I am curious as to whether Judge Shelby, the US District Judge who today authored an opinion finding Utah's anti-gay marriage unconstitutional, is Mormon.

Does anyone know?

Nothing definitive from Wiki

Born March 13, 1970 (age 43)
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma mater Utah State University, Logan
University of Virginia

I'm not sure. I'd be interested to know though.

However, it shouldn't matter anyway. They're probably not supposed to take their religious beliefs into account when making decisions like this.

FWIW, he served in the Utah National Guard from ages 18-26 and served as a combat engineer in Operation Desert Storm (he would have been roughly age 20-21 at the time.)

http://judgepedia.org/Robert_Shelby



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2013 06:54PM by summer.

So not a TBM, since they bravely run off on missions whenever their country is at war.

Some young LDS men join the ARNG at 17 or 18 under a 6x2 contract and invoke their inactivity period for the purposes of serving a mission.

Is a US District Judge an appointed for life position or an elected position?

If appointed, who nominated him?

Appointed for life by Obama.



jiminycricket Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is a US District Judge an appointed for life
> position or an elected position?
>
> If appointed, who nominated him?

from wikipedia:

"On November 30, 2011, President Obama nominated Robert J. Shelby to be District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah."

Thanks for the answer. That most assuredly means its a life-time position.

Affirmed by voice vote by Utah's Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee.

Schadenfreude "like"!

Here are Judge Shelby's responses to senators when he was nominated to the federal bench:

http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/112thCongressJudicialNominations/upload/RobertShelby-QFRs.pdf

As an Article III judge, Judge Shelby received a lifetime appointment. I wonder if the case was given to Judge Shelby because he was not LDS (if such is the case). The other LDS judges may have viewed Judge Shelby as safe from church pressure or criticism if he was not Mormon.

Just curious.

My curiosity was, if he is Mormon, would there be any repercussions from TSCC, public or otherwise.

That's one angle.

The cases are given to Judges randomly. They don't decide. And I can assure you there is no attempt at church influence in the federal court. I clerked there.

No attempt at church influence in the federal court? That's absurd. The Mormon cult lobbies in legal and extralegal ways.

Evidence? 10% of the US Senate, which until recently had filibustered the majority of the Administrations appointments, is Mormon.

But I have also seen sensitive cases conveniently given to "safe" judges in the district where I practice.

This is an interesting case. What if he is Mo, the bishop hauls him into his office sundee' and sez "DUDE WTF?" And Brother Shelby sez "hey bish, just doing my job, I can't just arbitrarily make up bs in the face of the constitution of the United States, you know, the same constitution you and many of our members are always blathering about being hung by a thread? Well..."

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2013 06:18AM by steve benson.

Is that serious?

Odd that Senators Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch did not discern that before their affirmation vote in the Senate.

"On November 30, 2011, President Obama nominated Robert J. Shelby to be District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah.[3] He would replace Judge Tena Campbell who took senior status in 2011. He received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 28, 2012 and his nomination was reported to the floor on April 26, 2012, by voice vote.[4] Both Senators from Utah, Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, endorsed his nomination[5]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Shelby



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2013 10:58AM by fakemoroni.

All he would have to do is leak it to the media and it would be a PR nightmare. I think they are smart enough not to do that. But you never know.

I went to high school with his wife...I kind had a crush on her. She was very LDS back then. I'll ask a mutual friend if the judge is lDS.

Came from Wisconsin, Skyview grad in Utah. USU. Convert, but now Exmo.

Ex-mormon? Beautiful.

But is he an exmo with papers? IE, if he didn't resign, he's still a member in the eyes of the church.


Now wouldn't that be just hilarious ...

Did he bail from the cult before or after he was appointed?

He's not LDS, according to common friend

Hilarious.

Wanna bet the morg thought they had this judge's vote in anything concerning Mormonism ?