Richard Honaker
Encyclopedia
Richard Henderson Honaker (born March 10, 1951) is a lawyer
in Rock Springs, Wyoming
who was nominated on March 19, 2007, by U.S. President George W. Bush
to serve as one of three U.S. District Judges for the District of Wyoming
. The nomination was given the highest "well qualified" rating by the judicial evaluation committee of the American Bar Association
. Honaker was initially recommended to Bush by U.S. Senator Craig L. Thomas of Wyoming, who died some three months later. Honaker had co-chaired Thomas' reelection campaign in 2006 in Rock Springs. Honaker never obtained a Senate vote on his confirmation. The succession of Barack Obama
to the presidency ended his candidacy. Had he been confirmed, Honaker would have succeeded Judge Clarence A. Brimmer in Cheyenne
.
, the seat of Albany County in southern Wyoming. He has a sister (born 1954). The Honakers were of Swiss
ethnicity; originally "Honegger", they came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in the early 18th century. One of Honaker's ancestors was with George Rogers Clark
in the march to Vincennes, Indiana
during the American Revolution
. The Honakers settled in western Virginia
, and most Honakers still reside in either Virginia or West Virginia
.
Honaker's paternal family came to Laramie in 1919 and operated a grocery store
and meat market. His maternal family came to the Bighorn Country
in 1915 and farmed sugar beet
s.
Honaker graduated in 1969 from Laramie High School
and was the first member of his family to receive a college degree. He procured his bachelor of arts
with honors in English
and government
in 1973 from Harvard University
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. At Harvard, he and future U.S. Senator Al Franken
of Minnesota
, washed dishes together as work-study students. Still another classmate of Honaker's was the assassinated Benazir Bhutto
of Pakistan
. At Harvard, he was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club
.
In 1976, Honaker obtained his Juris Doctor
degree from the University of Wyoming
Law School in Laramie. He worked his way through law school by serving as the night editor
of the Laramie newspaper with the unusual name the Daily Boomerang. Honaker is recognized by Super Lawyers magazine as among the top 5 percent of attorneys in the United States. In 1989, he was licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
. In 1979, Herschler named Honaker as Wyoming's second state public defender
, in which capacity he supervised in criminal law
the work of thirty trial lawyers during a two-year stint. While he was a public defender, Honaker prosecuted a lengthy homicide
case in Rock Springs and decided to open a law office there. He is the only person to have served as president of both the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and Wyoming Bar Association, a position he held in 2002 and 2003. He was appointed by the Wyoming Supreme Court
to the bar association's rules and disciplinary committees.
as a conservative Democrat
from Rock Springs, the seat of Sweetwater County. Part of a five-member Sweetwater County delegation, Honaker's three terms coincided with the administration of Democratic Governor Michael J. Sullivan, who endorsed Honaker's judicial nomination. Honaker served on the House corporations, judiciary, and rules committees. He did not run for a fourth term in 1992 because of redistricting
. He changed his affiliation
to Republican
in 1994 and was defeated in a bid to return to the Wyoming House under a revised district plan. Honaker said that his party switch was motivated by his opposition to policies of U.S. President Bill Clinton
. Since 2000, Honaker has maintained a solo law practice in Rock Springs, a Democratic and organized labor stronghold within usually otherwise Republican-leaning Wyoming.
In 2002, Honaker joined the Federalist Society
, a body from which President Bush has procured numerous court nominees. He is a board member of the Home School
Legal Defense Association. He has also been an adjunct professor of business law at Western Wyoming Community College
in Rock Springs.
in Rock Springs, a small congregation akin to conservative Presbyterian. In 1978, he married the former Shannon Kathleen Casey (born 1957), originally from the state capital of Cheyenne, the seat of Laramie County
. The wedding ceremony, held in the home of Shannon's parents, was performed by U.S. District Judge Alan Bond Johnson
, based in Cheyenne. Johnson first met Honaker when Honaker headed the indigent defender program. Judge Johnson describes Honaker as having a "warm and attentive demeanor to all persons without regard to their station in life." If confirmed to the court, Honaker and Johnson would be judicial colleagues.
