Paul V. Niemeyer

Paul Niemeyer
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office August 7, 1990
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Harrison Winter
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
In office February 22, 1988 – August 7, 1990
Appointed by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Frank Kaufman
Succeeded by	Benson Legg
Personal details
Born	(1941-04-05) April 5, 1941 Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Kenyon College University of Munich University of Notre Dame

Paul Victor Niemeyer (born April 5, 1941) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Biography

Niemeyer was born in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Kenyon College (A.B., 1962), where he played on the school's baseball team. He then studied at the University of Munich, before pursuing his legal education at Notre Dame Law School (J.D., 1966). Niemeyer was admitted to the Maryland bar and practiced commercial law at Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper) in Baltimore, Maryland from 1966 to 1988. In 1984, Niemeyer co-authored the Maryland Rules Commentary, a treatise on the rules of procedure in the Maryland state courts. From 1973 to 1988, he was a member of the Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. In 2006, Niemeyer published A Path Remembered: The Lives of Gerhart & Lucie Niemeyer. Niemeyer's father, Gerhart Niemeyer (1907–1997), was a political philosopher and professor of government at the University of Notre Dame. Niemeyer is married and has three sons.

Niemeyer's father was a conservative political philosopher and friend of William F. Buckley, Jr. Upon Hitler's rise, in 1933, Niemeyer's father left Germany for Spain and then the US. Niemeyer, like his father, studied at the University of Munich. The New York Times obituary of 29 June 1997, states that Niemeyer's father: "wrote that fascism, communism and other such modern mass movements were the legacy of disoriented philosophers. He said their ideas corroded the cultural mettle of a society and spawned ideologies with a limited view of humanity."

Judiciary

Niemeyer was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1987 to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to fill the seat vacated by Frank A. Kaufman. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 19, 1988, and received his commission on February 22, 1988. Niemeyer served on the district court until his appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President George H. W. Bush on May 11, 1990, to fill the seat vacated by Harrison Lee Winter. Niemeyer was confirmed with the unanimous consent of the United States Senate on August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7, 1990. In 1993, Niemeyer became a member of the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He served as chair of the committee from 1996 through 2000. Niemeyer is a member of the American Law Institute and has taught Appellate Practice at Duke Law School. His chambers are located in Baltimore, Maryland.

On 28 July 2014, Niemeyer dissented from a 4th Circuit ruling that struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. In his dissent, he argued that under a rational basis test Virginia's ban should be deemed constitutional.

On 19 April 2016, Niemeyer dissented in part from a 4th Circuit ruling (G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board) in an appeal from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at Newport News where the majority of the 4th Circuit panel reversed the district court's dismissal of a transgender boy's claims under Title IX. Niemeyer's dissent states: "This unprecedented holding overrules custom, culture, and the very demands inherent in human nature for privacy and safety"; "More particularly, it also misconstrues the clear language of Title IX and its regulations"; and "And finally, it reaches an unworkable and illogical result". The Majority rejected Niemeyer's assertions, concluding that "the record is devoid of any evidence tending to show that [the plaintiff's] use of the boys’ restroom creates a safety issue." Further, the Majority rejected Niemeyer's "suggestion that . . . the enforcement of separate restroom facilities [would be] impossible because it 'would require schools to assume gender identity based on appearances, social expectations, or explicit declarations of identity.' Accepting [such a] position would equally require the school to assume 'biological sex' based on 'appearances, social expectations, or explicit declarations of [biological sex].' Certainly, no one is suggesting mandatory verification of the 'correct' genitalia before admittance to a restroom. The Department [of Justices]’s vision of sex-segregated restrooms which takes account of gender identity presents no greater 'impossibility of enforcement' problem than does the [dissent's] 'biological gender' vision of sex-segregated restrooms."

In a 4 May 2016 letter regarding North Carolina House Bill 2 (H.B. 2), the US Department of Justice stated: H.B. 2 ... is facially discriminatory against transgender employees on the basis of sex because it treats transgender employees, whose gender identity does not match their “biological sex,” as defined by H.B. 2, differently from similarly situated non-transgender employees .... The US Department of Justice further stated: "Courts often consider Title VII and Title IX precedent together when analyzing discrimination claims" and "the Department sent letters addressed to ... the University of North Carolina similarly notifying them of our conclusion that they have engaged in violations of Title VII, as well as violations of Title IX and its implementing regulations".

Clerks

Clerk	Started	Finished	School (Year)
Sean Eskovitz	1995	1996
Jeffrey Klein	1997	1998	Harvard (1997)
Neil Richards	1997	1998	Virginia (1997)
Steven Warshawsky	1997	1998	Georgetown (1997)
Kevin Walsh	2002	2003	Harvard (2002)
Donald E. Childress III (Trey)	2004	2005	Duke (2004)
Paul Nathanson	2004	2005	Harvard (2004)
Karen Servidea	2004	2005	Virginia (2004)
Katie Bagley	2005	2006	Virginia (2005)
Bryan Killian	2005	2006	Harvard (2005)
Micah Schwartzman	2005	2006	Virginia (2005)
Jeffrey Davidson	2006	2007	Yale (2006)
Matthew Krueger	2006	2007	Minnesota (2006)
Michael Nemelka	2006	2007	Virginia (2006)
Brian Foster	2007	2008	Notre Dame (2007)
Ajeet Pai	2007	2008	Virginia (2007)
Keri Steffes	2007	2008	Yale (2007)
Andrew Blair-Stanek	2008	2009	Yale (2008)
Alison Buckley	2008	2009	Northwestern (2008)
Destiny Duron-Deas	2008	2009	Duke (2008)
Dave Baltmanis	2009	2010	Northwestern (2009)
Christopher DiPompeo	2009	2010	Penn (2009)
Nikki Ellington	2009	2010	Virginia (2008)
Elise Borochoff	2010	2011	Harvard (2010)
Kevin King	2010	2011	Northwestern (2010)
Kathryn Ladewski	2010	2011	Michigan (2010)
Justin Murray	2011	2012	Georgetown (2010)
Jonathan David Shaub	2011	2012	Northwestern (2011)
Luke McCloud	2011	2012	Harvard (2011)

External links

• Paul V. Niemeyer at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Maryland State Archives
• Appearances on C-SPAN