Joseph Robert Goodwin (born December 23, 1942) is 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 Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

Early life and education

Born in

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Ali ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, Goodwin received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

in 1965 and was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Adjutant General Corps during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, from 1965 to 1967. He received 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 West Virginia University College of Law in 1970.

Career

Goodwin was a city attorney for Ripley from 1971 to 1972, and was then a municipal judge for the city until 1973. He then entered private practice in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

, until 1995.

Federal judicial service

On February 28, 1995, Goodwin was nominated by President

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 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by the retirement of

Robert Jackson Staker Robert Jackson Staker (February 14, 1925 – November 30, 2008) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Education and career Staker was born in Kermit, West Virginia. ...

. Goodwin 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 8, 1995, and received his commission on May 10, 1995. He served as chief judge of the district from 2007 to 2012. In June 2017, Goodwin rejected prosecutors' proposed

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

because he found holding an open jury trial of an accused

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

dealer would be in the public interest. On October 12, 2022, he ruled the ban on guns without serial numbers to be unconstitutional.

Personal life

Goodwin's son,

Booth Goodwin Robert Booth Goodwin II (born 1971), known commonly as Booth Goodwin, is an American attorney with Goodwin & Goodwin LLP in Charleston, West Virginia. He served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2010 un ...

, was appointed in 2010 by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to serve as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the

Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

. His daughter-in-law,

Amy Shuler Goodwin Amy Shuler Goodwin (born March 9, 1971) is an American journalist and politician from the state of West Virginia. She is the first female mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, serving since January 2019. Early life and career Goodwin is a native o ...

, is the mayor of

and, prior to her election, served as a spokesperson for West Virginia governors Bob Wise and

Earl Ray Tomblin Earl Ray Tomblin (born March 15, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 35th governor of West Virginia from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the West Virginia Senate from 1980 to 2011 and as pres ...

. Goodwin's nephew is former

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

from West Virginia Carte Goodwin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Joseph Robert 1942 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Goodwin family Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Military personnel from West Virginia People from Ripley, West Virginia United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton West Virginia city attorneys West Virginia lawyers West Virginia University alumni West Virginia University College of Law alumni