Gregory F. Van Tatenhove Explained

Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove
Office:Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
Term Start:January 5, 2006
Appointer:George W. Bush
Predecessor:Karl Spillman Forester
Office1:United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky
President1:George W. Bush
Term Start1:2001
Term End1:2005
Predecessor1:Joseph Leslie Famularo[1]
Successor1:Amul Thapar[2]
Birth Date:2 April 1960[3]
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education:Asbury College (BA)
University of Kentucky (JD)

Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove, also known as Greg Van Tatenhove, (born April 2, 1960) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He was a legislative aide of Senator Mitch McConnell, a law clerk for Judge Eugene Edward Siler Jr., United States attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2001–05), and on the recommendation of Senators Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell he was nominated to fill a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Daniel Cameron was a law clerk for Van Tatenhove, who later swore him in as Kentucky Attorney General.

Education and career

Van Tatenhove was born in Los Angeles.[4] He attended high school in Jessamine County, Kentucky, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Asbury College (now Asbury University) in 1982.[5] [6] He was then a legislative Senate aide of Mitch McConnell.[7] [8]

He attended the University of Kentucky College of Law where he obtained a Juris Doctor in 1989. He was a law clerk for Judge Eugene Edward Siler Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, from 1989 to 1990. Van Tatenhove served as a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice, Federal Programs Branch, from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 to 2001, he was chief of staff and legal counsel for Republican Congressman Ron Lewis. In 2001, George W. Bush appointed him as United States attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, a post he held from 2001 to 2005.[9]

Federal judicial service

On September 13, 2005, on the recommendation of Senators Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, President George W. Bush nominated Van Tatenhove to fill a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky previously held by Judge Karl Spillman Forester.[10] Van Tatenhove was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005, and received his commission on January 5, 2006.[11]

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron was a law clerk for Van Tatenhove for two years, in 2011–13.[12] [13] Upon Cameron's election to Kentucky Attorney General, Van Tatenhove swore him into office.[14]

Notable cases

On October 11, 2014, Van Tatenhove held that Kentucky Educational Television did not have to allow a Libertarian candidate to be part of a debate with Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes, the candidate's opponents in a battle to be elected US Senator.[15] [16] [17] [18] The chair of the Kentucky Libertarian Party said he was disgusted with the judge's ruling, given that the TV station had changed its standards for inclusion in the debate mid-stream.[16]

On January 25, 2016, Van Tatenhove ruled in favor of the Christian apologetics, anti-evolution organization, Answers in Genesis, in the case of Ark Encounter vs. Bob Stewart, ordering the state to process the application for the tax rebate incentives for the Ark Encounter theme park that would become available once the attraction opened.[19] [20]

On March 30, 2018, he ruled that Governor Bevin did not violate the 1st amendment when he blocked viewers from his Facebook and Twitter accounts due to their political beliefs.[21] His ruling contradicted a similar ruling that stated that then-president Donald Trump had violated the 1st amendment when blocking individuals from his Twitter account due to their political beliefs.[22]

On May 8, 2020, Van Tatenhove, in a later-overturned opinion, ruled that Kentucky churches could hold in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky starting May 10. In his ruling, he said that in-person meeting was essential for the church, writing "The orders at issue do not simply restrict religious expression; they restrict religious expression in an attempt to protect the public health during a global pandemic."[23] [24] However, a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stayed Van Tatenhove's ruling, and overturned his injunction while an appeal moved forward.[25] Senator Mitch McConnell and 37 other senators filed a brief supporting Van Tatenhove's opinion.[25] In December 2020, the US Supreme Court overturned Van Tatenhove's ruling.[25]

Personal

In November 2020, Van Tatenhove's wife Christy Trout Van Tatenhove donated $250,000 to the McConnell Center, created by Senator Mitch McConnell.[26] [27]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PN939 - Nomination of Gregory F. Van Tatenhove for Department of Justice, 107th Congress (2001–2002). 14 September 2001.
  2. Web site: PN1345 - Nomination of Amul R. Thapar for Department of Justice, 109th Congress (2005–2006). 13 March 2006.
  3. Web site: Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, First Session. United States Congress Senate Committee on the. Judiciary. November 24, 2006. U.S. Government Printing Office. Google Books.
  4. Web site: The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. University of Michigan Law School. 27 February 2012.
  5. Web site: Gregory F. Van Tatenhove - 2002 A Award Recipient. 27 February 2012.
  6. News: Hayes. Bill. Mountains left out of federal judicial appointments. 27 February 2012. Middlesboro Daily News. August 9, 2001.
  7. How Mitch McConnell Became Trump's Enabler-in-Chief. April 10, 2020. The New Yorker. Jane Mayer.
  8. Web site: Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 22 - EXECUTIVE SESSION. www.govinfo.gov.
  9. News: Zuckerbrod. Nancy. Bush picks U.S. attorneys for Kentucky. 27 February 2012. Daily News. August 4, 2001.
  10. Web site: Gregory F. Van Tatenhove. Ballotpedia.
  11. News: King. Lisa. Van Tatenhove confirmed by Senate for judgeship. 27 February 2012. Central Kentucky News. January 12, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051234/http://articles.centralkynews.com/2006-01-12/news/24907961_1_federal-bench-judgeship-project-safe-neighborhoods. 4 March 2016. dead.
  12. Web site: Federal Clerkship Counts as Law Practice, Kentucky Court Rules. Bloomberg Law. October 10, 2019.
  13. News: Bailey . Phillip . Mitch McConnell's former lawyer may run for Kentucky attorney general . 31 July 2019 . The Courier-Journal . 21 December 2018.
  14. Web site: Daniel Cameron takes oath of office for Attorney General early; Beshear appointed him to vacant seat. December 19, 2019. Tom Latek . NKy Tribune.
  15. Web site: Libertarian Nat'l Comm., Inc. v. Holiday, Civil No.: 14-63-GFVT &#124. Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove. October 11, 2014. Casetext.
  16. Web site: Judge denies Libertarian candidate's request to appear on KET program. Dru. Sefton. October 13, 2014. Current.
  17. Web site: Libertarian Senate candidate sues Kentucky Educational Television over exclusion from campaign forum. Dru. Sefton. October 2, 2014. Current.
  18. Web site: Judge denies Libertarian in Ky. Senate debate. Adam. Beam. The Courier-Journal. October 12, 2014.
  19. News: Lovan . Dylan . Ark Encounter Builder Wins Legal Battle Over Tax Incentive . January 25, 2016 . WPCO.com . February 1, 2016.
  20. News: Caproni . Erin . Judge Rules on Ark Encounter Incentives . January 26, 2016 . . February 1, 2016.
  21. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/kentucky/kyedce/3:2017cv00060/83733/26/ March 30, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  22. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/09/739923528/trump-cant-block-twitter-followers-federal-appeals-court-rules "Trump Can't Block Twitter Followers, Federal Appeals Court Rules,"
  23. Web site: Federal judge rules all Kentucky churches can have in-person services starting this Sunday . May 8, 2020 . WKYT. en . 2020-05-21.
  24. Web site: Federal judge rules that Kentucky churches can hold in-person services starting Sunday . Wolfson . Andrew . 2020-05-08 . The Courier-Journal . en . 2020-05-21.
  25. Web site: Supreme Court Rejects Religious School's Challenge to Kentucky Virus Order. Adam. Liptak. December 17, 2020. The New York Times.
  26. Web site: The Courier-Journal. The Courier-Journal.
  27. Web site: Magazine . UofL . 2020-08-11 . The gift of opportunity UofL News . 2024-07-23 . en-US.