Robert Lewis Hinkle (born November 7, 1951) is a
senior United States district judge of the
.
Biography
Born on November 7, 1951, in
Apalachicola,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Hinkle 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
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
in 1972 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
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1976. 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
Irving Goldberg
Irving Loeb Goldberg (June 29, 1906 – February 11, 1995) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Education and career
Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Goldberg received a Bachelor of Arts degr ...
,
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* M ...
from 1976 to 1977. From 1977 to 1978, he was in private practice in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, then practiced in
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
, Florida from 1978 to 1996. He became an adjunct professor of law at Florida State University in 1981.
Federal judicial service
Hinkle was nominated by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
on June 6, 1996, to a seat vacated by
William H. Stafford, Jr. of the
. 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 July 25, 1996, and received his commission on August 1, 1996. He served as chief judge from 2004 to 2009. 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 November 7, 2016.
Notable rulings
On August 21, 2014, Hinkle issued a ruling in ''
Brenner v. Scott'' that denied the state defendants'
motion to dismiss
In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. It is a request to the judge (or judges) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrativ ...
and granted the same-sex couple plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary
injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
. In ordering the injunction, Judge Hinkle found that Florida's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were federally unconstitutional.
Hinkle heard the case
''
Jones et al v. DeSantis'' which concerned a Florida law,
SB 7066, which “required
felons to pay legal fees as part of their sentences before
regaining the vote”.
On May 24, 2020, he ruled that the law
was “unconstitutional for those unable to pay, or
unable to find out how much they owe”.
Hinkle's decision was overturned and the requirement found constitutional by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In June 2021, Judge Hinkle preliminarily enjoined
Senate Bill 7072 which levies fines and imposes additional penalties against social media platforms that blocked or otherwise inhibited content from political candidates and media organizations.
References
Sources
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinkle, Robert
1951 births
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges
Florida State University alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Living people
People from Apalachicola, Florida
United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton