Thad Heartfield

Thad Heartfield
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2010
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
In office 2003–2009
Preceded by	John H. Hannah, Jr.
Succeeded by	David Folsom
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
In office March 17, 1995 – January 1, 2010
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Robert Manley Parker
Succeeded by	James Rodney Gilstrap
Personal details
Born	1940 (age 75–76) Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	St. Mary's University St. Mary's University School of Law

Thad Heartfield (born 1940) is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont, Texas. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on January 11, 1995, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 17, 1995 and received his commission on March 17, 1995. He served as chief judge from 2003 through 2008.^[1] He assumed senior status on January 1, 2010.

He graduated from St. Mary's University, Texas with a B.A. in 1962 and received a J.D. from the St. Mary's University School of Law in 1965.

In 2009, Judge Heartfield presided over Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District.^[2] The plaintiff ("H.S.") was a cheerleader who was ordered by her high school to cheer for a football and basketball player named Rakheem Bolton, who she had accused of raping her^[3] and who had pleaded guilty to assaulting her.^[4] H.S. refused and was kicked off the team. She sued, claiming a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech. Judge Heartfield granted the school district's motion to dismiss.^[5] Judge Heartfield's decision was affirmed by Judges Edith Brown Clement, Emilio M. Garza, and Priscilla Owen of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.^[6] H.S. was ordered to pay the school $45,000 in legal fees for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit.^[7]

References

1. Biography
2. Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District, Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, appendix B
3. Cheerleader must compensate school that told her to clap 'rapist'
4. Former high school football star pleads guilty to assault in cheerleader case
5. Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District, Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, appendix B
6. Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District, Opinion of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
7. Cheerleader must compensate school that told her to clap 'rapist'

External links

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas