Myron Herbert Thompson (born January 7, 1947) is a Senior United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...

Education and career

Born in Tuskegee,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, Thompson received a

Bachelor of Arts 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

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1969 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 ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1972. He was an Assistant

Attorney General of Alabama The Attorney General of Alabama is an elected, constitutional officer of the State of Alabama. The office of the Attorney General is located at the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. Henry Hitchcock was elected Alabama's first attorney general ...

from 1972 to 1974, and then in private practice in

Dothan Dothan is a place-name from the Hebrew Bible, identified with Tel Dothan. It may refer to: * Dothan, Alabama, a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties in the U.S. state of Alabama * Dani Dothan, lyricist and vocalist for the Israeli rock and ne ...

, Alabama until 1980.

Federal judicial service

On September 17, 1980, Thompson was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Frank Minis Johnson Frank Minis Johnson Jr. (October 30, 1918 – July 23, 1999) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge and United States Circuit Judge serving 1955 to 1999 on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alaba ...

. Thompson 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 September 26, 1980, and received his commission on September 29, 1980. He served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1998. He took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on August 22, 2013. As of 2020, he is the last Democratic appointee to serve on the District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, and also the last judge appointed by a Democratic president to that court.

Notable cases

In 2013, in a redistricting case heard by a three-judge panel, Thompson disagreed with its decision contending it was an illegal use of racial quotas. He wrote that Alabama's use of the

Voting Rights Act The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

was a "cruel irony," that as the state was simultaneously arguing before the Supreme Court in '' Shelby County v. Holder'', that Section 5 should be found unconstitutional, it was "relying on racial quotas…and seeking to justify those quotas with the very provision it was helping to render inert." On October 29, 2019, Judge Thompson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Human Life Protection Act from taking effect in Alabama as prescribed on November 15, 2019. The Alabama law "imposes criminal liability on abortion providers for nearly all abortions, completed or attempted, regardless of fetal viability." In essence," the Court said, "the Act imposes a near-total ban on abortion." Judge Thompson concluded, "The court is persuaded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the Act violates an individual’s constitutional right to obtain a pre-viability abortion, and thus that it violates her constitutional rights." In 2014, in ''

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

Southeast, Inc., v.

Strange Strange may refer to: Fiction * Strange (comic book), a comic book limited series by Marvel Comics * Strange (Marvel Comics), one of a pair of Marvel Comics characters known as The Strangers * Adam Strange, a DC Comics superhero * The title char ...

,'' (also known as ''Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc., v.

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

''), Thompson ruled an Alabama law regulating abortion unconstitutional, citing the

undue burden standard The undue burden standard is a constitutional test fashioned by the Supreme Court of the United States. The test, first developed in the late 20th century, is widely used in American constitutional law. In short, the undue burden standard states ...

.Opinion, from U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
/ref>

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Myron H. 1947 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges African-American judges Yale Law School alumni People from Tuskegee, Alabama Yale College alumni 21st-century American judges

Education and career

Federal judicial service

Notable cases

See also

References

Sources