Rudolph Randa

Rudolph Thomas Randa (July 25, 1940September 5, 2016) was an American judge. He was a United States district judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for the last 24 years of his life. He was Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 2002 until October 2009. Prior to his appointment to the federal court, he was a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge and served one year on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Early life and education

Randa was born July 25, 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a graduate of Milwaukee's Riverside University High School, with honors. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, receiving academic honors and graduating as a distinguished military graduate in 1963. Randa received his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1966.

Military service

From 1967 to 1969, Randa served in the United States Army as a Company Commander during the Vietnam War. Randa served with distinction, earning the Bronze Star Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with 5 campaign stars, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. The first three were awarded by the United States Army and the last awarded by the Republic of Vietnam.

Legal career

After Vietnam, Randa was appointed to the United States Attorney General's Office in Washington, D.C. In 1970, he returned to Milwaukee. From 1970 to 1973, Randa served as Assistant City Attorney for the City of Milwaukee. In 1973, he became the Principal City Attorney for Milwaukee. He represented the City of Milwaukee in two major civil rights cases filed by individual plaintiffs, the United States Department of Justice and the NAACP, alleging a pattern and practice of discrimination based on race and national origin in the Milwaukee fire and police departments. These suits resulted in consent decrees.

In 1975, Randa was elected Municipal Judge in Milwaukee. In 1979, he was elected Circuit Judge for Milwaukee County. He was appointed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in 1981. After he was defeated seeking election to a full term on the Court of Appeals, he was re-appointed Circuit Judge, and re-elected in 1983. He remained on the Circuit Court until 1992. He served ''tempus semestre'' on the 4th District Court of Appeals from 1983 to 1984 and from 1984 to 1985.

Federal judicial service

Randa was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on April 9, 1992, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin vacated by Judge Robert W. Warren; he was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on August 11, 1992, and received commission on August 12, 1992. He served as Chief Judge from 2002 to 2009. In July 2007, Randa announced his intention to assume senior status upon the confirmation of a successor; however, confirmation of a successor did not occur by the end of President George W. Bush's presidency, and following the election of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, Randa rescinded his decision to assume senior status, having apparently not wished to be succeeded by a Democratic president's appointee. Later, facing ill health, he assumed senior status on February 5, 2016, with his service terminating soon thereafter upon his passing on September 5, 2016.

In 2002, Randa was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to serve on the Codes of Conduct Committee of the United States Judicial Conference. He served on the Codes of Conduct Committee until 2008.

Significant rulings

In 1995, Randa ruled that the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was unconstitutional in banning "nonviolent, physical obstruction of reproductive health services clinics". He ruled that Congress could not use its constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate abortion protests, "a private activity wholly intrastate in character, non-violent by description and definition, without any commercial aspect, the control of which historically and traditionally rested within the domain of local and state authorities, and which has no direct effect on interstate commerce but instead affects an activity found by Congress to be within 'the stream of interstate commerce ...'" His ruling was reversed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2001, Randa ruled that children in foster care have enforceable federal rights to a speedy adoption and can sue a state for failing to make them legally available for adoption as required under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA). The ruling in ''Jeanine B v. McCallum'' was the first court ruling to fully examine the rights of children to sue under ASFA and whether those federal rights impose binding obligations on a state.

In 2009, in ''Flying J. v. Van Hollen'', Randa ruled that Wisconsin's minimum markup of 9.18% on gasoline as required by the Unfair Sales Act

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