The Honakers have three children. Shannon Honaker is the chairman of the Sweetwater County Republican Party and a trustee of Western Wyoming Community College. The Shannon C. Honaker Scholarship
, created by then Representative Honaker in 1991, is given annually to a home-educated student attending the University of Wyoming.
of Vermont
delayed holding a hearing on Honaker's nomination until February 12, 2008. His nomination was held up in committee. Opposition has also come from interest groups which support access to abortion
: National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America
, Feminist Majority, and Planned Parenthood
, among others.
In his legislative races, Honaker was supported by the Wyoming National Right to Life Committee
. In 1991 and 1992, Honaker introduced a bill that would prohibit abortion in Wyoming except in cases of rape
, incest
, or the threat to the life of the mother. His colleagues defeated the bill both years. Honaker explains that his activity post-dated the United States Supreme Court's decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
, a 1989 case from Missouri
. The court then had impliedly invited legislation regarding abortion from the states. In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey
decision, the court closed the door on such proposals. More than forty states considered abortion legislation during that time.
In 1994, Honaker represented a political action committee
that sought to get the anti-abortion measure on the ballot as a statewide initiative
. The case was reported as Wyoming NARAL v. Karpan. Honaker was not involved in drafting the initiative because he maintained that the Casey decision had rendered the measure moot. "My client, the PAC, thought otherwise and paid me to represent their views. . . . I won the case, and then the voters of Wyoming voted down the initiative" by a 61-39 percent margin," Honaker explained.
At the time, Honaker said: "Unborn children are human beings, and abortion is the taking of the life of an unborn child who is a member of the human race," a statement which alarmed pro-choice advocates.
Honaker has, however, procured support from some abortion supporters: Robert Shively, a Casper
lawyer who formerly represented Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Kate Fox of Cheyenne, who formerly represented Wyoming NARAL in the case, and former Democratic State Senators Lisa Kinney and Bob Reese, and State Representative Don Sullivan of Cheyenne.
Eric M. Alden of Wheatland
in southeastern Wyoming, a former Republican legislator who opposed Honaker's anti-abortion bills, was nevertheless quoted accordingly in the Casper Star-Tribune
:
"I believe he has the potential to be one of the finest trial judges ever to serve in this state. His commitment to fairness is second to none. I can truthfully say that there is no person I would rather have as a judge on a case, no matter what side of any issue I was on, than Dick Honaker."
Republican U.S. Senator Michael B. Enzi
also hailed Honaker's nomination: "[He] will be an excellent jurist . . . He has the experience and the temperament to serve our state and the judiciary well. . . . He knows the difference between legislating—from his experience as a Wyoming representative—and judging—from all his years of court work. Since the criteria is fairness, I want to assure you, Richard is among the fairest people I know."
Enzi's Republican colleague, John Barrasso
of Casper
, who succeeded Thomas, agrees: "I know Mr. Honaker and respect him as an individual. I admire his legal abilities and his passion for the law. There is no question he is ready to fill the seat for which he has been nominated."
Judge Brimmer describes Honaker as "very well-qualified" for the position. Former Governor Sullivan, in a letter to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy
of Massachusetts
, defends Honaker: "He is not, as some have tried to portray him, a radical or person of extreme views." Sullivan said that he has observed Honaker, as a lawyer for injured plaintiff
s, having represented clients "very well . . . with care and concern. . . [He] carries a demeanor which would translate into a classic judicial temperament and a respect for and an understanding of the rule of law and legal precedent which would position him to be an outstanding trial judge."
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Rock Springs, Wyoming
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 18,708 at the 2000 census. Rock Springs is the principal city of the Rock Springs micropolitan statistical area, which has a population of 37,975....
who was nominated on March 19, 2007, by U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to serve as one of three U.S. District Judges for the District of Wyoming
United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Wyoming and those portions of Yellowstone National Park situated in Montana and Idaho...
. The nomination was given the highest "well qualified" rating by the judicial evaluation committee of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
. Honaker was initially recommended to Bush by U.S. Senator Craig L. Thomas of Wyoming, who died some three months later. Honaker had co-chaired Thomas' reelection campaign in 2006 in Rock Springs. Honaker never obtained a Senate vote on his confirmation. The succession of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to the presidency ended his candidacy. Had he been confirmed, Honaker would have succeeded Judge Clarence A. Brimmer in Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
.
Early years, education, family
Honaker was one of two children adopted by Hayward E. Honaker (1911–2001) and the former Faola Henderson (born 1917) in LaramieLaramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
, the seat of Albany County in southern Wyoming. He has a sister (born 1954). The Honakers were of Swiss
Swiss (people)
The Swiss are citizens or natives of Switzerland. The demonym derives from the toponym of Schwyz and has been in widespread use to refer to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 16th century....
ethnicity; originally "Honegger", they came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in the early 18th century. One of Honaker's ancestors was with George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
in the march to Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. The Honakers settled in western Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and most Honakers still reside in either Virginia or West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
.
Honaker's paternal family came to Laramie in 1919 and operated a grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
and meat market. His maternal family came to the Bighorn Country
Bighorn Basin
The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Bighorn Mountains on the east, and the Owl Creek Mountains and Bridger Mountains on the south...
in 1915 and farmed sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
s.
Honaker graduated in 1969 from Laramie High School
Laramie High School (Wyoming)
Laramie High School is a high school in Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, United States. In the Albany County School District, high school begins in the 10th grade ; 9th grade students attend a three-year Junior High School...
and was the first member of his family to receive a college degree. He procured his bachelor of arts
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...
with honors in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
in 1973 from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. At Harvard, he and future U.S. Senator Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, washed dishes together as work-study students. Still another classmate of Honaker's was the assassinated Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. At Harvard, he was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club
Hasty Pudding Club
The Hasty Pudding Club is a social club for Harvard students. It was founded by Nymphus Hatch, a junior at Harvard College, in 1770. The club is named for the traditional American dish that the founding members ate at their first meeting...
.
In 1976, Honaker obtained his Juris Doctor
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...
degree from the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
Law School in Laramie. He worked his way through law school by serving as the night editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of the Laramie newspaper with the unusual name the Daily Boomerang. Honaker is recognized by Super Lawyers magazine as among the top 5 percent of attorneys in the United States. In 1989, he was licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
Wyoming lawyer
From 1976-1978, he was a state assistant attorney general and an aide to Democratic Governor Edgar HerschlerEdgar Herschler
Edgar Jacob Herschler , popularly known as "Gov. Ed", was the 28th Governor of Wyoming from 1975 to 1987. Herschler built a personal appeal to voters based on charisma, a small-town background, and shrewd political maneuvering to such an extent that he was the only three-term governor in Wyoming...
. In 1979, Herschler named Honaker as Wyoming's second state public defender
Public defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
, in which capacity he supervised in criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
the work of thirty trial lawyers during a two-year stint. While he was a public defender, Honaker prosecuted a lengthy homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
case in Rock Springs and decided to open a law office there. He is the only person to have served as president of both the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and Wyoming Bar Association, a position he held in 2002 and 2003. He was appointed by the Wyoming Supreme Court
Wyoming Supreme Court
The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming for an eight-year term. The five Justices select the Chief Justice from amongst themselves. The person...
to the bar association's rules and disciplinary committees.
