Joseph Bataillon

Joseph F. Bataillon
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
Incumbent
Assumed office October 3, 2014
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
In office September 18, 1997 – October 3, 2014
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Lyle E. Strom
Succeeded by	Robert F. Rossiter, Jr.
Personal details
Born	1949 (age 74–75) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Alma mater	Creighton University (B.A.) Creighton University School of Law (J.D.)

Joseph F. Bataillon (born 1949) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Early life and education

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Bataillon received a B.A. from Creighton University in 1971 and a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1974.

Career

Bataillon was a deputy public defender, Douglas County, Nebraska from 1974 to 1980. He was in private practice in Omaha from 1980 to 1997.

Judicial service

On January 7, 1997, Bataillon was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Lyle E. Strom. Bataillon was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 11, 1997, and received his commission on September 18, 1997. He served as chief judge of the District from 2004 to 2011. He assumed senior status on October 3, 2014.

In 2003-05, Bataillon heard Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning, a federal constitutional challenge to Nebraska Initiative Measure 416, a voter initiative constitutional amendment that prohibited Nebraska from recognizing same-sex marriages or unions. In November, 2005, Bataillon ruled that Initiative Measure 416 was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, the First Amendment, and the Contract Clause's prohibition on bills of attainder. Bataillon became the first judge in the U.S. to invalidate a state marriage amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman on federal constitutional grounds. In July, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed his decision on all three arguments and held that "laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples ... do not violate the Constitution of the United States."

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in United States v. Windsor declaring Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, the law which prohibited federal recognition of lawfully issued same-sex marriages licenses, lawsuits were filed in every state that prohibited same-sex marriage. A case concerning Nebraska's ban, Waters v. Heinemen was then given to Judge Bataillon. He ruled for the plaintiffs on March 2. His ruling was stayed by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals indefinitely and has prevented his ruling to take effect.

Sources

• Joseph Bataillon at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.