Nathan Stewart Heffernan (August 6, 1920 – April 13, 2007) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lawyer and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. He was the 23rd Chief Justice of the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

from 1983 to 1995. Earlier in his career he served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the during the presidency of

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 i ...

Biography

Early life and education

Heffernan was born in

Frederic, Wisconsin Frederic is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,137 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Geography Frederic is located at (45.658797, -92.466921). According to the United St ...

. He attended school in Sheboygan, and in 1942 he graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Heffernan served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and attended the

Harvard Graduate School of Business Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

. He then graduated

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 1948. Heffernan and his wife, Dorothy Hillemann, had three children.

Career

Heffernan worked in a private law practice in Sheboygan at the firm of Buchen & Heffernan from 1948 to 1959. During this time he served as the Assistant District Attorney for

Sheboygan County Sheboygan County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after the Sheboygan River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 118,034. Its county seat is Sheboygan. The county was created in 1836 and organized in 1846. At th ...

from 1951 to 1953, and as the City Attorney of Sheboygan from 1953 to 1959. At that time, Heffernan resigned his duties from his law firm and became Deputy Attorney General of Wisconsin, and remained in that position until 1962 when he was appointed as a

for the

Western District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (in case citations, W.D. Wis.) is a federal court in the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

by President

. In 1964, Wisconsin Governor John W. Reynolds appointed Heffernan to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He became Chief Justice of that court in 1983, and retired in 1995. The 31 years that Heffernan spent on the Supreme Court make him the third longest-serving judge in Wisconsin history. During his time on the Supreme Court Heffernan was well known for his commitment to civil liberties and women's rights and was recognized for his involvement in the court reorganization of 1978, which created a

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

. Heffernan taught summer courses on appellate administration and opinion writing at

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

and was an adjunct professor of appellate practice and procedure at the University of Wisconsin Law School for fifteen years.Portraits of Justice: The Wisconsin Supreme Court's First 150 Years
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Nathan 1920 births 2007 deaths People from Frederic, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Harvard Business School alumni Chief Justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court 20th-century American judges United States Navy personnel of World War II