Ted Stewart

Brian Theadore "Ted" Stewart (born 1948) is a Senior United States district judge sitting on the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Early life and education

Born in Logan, Utah, Judge Stewart received a B.S. from Utah State University in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.^[1]

Professional career

From 1974 until 1980, Stewart worked in private legal practice in Salt Lake City. He then served as an assistant to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch in 1980, and then worked as an administrative assistant to U.S. Rep. James V. Hansen from 1981 until 1985. From 1985 until 1992, Stewart was a commissioner on the Public Service Commission of Utah. From 1993 until 1998, Stewart served as the executive director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources.^[1]

From 1998 until becoming a federal judge in 1999, Stewart served as a chief of staff to then-Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt.^[1][2]

Nomination to federal district court, filibuster and confirmation

In mid-1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Stewart to federal district court to fill a seat vacated by Judge J. Thomas Greene, who had taken senior status in November 1997.^[1][3] Clinton, a Democrat, nominated Stewart, a Republican, because Stewart was a friend of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Hatch at that time was the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.^[4] Clinton did so as a courtesy to Hatch, hoping the gesture would encourage Republican senators to act to confirm many of the president's languishing judicial nominees.^[4]

However, Hatch demanded that Stewart be confirmed before senators could consider other judicial nominees.^[4] That enraged Senate Democrats, who refused to allow for a vote on Stewart. That prompted Republican senators to take the very rare move of filing for cloture on the nomination of a federal district judge. On September 21, 1999, Democrats unified to successfully filibuster Stewart's nomination, in a 55-44 party-line vote on the Senate floor that may well have been the only successful filibuster ever on a federal district court nominee.^[4][5]

Two weeks later, Democratic and Republican senators announced a deal that paved the way for votes on the nominations of Stewart and two other judicial nominees. On October 5, 1999, the Senate vote 93-5 to confirm Stewart.^[6]

Federal judicial service

Stewart received his judicial commission on November 11, 1999.^[1]

Stewart made the initial ruling in favor of the terms-of sale restrictions on the easement in the LDS plaza by the Salt Lake Temple.^[7]

He served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah from 2011 to 2014. He assumed senior status on September 1, 2014.^[1]

Personal

Stewart is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With his brother, Chris Stewart, he wrote the book, Seven Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope, which was published in 2009.^[8]

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Federal judicial profile, Brian Theadore Stewart
2. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/10/news/mn-64301
3. ↑ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/z?nomis:106PN0045500:
4. 1 2 3 4 "In Odd Turn, Democrats Stall Clinton's Nominees", 'New York Times', Lewis, Neil A., September 22, 1999
5. ↑ http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00281
6. ↑ http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00308
7. ↑ Deseret News, May 3, 2004
8. ↑ http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/new-utah-congressman-has-ties-that-bind-family

External links

• District court web page