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Abner Joseph Mikva

Abner Joseph Mikva

District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals

Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Born 1926 in Milwaukee, WI

Died 2016 in Chicago, IL

FJC ID: 1638

Career output and lasting influence

Opinions attributed per year · peak 12/year

District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1979–1994District of Columbia District Court · 1979–1994197919902000201020202025120
opinions

Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 251/year

District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1979–1994District of Columbia District Court · 1979–19941979199020002010202020252510
citing decisions

District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1979–1994District of Columbia District Court · 1979–1994

Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.

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Abner Joseph Mikva ( AB-nər MIK-və; January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, and legal scholar. He was a member of the Democratic Party. After serving in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mikva ran for the U.S. Congress in 1966 but lost the primary to incumbent congressman Barrett O'Hara. In 1968, Mikva defeated O'Hara. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois's 2nd congressional district (1969–1973) and 10th congressional district (1975–1979). He was appointed as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Jimmy Carter, serving from 1979 to 1994. He served as the White House Counsel from 1994 to 1995 during Bill Clinton's presidency. He was one of the few people in modern times to serve in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Federal government.

In his later career, Mikva taught at the University of Chicago Law School, the Georgetown University Law Center and the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He mentored future President of the United States Barack Obama and future United States Attorney General Merrick Garland (who also succeeded him on the D.C. Circuit) during their early years in law. In 2014, Obama honored Mikva with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Full biography on Wikipedia ↗
Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. University of Chicago
    University of Chicago
    Visiting professor · 1996–present
  2. White House counsel
    1994–1995
  3. Judicial Conference of the United States
    Member · 1991–1994
  4. U.S. representative from Illinois
    1969–1973, 1975–1979
  5. Northwestern University School of Law
    Northwestern University School of Law
    Professor · 1973–1975
  6. Private practice, Chicago, Illinois
    1952–1968, 1973–1974
  7. Illinois
    State representative · 1956–1966
  8. Supreme Court of the United States
    Supreme Court of the United States
    Law clerk , Hon. Sherman Minton · 1951–1952
  9. Air Corps
    Air Corps
    U.S. Army · 1944–1945

Appointments

  1. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitChief Judge
    1979–1994 · Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
    Term ended: Retirement
  2. District of Columbia District Court
    District of Columbia District Court
    1979–1994
    Term ended: retire_vol

Education

  1. University of Chicago Law School
    University of Chicago Law School
    J.D. · 1951