Richard George Kopf (born 1946) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Education and early career

Kopf received his

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 Kearney State College (now the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska Stat ...

) in 1969, where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

fraternity. He received his

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 the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Nebraska system. It was founded in 1888 and became part of University of Nebraska in 1891. According to Nebraska's official 2017 ABA-required di ...

in 1972. 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

Donald Roe Ross Donald Roe Ross (June 8, 1922 – December 18, 2013) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Education and career Born in Orleans, Nebraska, Ross was in the United States Army as an Air C ...

of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for two years following law school and then entered private practice in Lexington,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. In 1984, he served as counsel for the State of

in the impeachment of the Nebraska Attorney General.

Federal judicial service

Kopf served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska from 1987 to 1992. Kopf was nominated 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 ...

on April 7, 1992, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Judge Warren Keith Urbom. He 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 May 21, 1992, and received commission on May 26, 1992. He served as Chief Judge from 1999 to 2004. He assumed

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 December 1, 2011.

Controversial opinions

Kopf has received considerable press coverage for abortion-related decisions, particularly for his 474-page opinion striking down a ban on late-term abortions in '' Carhart, et al., v. Ashcroft''. His decision included the apology "I apologize for the length of this opinion. I am well aware that appellate judges have plenty to do and that long-winded opinions from district judges are seldom helpful.... Nonetheless, I pity the poor appellate judge who has to slog through this thing. I am truly sorry." In 2007 Kopf dismissed without prejudice a case over the use of the words "

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

" and "

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

" in a rape trial in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Tory Bowen had filed a lawsuit against Judge Jeffre Cheuvront for violating her right to free speech in a rape trial; Kopf dismissed the suit because Bowen had not shown enough evidence to demonstrate her lawsuit was not frivolous. Cheuvront had barred the words "

" and "

" from the trial, but allowed words such as "

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetrat ...

" and "intercourse" to be used instead.

Awards and honors

Kopf has served as president and board chair of the historical society for the Eighth Circuit. He served as administrator of the Robert Van Pelt

Inn of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They ha ...

, a legal professional organization, until 2008; the organization gave Kopf its Warren Keith Urbom Mentor Award the same year.

Personal blog

From 2013 to 2015, Kopf maintained a personal blog entitled ''Hercules and the Umpire: The Role of the Federal Trial Judge''. On August 8, 2013, Kopf published a blog, " Shon Hopwood and Kopf’s terrible sentencing instincts" relaying that he had given Hopwood a 12-year prison term for bank robbery, having then misjudged him as a "punk". Hopwood subsequently became a successful criminal attorney and a Georgetown University Law Center professor. Kopf ended the blog after members of his courthouse staff indicated that it was an embarrassment to the court.

References

External links

* * Richard Kopf's Blog: {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopf, Richard George 1946 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges University of Nebraska at Kearney alumni University of Nebraska College of Law alumni United States magistrate judges Lawyers from Toledo, Ohio People from Lexington, Nebraska 21st-century American judges