Wyoming legislator
From 1987-1993, Honaker served in the Wyoming House of RepresentativesWyoming House of Representatives
The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal amount of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of at least 9,000. The House convenes at the Wyoming...
as a conservative Democrat
Conservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
from Rock Springs, the seat of Sweetwater County. Part of a five-member Sweetwater County delegation, Honaker's three terms coincided with the administration of Democratic Governor Michael J. Sullivan, who endorsed Honaker's judicial nomination. Honaker served on the House corporations, judiciary, and rules committees. He did not run for a fourth term in 1992 because of redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
. He changed his affiliation
Party switching in the United States
In the United States politics, party switching is any change in party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one who is currently holding elected office...
to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in 1994 and was defeated in a bid to return to the Wyoming House under a revised district plan. Honaker said that his party switch was motivated by his opposition to policies of U.S. 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...
. Since 2000, Honaker has maintained a solo law practice in Rock Springs, a Democratic and organized labor stronghold within usually otherwise Republican-leaning Wyoming.
In 2002, Honaker joined the Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...
, a body from which President Bush has procured numerous court nominees. He is a board member of the Home School
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
Legal Defense Association. He has also been an adjunct professor of business law at Western Wyoming Community College
Western Wyoming Community College
Western Wyoming Community College is a two year college located in Rock Springs, Wyoming. WWCC offers various one year certificates, numerous two year associate degrees, and some four year degrees in cooperation with the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming...
in Rock Springs.
Personal life
Honaker is an elder at Providence (formerly Pilgrim's) Reformed ChurchReformed Church in the United States
The Reformed Church in the United States is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The present RCUS is a conservative, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation: Sola scriptura , Solo Christo , Sola gratia , Sola fide , and Soli Deo gloria...
in Rock Springs, a small congregation akin to conservative Presbyterian. In 1978, he married the former Shannon Kathleen Casey (born 1957), originally from the state capital of Cheyenne, the seat of Laramie County
Laramie County, Wyoming
Laramie County is the most populous of the 23 counties of the U.S. state of Wyoming. The county is located in the southeastern corner of the state. The county's population was 91,738 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Cheyenne, the state capital...
. The wedding ceremony, held in the home of Shannon's parents, was performed by U.S. District Judge Alan Bond Johnson
Alan Bond Johnson
Alan Bond Johnson is a United States federal judge.Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Johnson received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1961 and a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1964. He was in the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1967, and then in private practice in Cheyenne,...
, based in Cheyenne. Johnson first met Honaker when Honaker headed the indigent defender program. Judge Johnson describes Honaker as having a "warm and attentive demeanor to all persons without regard to their station in life." If confirmed to the court, Honaker and Johnson would be judicial colleagues.
The Honakers have three children. Shannon Honaker is the chairman of the Sweetwater County Republican Party and a trustee of Western Wyoming Community College. The Shannon C. Honaker Scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
, created by then Representative Honaker in 1991, is given annually to a home-educated student attending the University of Wyoming.
Abortion question
The Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Patrick LeahyPatrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
delayed holding a hearing on Honaker's nomination until February 12, 2008. His nomination was held up in committee. Opposition has also come from interest groups which support access to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
: National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America , formerly the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, then National Abortion Rights Action League, and later National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, is an organization in the United States that engages in political action to oppose...
, Feminist Majority, and Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
, among others.
In his legislative races, Honaker was supported by the Wyoming National Right to Life Committee
National Right to Life Committee
The National Right to Life Committee is the oldest and largest pro-life organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. The group works through legislation and education to work against abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted...
. In 1991 and 1992, Honaker introduced a bill that would prohibit abortion in Wyoming except in cases of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, or the threat to the life of the mother. His colleagues defeated the bill both years. Honaker explains that his activity post-dated the United States Supreme Court's decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 , was a United States Supreme Court decision on July 3, 1989 upholding a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions...
, a 1989 case from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The court then had impliedly invited legislation regarding abortion from the states. In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state regulations regarding abortion were challenged...
decision, the court closed the door on such proposals. More than forty states considered abortion legislation during that time.
