Leonidas Ralph Mecham (April 23, 1928 – March 9, 2019) was the former Director of the

Administrative Office of the United States Courts The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) is the administrative agency of the United States federal court system, established in 1939. The central support entity for the federal judicial branch, the AO provides a wide range of le ...

, having served in that position from 1985 to 2006. He was appointed to the position by United States Chief Justice

Warren Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

in July 1985.

Biography

Ralph Mecham was born April 23, 1928, in

Murray, Utah Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Houston Murray, Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2020 census, M ...

. He obtained his B.S. degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

(1951); 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 ...

degree from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

(1963), and a master's degree (in public administration) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.Statement of Sen. Hatch, ''Retirement of Leonidas Ralph Mecham'', Cong. Record., May 19, 2006, p
S4794
/ref>Statement of Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Committee on the Judiciary Committee on the Judiciary may mean: * United States House Committee on the Judiciary * United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standi ...

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, March 15, 2006 His initial government position was as a legislative assistant and administrative assistant to U.S. Senator Wallace F. Bennett, eventually becoming the Senator's chief of staff. After that, he served as vice president of, and taught

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

at, the

. He returned to Washington, resuming government service as a special assistant to the

United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

. He was named head of the Administrative Office on July 15, 1985. Mecham was the longest-serving Director of the Administrative Office, retiring after more than 20 years in April 2006.Leonidas Ralph Mecham Papers (1949-2006)
University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections One of the principles that Mecham spearheaded during his lengthy tenure was court budget and management decentralization, permitting individual courts to set their own local policies and spending priorities within broad national guidelines. Mecham's official papers are now housed at the University of Utah

Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...

. He died March 9, 2019.

Personal life

Mecham was married (wife Barbara) and as of 2006 had 5 children and 14 grandchildren. He was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Controversies

In 2001, during his tenure as Director of the Administrative Office, the AO began monitoring the Internet communications of the judicial branch. Led by

Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

Judge

Alex Kozinski Alex Kozinski (; born July 23, 1950) is a Romanian-American jurist and lawyer who was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 2017. He was a prominent and influential judge, and many of his law clerks went on to ...

, the Federal Judges Association, which represents about 85% of U.S. federal judges, adopted a resolution opposing the monitoring. Mecham accused Kozinski of having a "great interest in keeping pornography available to judges," saying that Kozinski was "advocating his passionate views that judges are free, undetected, to download pornography and Napster music on government computers in federal court buildings on government time even though some of the downloading may constitute felonies." Seven years later, on November 24, 2008, Mecham filed a formal ethics complaint in the

Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * E ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

against then-

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

Kozinski and two other judges, for their acts disabling the monitor.''Another Shot Fired in Alex Kozinski Ethics Investigation''
Nathan Koppel, Wall Street News Law Blog, Nov. 28, 2008

References

External links

Leonidas Ralph Mecham Papers (1949-2006)
University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections
House. Res. 724
109th Cong., March 14, 2006, ''Honoring Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and Secretary of the Judicial Conference of the United States.''

''The Third Branch'' (newsletter of the U.S. Federal Courts), March 2006

''The Third Branch'' (newsletter of the U.S. Federal Courts), June 1995
Judicial Conference resolution honoring Mecham
March 14, 2006 *Kenneth A. Wittenberg & Jill Schneider

''

Oregon State Bar Bulletin The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

'', January 2002, includes a detailed discussion of the issue of the Administrative Office's Internet monitoring. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mecham, Leonidas Ralph 1928 births 2019 deaths Latter Day Saints from Utah American lawyers University of Utah alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni University of Utah faculty People from Murray, Utah