James B. Loken

James Burton Loken (born May 21, 1940) is an American lawyer serving since 1990 as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

James B. Loken
Loken in 2012
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
In office April 1, 2003 – March 31, 2010
Preceded by	David R. Hansen
Succeeded by	William J. Riley
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office October 17, 1990
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Gerald Heaney
Personal details
Born	(1940-05-21) May 21, 1940 (age 84) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse	Caroline Loken[1]
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison (BS) Harvard University (LLB)

Education

Loken earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1962 and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1965. After law school, he clerked for Judge J. Edward Lumbard of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1965 to 1966 and for Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court from 1966 to 1967.^[2]

Professional career

Loken was in private practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1967 to 1970. He was General Counsel to the President's Committee on Consumer Interests in 1970 and a staff assistant to President Richard M. Nixon from 1970 to 1972. Loken returned to private practice in Minneapolis from 1973 to 1990 at the white shoe law firm of Faegre & Benson.^[2]

Federal judicial service

On September 10, 1990, President George H. W. Bush nominated Loken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit seat vacated by Gerald William Heaney. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 12 and received his commission on October 17. Future Dean of Brooklyn Law School Michael T. Cahill served as his law clerk from 1999 to 2000.

Loken served as chief judge of the court from April 1, 2003, to March 31, 2010, when he was succeeded by William J. Riley. He has been the oldest Eighth Circuit judge who still occupies their seat (meaning not in senior status) since December 14, 2018, when Roger Leland Wollman went senior.^[2]

Notable cases

• In July 2017, Loken wrote for the en banc Eighth Circuit when it found, by a vote of 7–2, that the National Labor Relations Act did not protect Jimmy John's employees from being fired for putting up Industrial Workers of the World posters seeking sick leave.^[3]
• In November 2022, Loken wrote for a three-judge panel upholding an immigration judge's finding that an asylum applicant who had been brutally raped by military officers in her home country, Cameroon, was not credible because she did not provide medical records from the government hospital that attended to her injuries.^[4]

See also

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 6)
• List of United States federal judges by longevity of service

References

1. "Judge James B. Loken".
2. "Loken, James B. - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
3. Note, Recent Case: Eighth Circuit Holds Employee Organizing Activity Unprotected for Disloyalty Despite Lack of “Malicious Motive”, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1820 (2018).
4. "Adongafac v. Garland, 53 F.4th 1114 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

External links

• FJC Bio

Legal offices
Preceded by Gerald Heaney	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 1990–present	Incumbent
Preceded by David R. Hansen	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 2003–2010	Succeeded by William J. Riley