Richard Gaylore Stearns (born 1944) is a United States federal judge

United States federal judge

In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....

. Born in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, Stearns received a B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 in 1968, an M.Litt (Political Philosophy) from Oxford University, Balliol College in 1971, and a J.D.

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1976. He was a Special assistant, U.S. Sen. George McGovern from 1972 to 1973. He was a Speech writer, Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1976. He was a Norfolk County (Massachusetts) District Attorney's Office from 1976 to 1982. He was an assistant U.S. Attorney of the District of Massachusetts from 1982 to 1990. He was an Associate justice, Superior Court of Massachusetts from 1990 to 1993.

Stearns was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA. The first court session was held in Boston in 1789. The second term was held in Salem in 1790 and until 1813 court session locations...

. Stearns was nominated by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 on October 27, 1993, to a seat vacated by John Joseph McNaught

John Joseph McNaught

John Joseph McNaught was a United States federal judge.Born in Malden, Massachusetts, McNaught received a B.A. from Boston College in 1943 was in the United States Army for the remainder of World War II, from 1943 to 1946. He received a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1949...

. He was confirmed by the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 on November 20, 1993, and received his commission on November 24, 1993.

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