Robert Morton Duncan (August 24, 1927 – November 2, 2012) was a

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 United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Education and career

Born on August 24, 1927, in

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Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, Duncan received a

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degree from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1948. He received 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 the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1952. Duncan served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

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1952 to 1956. He was an attorney examiner for the Ohio Bureau of Workmen's Compensation from 1959 to 1960. He was city prosecutor for

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, Ohio from 1960 to 1963. He was chief counsel to the state attorney general of Ohio from 1963 to 1966. He was a judge of the Franklin County, Ohio Municipal Court from 1966 to 1968. He was a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1968 to 1971.

Federal judicial service

Duncan was a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals (now the

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (in case citations, C.A.A.F. or USCAAF) is an Article I court that exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over members of the United States Armed Forces on active duty and other pers ...

) from 1971 to 1974. Duncan was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on May 1, 1974, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio vacated by Judge Carl Andrew Weinman. 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 June 13, 1974, and received his commission on June 20, 1974. His service was terminated on April 15, 1985, due to his resignation.

Post judicial service

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Duncan returned to private practice with the firm of

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

Reavis & Pogue.

Firsts

Duncan was the first African-American elected to judicial office in Franklin County the first to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court, the first to serve on the United States Court of Military Appeals, and the first appointed to the federal bench in Ohio.

Personal

Duncan married his wife Shirley in 1955. They had three children. Duncan died on November 2, 2012.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Robert Morton 1927 births 2012 deaths African-American judges Ohio state court judges Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces United States federal judges appointed by Richard Nixon Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges Ohio State University alumni Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni People from Urbana, Ohio Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio Ohio Republicans United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army soldiers