 1, 1906 – March 19, 1967) was a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Education and career Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, ...

. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 31, 1967, and received his commission on July 31, 1967. 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 November 1, 1982. He took inactive senior status in 2000. His service terminated on January 20, 2006, due to his death in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, after a lengthy illness.

Kenneth Starr

Butzner served on the three-judge panel that appointed

Kenneth W. Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, known ...

as independent counsel investigating

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He was interviewed by Ken Gormley for his 2010 book on the Clinton scandals.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', in her review of the book, says "Breathing with the help of an oxygen tube and with his speech severely impaired, Judge Butzner is able to utter only one complete sentence: 'I was against Starr, from start to finish.'"

Honor

In 1976, Butzner received the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butzner, John Decker Jr. 1917 births 2006 deaths Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia University of Scranton alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II Virginia circuit court judges