Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr.

Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr., known as Bud Brimmer (July 11, 1922 – October 23, 2014), was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.

Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr.
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
In office September 27, 2006 – October 23, 2014
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
In office 1986–1992
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Alan Bond Johnson
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
In office September 16, 1975 – September 27, 2006
Appointed by	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Ewing Thomas Kerr
Succeeded by	Nancy D. Freudenthal
23rd Attorney General of Wyoming
In office 1971–1974
Governor	Stanley K. Hathaway
Preceded by	James Emmett Barrett
Succeeded by	David B. Kennedy
Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party
In office 1967–1971
Personal details
Born	Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr. (1922-07-11)July 11, 1922 Rawlins, Wyoming
Died	October 23, 2014(2014-10-23) (aged 92) Boulder, Colorado
Children	Philip A. Brimmer
Residence	Cheyenne, Wyoming
Education	University of Michigan (B.A.) University of Michigan Law School (J.D.)

Education and career

Brimmer was born in Rawlins in Carbon County in southern Wyoming, to the attorney Clarence A. Brimmer Sr. and the former Geraldine Zingsheim. Brimmer received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at which he was the editor of the university's The Michigan Daily. In 1944 Brimmer joined the United States Army Air Forces, in which he attained the rank of sergeant and served until 1946. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1947. Brimmer joined his father's law firm, Brimmer & Brimmer, through which he gained experience as a trial attorney. He was in private practice in Rawlins from 1947 to 1971. He was the state chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party from 1967 to 1971, when he was appointed by Governor Stanley K. Hathaway as the state attorney general, a post he filled until 1974.[1] Brimmer was a Republican candidate in the 1974 Wyoming gubernatorial primary. He polled nearly a quarter of the Republican vote, a strong fourth-place finish, but he lost the nomination to trucking executive Dick Jones of Cody, who in turn was defeated in the general election by a Democrat, Edgar Herschler. Another candidate in the gubernatorial primary was Malcolm Wallop of Sheridan, who in 1976 won one of the United States Senate seats from Wyoming.[2] Brimmer was in private practice in Rawlins once again in 1974, while he also ran for governor, and was briefly the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming in 1975.

Federal judicial service

On July 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford nominated Brimmer to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming vacated by Judge Ewing Thomas Kerr. Brimmer was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 1975, and received his commission the following day. He served as Chief Judge from 1986 to 1992 and assumed senior status on September 27, 2006. He was succeeded by Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal, the wife of Democratic former Governor Dave Freudenthal. He took inactive senior status in June 2013, but remained a federal judge until his death.[3]

Notable case

In 2008 Brimmer ordered a new trial for James Harlow, a Wyoming State Penitentiary inmate who had been on death row after conviction of murdering a prison officer in 1997. Brimmer said that Harlow had been denied a fair trial in the state court because his public defender had been made to fear he would be dismissed for representing Harlow and for seeking more state revenues for the public defenders office.[3]

Personal

Brimmer's son Philip A. Brimmer became a federal judge in Colorado in 2008, an appointee of President George W. Bush.[4] Clarence Brimmer died at the age of 92 in Boulder, Colorado.[1]

References

1. "Former federal judge Brimmer dies at 92". Billings Gazette. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
2. Congressional Quarterly Press Guide to U.S. Elections, 2005 edition, p. 1607
3. "U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer retires at 90". Billings Gazette. June 27, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
4. Felisa Cardona (October 6, 2008). "Denver and the West: Judicial service runs in the family". Denver Post. Retrieved October 30, 2014.

Sources

• Clarence Addison Brimmer Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Judges of the United States

Legal offices
Preceded by James E. Barrett	Attorney General of Wyoming 1971–1974	Succeeded by David B. Kennedy
Preceded by Ewing Thomas Kerr	Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming 1975–2006	Succeeded by Nancy D. Freudenthal
Preceded by Office established	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming 1986–1992	Succeeded by Alan Bond Johnson