Robert Van Pelt

Robert Van Pelt (September 9, 1897 – April 27, 1988) was a Nebraska attorney and served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Robert Van Pelt
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
In office May 5, 1970 – April 27, 1988
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
In office June 13, 1957 – May 5, 1970
Appointed by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	John Wayne Delehant
Succeeded by	Warren Keith Urbom
Personal details
Born	Robert Van Pelt September 9, 1897 Gosper County, Nebraska
Died	April 27, 1988 (aged 90)
Education	Stockville High School Franklin Academy Doane University (A.B.) University of Nebraska College of Law (LL.B.)

Early Life and Career

Born in Gosper County, Nebraska, and raised in Stockville, Nebraska, Van Pelt was early exposed to lawyers and judges through the boarding house that his mother operated in the county seat of Stockville.[1] He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Doane College (now Doane University) in Crete, Nebraska in 1920 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1922. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of Nebraska from 1930 to 1934, and an instructor at the University of Nebraska College of Law from 1946 to 1957.[2]

Legal Practice

Van Pelt began working for the Stewart, Perry, Stewart law firm while still in law school in the spring of 1921. In 1925, the law firm became that of Stewart, Perry, Stewart, and Van Pelt. In September of 1925, E.B. Perry and Van Pelt dissolved stake in the partnership and formed the Perry & Van Pelt law firm that subsequent October. In 1928, Lloyd J. Marti joined the firm and it thus became Perry, Van Pelt & Marti[3] until Van Pelt and Marti left this firm to form the new partnership of Van Pelt, Marti, and O'Gara. Lloyd J. Marti went on to eventually became Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska from 1943 to 1947.[4]

Federal Judicial Service

Van Pelt was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 22, 1957, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Judge John Wayne Delehant. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 11, 1957, and received his commission on June 13, 1957. He assumed senior status on May 5, 1970. His service terminated on April 27, 1988, due to his death.[2]

Notable Work

While on the federal bench, Van Pelt was appointed to the committee that drafted the Federal Rules of Evidence by Chief Justice Earl Warren, by Chief Justice Warren Burger to a committee to oversee the Federal Magistrates Act of 1968, to the Committee of Judicial Ethics, and was named Special Master by the Supreme Court for four boundary disputes {Texas v. Louisiana, 426 U.S. 465 (1976), California v. Nevada, 447 U.S. 125 (1980), Ohio v. Kentucky, 444 U.S. 335 (1980), and Kentucky v. Indiana, 474 U.S. 1 (1976)}.[1]

Community Membership

• President of the Lincoln Rotary Club #14 in the years 1935-1936[5]
• Member of the Lincoln Board of Education
• Member of the Doane College Board of Trustees
• Member Board of Directors, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce
• Member United States Junior Chamber of Commerce
• Republican National Convention Delegate in 1940, 1944, and 1948[1]

References

1. Van Pelt, Robert (1986). CURTIS, NEBRASKA THE FIRST 100 YEARS. Dallas, Texas: Curtis Media Corporation. pp. 315–316. ISBN 0-88107-059-9.
2. Robert Van Pelt at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
3. Van Pelt, Samuel (2001). What Psalm-Singing Son Of A Bitch Said That?. Hickman, Nebraska: Samuel Van Pelt. pp. 20–22.
4. "InterLinc: City of Lincoln: Mayor's Office: Past Mayors of Lincoln, NE". lincoln.ne.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
5. "Lincoln Rotary Club #14 : About : History". www.rotary14.org. Retrieved 2020-10-02.

External links

• Robert Van Pelt at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Robert Van Pelt interview with Professor Richard Shugrue of the Creighton Law School, part of the Nebraska Oral Histories collection of the Creighton Digital Repository.