Patrick A. Shea (born February 28, 1948) is an American lawyer, author, politician, government official, and legal scholar known for his work on

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

cases. He also served as director of the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

in 1997 and 1998.

Early life and education

Shea was born at the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. He lived with his parents in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

for six years before returning to Utah. He graduated from Highland High School in 1966. Shea earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He then was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he studied human sciences and was part of the first graduating cohort of the degree. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1975.

Career

Government

Shea served as the assistant to the staff director of the

Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...

in 1975 and 1976. Shea was counsel to the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the drafting process of the

Taiwan Relations Act The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ) is an Act of Congress, act of the United States Congress. Since the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formal recognition of the China, People's Republic of China, the Act has defined ...

. Shea served as a commissioner on the Gore Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, which investigated the

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (known as TW800 or TWA800) was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States, to Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, with a stopo ...

, in 1996 and 1997. Prior to becoming head of the BLM, Shea was the head of City Creek Canyon Park in Salt Lake City. In 1997 and 2000, Shea served as the Director of the

. He served as the director of the Bureau of Land Management and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management under President Clinton.

Academics

He has taught courses at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

, and

Westminster College (Utah) Westminster University is a private university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 and comprises four schools. History Westminster University was founded in 1875 as the Salt Lake Collegiate Institute, a University-p ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Since his return to Utah in 2001, Shea has been a member of the

political science department's faculty. Shea was an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University from 2001 to 2009. Shea was a fellowship adviser to honors program at Westminster College, Salt Lake City in collaboration with 'The Living Arts Experience: A Seminar in Liberal Ideals'. Shea taught a course on Public Lands 2019/20 and co-taught a graduate seminar on wild land fires. While at Law School taught two courses on the Political Processes and the Constitution. Shea became chair of

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. The party describes itself as a big tent party. It has very weak electoral power in the state. It controls none of Ut ...

in 1983 and chaired state presidential campaigns of

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

, and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. He was a candidate for governor of Utah in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, placing second in the Democratic primary. He was the Democratic nominee in the 1994 United States Senate election in Utah. Shea co-authored with Rodney K. Smith ''Religion and the Press: Keeping First Amendment Values in Balance'', a book which argued that Freedom of the Press had been taken too far in allowing the media to publish unsubstantiated claims that demean religious leaders.

Law

Shea represented

Massachusetts Democratic Party The Massachusetts Democratic Party (MassDems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in Massachusetts. It is chaired by Steve Kerrigan and is the dominant party in the state, controlling all nine of the state's ...

in seeking to gain enough information to exclude

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

from running for governor in Massachusetts. He represented Skip Knowles after he was fired by ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'' for plagiarism. He represented Steven Greenstreet's defense against Kay Anderson's attempts to prevent Greenstreet's use of an interview with Anderson in a documentary film '' This Divided State''. Shea also was one of the lawyers for Brent W. Jeffs in his sexual molestation suit against his uncle Warren Jeffs. He is admitted to the bar in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and Utah.

Personal life

Shea is an Irish Catholic.

Sources

''Deseret News'', February 13, 2001

webpage for Patrick A. Shea

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Patrick 1948 births Alumni of the University of Oxford American Rhodes Scholars Brigham Young University faculty Bureau of Land Management personnel Clinton administration personnel Harvard Law School alumni Kansas State University faculty Living people Politicians from Salt Lake City Stanford University alumni State political party chairs of Utah United States Department of the Interior officials University of Utah faculty Utah Democrats Utah lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Westminster University (Utah) faculty Lawyers from Salt Lake City Catholics from Utah