Robert E. Cowen (born September 4, 1930) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States 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 * Ea ...

based in

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 ...

. He joined the court in 1987 after being nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. Cowen has served in the federal judiciary since 1978.

Early life and education

A native of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Cowen graduated from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

in 1952 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree. In 1958, Cowen graduated from

Rutgers School of Law–Newark Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. Cowen attended

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

before leaving to join the Army, where he earned the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, which he needed in order to pay for his education.

Legal career

Cowen began his legal career as 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 New Jersey Superior Court Judge Walter Conklin in the

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pra ...

from 1958 to 1959 before becoming a private practice attorney licensed in the State of New Jersey from 1959 to 1969. Cowen also served as an Assistant county prosecutor for the Essex County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office from 1969 to 1970 before joining the New Jersey Attorney General's Office as a Deputy state attorney general from 1970 to 1973 before becoming the Director of Ethics and Professional Services in the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for New Jersey from 1973 to 1978.

Federal judicial service

District court service

From 1978 to 1985, Cowen was a

United States Magistrate 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 New Jersey. Cowen was nominated by President

on October 7, 1985 to the

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333 which was approved by Congress. Cowen 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 November 1, 1985 on a Senate vote and received commission on November 4, 1985. Cowen left the District of New Jersey on November 16, 1987, due to his appointment to the

Third Circuit Court of Appeals 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 * East ...

Court of appeals service

Less than two years later, Cowen was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on August 7, 1987, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

James Hunter III James Hunter III (December 26, 1916 – February 10, 1989) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education and career Born in Westville, New Jersey, Hunter received a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

as Hunter assumed senior status. Cowen was confirmed by the Senate on November 6, 1987 on unanimous consent of the Senate and received commission on November 9, 1987. Cowen served 11 years before assuming

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 September 4, 1998. Cowen assumed inactive status on April 1, 2022. He resumed active status briefly in July 2022 for the purpose of resolving J. M. v. Summit City Board of Education.20-3391 https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203391p.pdf

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowen, Robert E. 1930 births 20th-century American judges Drake University alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey Living people Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States magistrate judges