In 1994, Honaker represented a political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
that sought to get the anti-abortion measure on the ballot as a statewide initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
. The case was reported as Wyoming NARAL v. Karpan. Honaker was not involved in drafting the initiative because he maintained that the Casey decision had rendered the measure moot. "My client, the PAC, thought otherwise and paid me to represent their views. . . . I won the case, and then the voters of Wyoming voted down the initiative" by a 61-39 percent margin," Honaker explained.
At the time, Honaker said: "Unborn children are human beings, and abortion is the taking of the life of an unborn child who is a member of the human race," a statement which alarmed pro-choice advocates.
Honaker has, however, procured support from some abortion supporters: Robert Shively, a Casper
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...
lawyer who formerly represented Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Kate Fox of Cheyenne, who formerly represented Wyoming NARAL in the case, and former Democratic State Senators Lisa Kinney and Bob Reese, and State Representative Don Sullivan of Cheyenne.
Eric M. Alden of Wheatland
Wheatland, Wyoming
Wheatland is a town in and the county seat of Platte County in southeastern Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,548 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wheatland is located at ....
in southeastern Wyoming, a former Republican legislator who opposed Honaker's anti-abortion bills, was nevertheless quoted accordingly in the Casper Star-Tribune
Casper Star-Tribune
The Casper Star-Tribune is a newspaper published in Casper, Wyoming.It is Wyoming's largest newspaper with a daily circulation of 30,745 and a Sunday circulation of 33,264 . The Star-Tribune is the only Wyoming newspaper to be distributed statewide, with delivery available even in some of the most...
:
"I believe he has the potential to be one of the finest trial judges ever to serve in this state. His commitment to fairness is second to none. I can truthfully say that there is no person I would rather have as a judge on a case, no matter what side of any issue I was on, than Dick Honaker."
Wyoming leaders rally for Honaker
Shortly before his death, Senator Thomas released a statement which asserts that Honaker "has a broad range of experience over the last thirty years in both state and federal courts in Wyoming. While his credentials are certainly outstanding, I am particularly impressed with his character and his values which are deeply rooted in Wyoming. He has the right judicial philosophy — he knows the importance of interpreting the law while not legislating from the bench.Republican U.S. Senator Michael B. Enzi
Mike Enzi
Michael Bradley "Mike" Enzi is the senior U.S. Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party.Raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, Enzi attended George Washington University and the University of Denver. He expanded his father's shoe store business in Gillette before being elected mayor of...
also hailed Honaker's nomination: "[He] will be an excellent jurist . . . He has the experience and the temperament to serve our state and the judiciary well. . . . He knows the difference between legislating—from his experience as a Wyoming representative—and judging—from all his years of court work. Since the criteria is fairness, I want to assure you, Richard is among the fairest people I know."
Enzi's Republican colleague, John Barrasso
John Barrasso
John Anthony Barrasso is the junior U.S. Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party. He was appointed to the Senate following Craig L. Thomas's death and won a special election in 2008 to fill the remaining four years of Thomas's term....
of Casper
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...
, who succeeded Thomas, agrees: "I know Mr. Honaker and respect him as an individual. I admire his legal abilities and his passion for the law. There is no question he is ready to fill the seat for which he has been nominated."
Judge Brimmer describes Honaker as "very well-qualified" for the position. Former Governor Sullivan, in a letter to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Edward Kennedy
Edward Kennedy may refer to:*Ted Kennedy, Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy , United States Senator from Massachusetts*Edward Kennedy , journalist who first reported the German surrender in World War II*Edward Kennedy, Jr., son of U.S...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, defends Honaker: "He is not, as some have tried to portray him, a radical or person of extreme views." Sullivan said that he has observed Honaker, as a lawyer for injured plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s, having represented clients "very well . . . with care and concern. . . [He] carries a demeanor which would translate into a classic judicial temperament and a respect for and an understanding of the rule of law and legal precedent which would position him to be an outstanding trial judge."