Jesse Ernest Eschbach (October 26, 1920 – October 25, 2005) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (in case citations, N.D. Ind.) was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern and southern. As part of the act, the Northern Dist ...

and a United States Circuit Judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of ...

Education and career

Born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, Eschbach 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 o ...

degree from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest ca ...

in 1943. He received a Juris Doctor from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 1949. He was a

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 ...

Lieutenant from 1943 to 1946. He was in private practice of law in Warsaw from 1949 to 1962. He served in the

Economic Stabilization Agency The Economic Stabilization Agency (ESA) was an agency of the United States Government that existed from 1950 to 1953. The creation of the ESA was authorized by the Defense Production Act (, 64 Stat. 798), which was signed into law by President ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1951. He was a city attorney of Warsaw from 1952 to 1953. He was a deputy prosecuting attorney of 54th Judicial Circuit, Indiana from 1953 to 1954. He was President, secretary and general counsel for Dalton Foundries, Inc. from 1959 to 1962. He was President of Endicott Church Furniture, Inc. from 1960 to 1962.

Federal judicial service

Eschbach 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 March 12, 1962, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Luther Merritt Swygert Luther Merritt Swygert (February 5, 1905 – March 16, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...

. 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 April 2, 1962, and received commission on April 13, 1962. He served as Chief Judge from 1974 to 1981. His service was terminated on December 11, 1981, due to elevation to the Seventh Circuit. Eschbach was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on October 20, 1981, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 24, 1981, and received commission on December 1, 1981. 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 4, 1985. He took inactive senior status on October 1, 2000. His service was terminated on October 25, 2005, due to death.

Notable cases

One of Eschbach's most controversial decisions as a district judge was in the case of ''Sparkman v. McFarlin'', Civ. No. F 75-129 (ND Ind., May 13, 1976), in which he held that a

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missour ...

judge who ordered the sterilization of a young woman without appointing a

guardian ad litem A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...

to protect her interests or holding a hearing to take evidence in her case could not be sued for damages. Eschbach's decision was upheld by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in ''

Stump v. Sparkman ''Stump v. Sparkman'', 435 U.S. 349 (1978), is the leading United States Supreme Court decision on judicial immunity. It involved an Indiana judge who was sued by a young woman who had been sterilized without her knowledge as a minor in accorda ...

'', 435 U.S. 349 (1978), now the leading American decision on

judicial immunity Judicial immunity is a form of sovereign immunity, which protects judges and others employed by the judiciary from liability resulting from their judicial actions. Though judges have immunity from lawsuit, in constitutional democracies judicial m ...

. Eschbach received national attention in 1981 when he sentenced former Secretary of Agriculture

Earl Butz Earl Lauer "Rusty" Butz (July 3, 1909 – February 2, 2008) was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. His policies favored large-scale corporate farming ...

to 30 days in federal prison for tax fraud. During the air traffic controllers' strike the same year, he ordered controllers in Fort Wayne to continue working.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eschbach, Jesse Ernest 1920 births 2005 deaths People from Warsaw, Indiana Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges United States Navy personnel of World War II

Education and career

Federal judicial service

Notable cases

See also

References

Sources