Judge Paul Niemeyer saw it otherwise, dissenting from the decision and writing, “Because there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage and there are rational reasons for not recognizing it, just as there are rational reasons for recognizing it, I conclude that we, in the Third Branch, must allow the States to enact legislation on the subject in accordance with their political processes.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_V._Niemeyer
Biography[edit]
Niemeyer was born in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Kenyon College (A.B., 1962), where he played on the school’s baseball team. He then studied at the University of Munich, before pursuing his legal education at Notre Dame Law School (J.D., 1966). Niemeyer was admitted to the Maryland bar and practiced commercial law at Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper) in Baltimore, Maryland from 1966 to 1988. In 1984, Niemeyer co-authored the Maryland Rules Commentary,[1] a treatise on the rules of procedure in the Maryland state courts. From 1973 to 1988, he was a member of the Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure.[2] In 2006, Niemeyer published A Path Remembered: The Lives of Gerhart & Lucie Niemeyer.[3] Niemeyer’s father, Gerhart Niemeyer (1907–1997),[4] was a political philosopher and professor of government at the University of Notre Dame. Niemeyer is married and has three sons.
Judiciary[edit]
Niemeyer was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1987 to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to fill the seat vacated by Frank A. Kaufman. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 19, 1988, and received his commission on February 22, 1988. Niemeyer served on the district court until his appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President George H. W. Bush on May 11, 1990, to fill the seat vacated by Harrison Lee Winter. Niemeyer was confirmed with the unanimous consent of the United States Senate on August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7, 1990. In 1993, Niemeyer became a member of the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He served as chair of the committee from 1996 through 2000. Niemeyer is a member of the American Law Institute and has taught Appellate Practice at Duke Law School. His chambers are located in Baltimore, Maryland.
On 28 July 2014, Niemeyer dissented from a 4th Circuit ruling that struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. In his dissent, he argued that under a rational basis test Virginia’s ban should be deemed constitutional.[5]
Clerks[edit]
Clerk Started Finished School (Year)
Sean Eskovitz[6] 1995 1996
Jeffrey Klein 1997 1998 Harvard (1997)
Neil Richards 1997 1998 Virginia (1997)
Steven Warshawsky 1997 1998 Georgetown (1997)
Kevin Walsh 2002 2003 Harvard (2002)
Donald E. Childress III (Trey) 2004 2005 Duke (2004)
Paul Nathanson 2004 2005 Harvard (2004)
Karen Servidea 2004 2005 Virginia (2004)
Katie Bagley 2005 2006 Virginia (2005)
Bryan Killian 2005 2006 Harvard (2005)
Micah Schwartzman 2005 2006 Virginia (2005)
Jeffrey Davidson 2006 2007 Yale (2006)
Matthew Krueger 2006 2007 Minnesota (2006)
Michael Nemelka 2006 2007 Virginia (2006)
Brian Foster 2007 2008 Notre Dame (2007)
Ajeet Pai 2007 2008 Virginia (2007)
Keri Steffes 2007 2008 Yale (2007)
Andrew Blair-Stanek 2008 2009 Yale (2008)
Alison Buckley 2008 2009 Northwestern (2008)
Destiny Duron-Deas 2008 2009 Duke (2008)
Dave Baltmanis 2009 2010 Northwestern (2009)
Christopher DiPompeo 2009 2010 Penn (2009)
Nikki Ellington 2009 2010 Virginia (2008)
Elise Borochoff 2010 2011 Harvard (2010)
Kevin King 2010 2011 Northwestern (2010)
Kathryn Ladewski 2010 2011 Michigan (2010)
Justin Murray 2011 2012 Georgetown (2010)
Jonathan David Shaub 2011 2012 Northwestern (2011)
Luke McCloud 2011 2012 Harvard (2011)
Sources[edit]
Paul V. Niemeyer at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
His Grandson