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. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

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 ...

Education and career

Born on October 2, 1917, in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

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 year ...

degree, magna cum laude, in 1938 from the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

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 ...

in 1941 from the University of Virginia School of Law, 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 Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...

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 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 ...

on May 15, 1962, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Albert Vickers Bryan. 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 Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

on June 27, 1967, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge J. Spencer Bell. 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 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 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 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 ...

'', 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