Richard Mark Gergel (born August 14, 1954) is a
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
lawyer and
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
of the
.
Early life and education
Born in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
, Gergel earned 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
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 1975 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
Duke University School of Law in 1979.
[President Obama Nominates Judge J. Michelle Childs, Richard Mark Gergel to District Court Bench for the District of South Carolina]
, ''whitehouse.gov
whitehouse.gov (also simply known as wh.gov) is the official website of the White House and is managed by the Office of Digital Strategy. It was launched on July 29, 1994 by the Clinton administration.
The content of the website is in the ...
'' (December 22, 2009). Gergel's cousin was well-known industrial chemist
Max Gergel, President/CEO of the Columbia Organic Chemical Company, or COCC.
Professional career
From 1979 until 1980, Gergel served as a law clerk for a law firm in Columbia, South Carolina, and he was a partner with the firm from 1981 until 1982. Beginning in 1983 and continuing until his nomination to the district court, he was the president and partner with his own law firm (most recently known as Gergel, Nickles and Solomon) in Columbia. He has specialized in personal injury law.
Notable case
Gergel was the attorney representing the South Carolina Education Association and public school teacher Maggi Smith Hall. The case went to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Richmond, VA, and was considered one of the most important First Amendment cases to come down from the 4th Circuit in over a decade. At the time the 4th Circuit was also considered to be the most conservative court in the nation. (Laura Sullivan, ''
Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', November 18, 2003)
The case ''Hall v. Marion School District 2,'' 31 F.3d 183 (4th Cir. 1994), upheld the lower court's decision that Mullins District 2 acted illegally in firing Hall for exercising free speech in criticizing her superintendent and school board for reckless spending.
Federal judicial service
On December 22, 2009, President Obama nominated Gergel to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina to fill the seat vacated by Judge
Henry Michael Herlong, Jr.
Henry Michael Herlong Jr. (born June 1, 1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Education and career
Born in Washington, D.C., Herlong received a Bachelor of Arts d ...
, who 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 June 1, 2009.
In his questionnaire to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
, Gergel wrote that South Carolina Democratic Congressmen John M. Spratt, Jr. and Jim Clyburn both previously had recommended Gergel to Obama as a district court nominee, and that South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also supported the nomination. Gergel had a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
on April 16, 2010. 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 August 5, 2010, and received commission on August 9, 2010.
Trial of Dylann Roof
Richard Gergel was the presiding judge on the trial of Dylann Roof
Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and mass murderer convicted of perpetrating the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. During a Bible study at Emanue ...
, who was convicted of 33 federal charges relating to the 2015 Charleston church shooting
On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...
. Roof was convicted on all charges and controversially represented himself during the sentencing phase despite Gergel warning Roof it was not in his best interests to do so. On January 11, 2017, Gergel sentenced Dylann Roof to death after the jury recommended the death penalty the previous day.
Author
Gergel is the author of ''Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019) and, with Belinda Gergel, of ''In Pursuit of the Tree of Life: A History of the Early Jews of Columbia, South Carolina'' (1996).
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gergel, Richard
1954 births
Living people
Duke University School of Law alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
Lawyers from Columbia, South Carolina
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
21st-century American judges
Jewish American attorneys