Kenneth Ryskamp
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Kenneth Lee Ryskamp (August 10, 1932 – November 16, 2017) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.


Education and career

Born in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, Michigan, Ryskamp received an
Artium Baccalaureus 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 from
Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed (Calvinist) ...
in 1955. 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 University of Miami School of Law in 1956. He was a
law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for Judge Mallory H. Horton of the
Florida Third District Court of Appeal The Florida Third District Court of Appeal is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Its ten judges have jurisdiction over cases arising from Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. History The Third District Court of Appeal (DCA) was one of the first three DC ...
from 1957 to 1959. He was in private practice of law in Miami, Florida from 1959 to 1986.


Federal judicial service

Ryskamp was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
on March 12, 1986, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida vacated by Judge
Joe Oscar Eaton Joseph Oscar Eaton (April 2, 1920 – September 28, 2008) was an American politician and jurist. He was a member of the Florida Senate from 1956 to 1959 and a district judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Flo ...
. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 23, 1986, and received commission on April 24, 1986. He took the judicial oath and commenced service on May 2, 1986. He assumed senior status on January 1, 2000. As of January 2017, Ryskamp took inactive senior status, meaning that while he remained a federal judge, he no longer heard cases or participated in the business of the court. Ryskamp died on November 16, 2017.


Failed nomination to the Eleventh Circuit

On April 26, 1990, Ryskamp was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
to replace Judge Paul Hitch Roney, who had taken senior status. The Democratic-controlled
United States Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
chose not to proceed with Ryskamp's nomination, in part because of his membership in a private country club, the Riviera Country Club in
Coral Gables Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the U ...
, Florida, that was said to be discriminatory. Some senators also objected to comments by Ryskamp during a 1987 case that they considered to be insensitive. After the November 1990 elections, Bush renominated Ryskamp to the seat on January 8, 1991, but Ryskamp's nomination continued to be held up in committee by Senate Democrats, and it eventually was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 8–6, party-line vote on April 12, 1991. As a result, his nomination never made it to the Senate floor for a full Senate vote.


See also

*
George H. W. Bush judicial appointment controversies During George H. W. Bush's term in office as the president of the United States of America, he nominated 11 individuals for 10 different federal appellate judgeships who were not processed by the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. ...


References


Sources

* 1932 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges American Presbyterians Calvin University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Lawyers from Grand Rapids, Michigan Lawyers from Miami United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Miami School of Law alumni {{US-federal-judge-stub