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Stephen H. Locher

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Stephen H. Locher
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 18, 2022
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byJohn Alfred Jarvey
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
In office
June 1, 2021 – July 18, 2022
Preceded byCeleste Bremer[1]
Succeeded byWilliam P. Kelly[2]
Personal details
Born
Stephen Henley Locher

1978 (age 45–46)
Mason City, Iowa, U.S.
SpouseSarah Crane
Children4
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Stephen Henley Locher (born 1978)[3] is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa since 2022. He previously served as a United States magistrate judge of the same court from 2021 to 2022.

Education

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Locher's hometown is Mason City, Iowa.[4][5] He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, in 2000 and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2003.[6] During law school, he taught economics at Harvard University.[4][5]

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Locher served as a law clerk for Judge John R. Gibson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 2003 to 2004. From 2004 to 2008, he was an associate at Goldberg Kohn in Chicago, where he specialized in commercial law. From 2008 to 2013, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa.[6] As a federal prosecutor, he prosecuted pro basketball player Rumeal Robinson for bank fraud and bribery.[4] He was then a partner at Belin McCormick, P.C., in Des Moines, Iowa from 2013 to 2021, specializing in commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and appeals.[4][5][6] At Belin McCormick, his partners included Matthew McDermott. With McDermott, he represented Sholom Rubashkin.[7]

Federal judicial service

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United States magistrate judge service

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On December 21, 2020, Locher was selected to serve as a United States magistrate judge.[8] He was sworn in on June 1, 2021.[9]

District court service

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On February 7, 2022, Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst recommended Locher to fill a vacancy on the Southern District of Iowa.[10][11] On April 13, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Locher to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.[6] On April 25, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Locher to the seat vacated by Judge John Alfred Jarvey, who retired on March 18, 2022.[12] On May 11, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[13] On June 9, 2022, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote, with Senator Josh Hawley voted "nay" on record.[14] On July 14, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a voice vote.[15] He received his judicial commission on July 18, 2022.[16]

Notable rulings

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On December 29, 2023, Locher blocked parts of a bill that would ban books.[17][18] On January 12, 2024, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds appealed his ruling,[19] and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard oral arguments on his ruling on June 18, 2024.[20] The appeals court appeared skeptical of Locher's injunction, suggesting he may have overstepped and that the plaintiffs lacked standing.[21]

Personal life

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Locher is married to Sarah Crane, a judge of the Iowa District Court, with whom he has four children.[4][22]

References

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  1. ^ "New U.S. Magistrate Judge Selected" (PDF). iasd.uscourts.gov (Press release). December 28, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "New U.S. Magistrate Judge Selected" (PDF) (Press release). October 25, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e Darr, Kent (February 15, 2013). "A Closer Look: Stephen Locher". Des Moines Business Record.
  5. ^ a b c "Stephen H. Locher". Belin McCormick. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "President Biden Names Sixteenth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ Knaub, Kelly (December 21, 2017). "Trump Commutes Fraud Sentence Of Agriprocessor Ex-CEO". Law360.
  8. ^ "December 28, 2020" (PDF). United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "Stephen Locher". United States Courts. June 1, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  10. ^ "Grassley, Ernst Recommend Outstanding Iowan For Federal Judgeship" (Press release). February 7, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "Judge Stephen H. Locher recommended to fill vacancy on federal bench". The Iowa Lawyer Weekly. February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  12. ^ "Nominations and Withdrawals Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. April 25, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. May 10, 2022.
  14. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – June 9, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  15. ^ "PN1967 — Stephen Henley Locher — The Judiciary". congress.gov. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Stephen H. Locher at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  17. ^ "Judge blocks parts of Iowa law banning school library book, discussion of LGBTQ+ issues". CBS News. December 29, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  18. ^ Lam, Clarissa-Jan (December 30, 2023). "Judge blocks Iowa from enforcing ban on books that depict sex". MSNBC News. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  19. ^ Higgins, Chris (January 12, 2024). "Iowa appeals block on Senate File 496's book ban, gender and sexuality restrictions". Des Moines Register. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  20. ^ Behnke, Suzanne (June 12, 2024). "Federal appeals court weighs challenge to Iowa ban on certain books from schools". kake.com. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  21. ^ Albanese, Andrew (June 12, 2024). "At Hearing, Appeals Court Appears Skeptical of Injunction Blocking Iowa's Book Ban Law". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Sarah Crane". Iowa Judicial Branch.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
2022–present 		Incumbent
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