Jerome Farris (born Joseph Jerome Farris; March 4, 1930) is a United States federal judge.
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Biography
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Farris received a B.S. from Morehouse College in 1951 and was in the United States Army Signal Corps from 1952 to 1953. He received a M.S.W. from Atlanta University in 1955 and a J.D. with Order of the Coif honors from the University of Washington School of Law in 1958. He was in private practice in Seattle, Washington from 1958 to 1969 with various partners, including Leonard W. Schroeter. Farris served on the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, in Seattle from 1969 to 1979.
On July 12, 1979, Farris was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 1979, and received his commission on September 27, 1979. In Hirabayashi v. United States (1987), Farris sat on the circuit panel that by coram nobis unanimously vacated an exclusion order conviction that had been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States during the World War II wartime internment of Japanese Americans. He assumed senior status on March 4, 1995, and M. Margaret McKeown was named to replace him.
In 1997, Farris published an article arguing that, while the Ninth Circuit is the circuit most often reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, this was not due to error or the circuit being "too liberal" but rather the circuit hears a large number of cases involving controversial topics, and "courts cannot determine right and wrong in an absolute sense because the law is not absolute."
Although a Democratic appointee, Farris was described by his colleague Stephen Reinhardt as "extremely conservative on criminal justice issues."
His law clerks include Brenda K. Sannes, who later became a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Tree cutting
In August 2002, Farris had 120 cherry and maple trees in Colman Park, a city park in Seattle, cut down to improve the view of Lake Washington from his house. Norm Maleng, the King County Prosecuting Attorney, declined to file felony malicious mischief charges. The Seattle City Attorney settled with the judge for a fine of $500,000. After Farris refused to pay the fine on time the city placed a lien on his 8,000 square-foot Mount Baker house. Farris claimed the trees were cut down due to a miscommunication with his Vietnamese gardener, which the gardener denied. A jury heard testimony from the gardener when Farris sued his homeowner's insurer for coverage of the fine. The jury ruled against Farris. Farris finally paid the full fine (with interest) in the amount of $618,000 in May 2006.
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Civic activities
In 1985, Governor Mike Lowry appointed Ferris to a six-year term as a Regent of the University of Washington, and then he was re-appointed by Governor Gary Locke, serving until 1997. Since 1999, he has served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Morehouse College, from which he received an LL.D. in 1978.
Personal life
On June 27, 1957, he married Jean Marie Shy in King County, Washington, and they had two daughters: Juli and Janelle. Jean Farris died on December 2, 1992.
Sources
Videos
- Upon Reflection: Judge Jerome Ferris, 1989 (27 mins. YouTube) University of Washington Television interview.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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