Kim Richard Gibson (born May 29, 1948) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Gibson received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1970, and 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 ...

, magna cum laude, from the Dickinson School of Law, (now known as Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson Law), in 1975. He was an editor of the '' Dickinson Law Review''. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in June 1970 and following completion of airborne and ranger training, he served as an armor officer until October 1975.

Early legal career

Gibson attended The JAG School at the University of Virginia and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps. He served as JAG officer until August 1978. Following his release from active duty he continued to serve in the United States Army Reserve and retired as a Colonel, JAG, USAR in 1996. In 1991, he and his JAG Detachment were activated during the first Gulf War. Gibson was in private practice as a sole practitioner in Somerset, Pennsylvania, from 1978 through 1997. During that time he served as a public defender, attorney for Children and Youth Services, solicitor for a school district and various municipalities and as solicitor for Somerset County.

State judicial career

He was elected to the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas in 1997. During his time on the common pleas bench, he was instrumental in establishing Victim Impact Panels and Juvenile Drug Court (only the second such court in Pennsylvania).

Federal judicial service

On April 28, 2003, Gibson was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by

D. Brooks Smith David Brookman Smith (born December 4, 1951), known professionally as D. Brooks Smith, is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was previously Chief Judge of both the United States C ...

. Gibson was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 23, 2003, and received his commission the following day. Gibson assumed senior status on June 3, 2016. In April 2017, Gibson was reversed by a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after he rejected the claims under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution made by the parents of a mentally ill prisoner who had committed suicide after being segregated into

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Kim Richard 1948 births Living people 21st-century American judges Dickinson School of Law alumni United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Public defenders United States Army officers United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush