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Kim R. Gibson

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Kim Richard Gibson
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 3, 2016
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In office
September 23, 2003 – June 3, 2016
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byD. Brooks Smith
Succeeded byNicholas Ranjan
Personal details
Born
Kim Richard Gibson

(1948-05-29) May 29, 1948 (age 76)
Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
Dickinson School of Law (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1970 – 1996
Rank Colonel
UnitJudge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army

Kim Richard Gibson (born May 29, 1948)[1] is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

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Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Gibson received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1970, and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Dickinson School of Law, (now known as Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson Law), in 1975. He was an editor of the Dickinson Law Review. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in June 1970 and following completion of airborne and ranger training, he served as an armor officer until October 1975.

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Gibson attended The JAG School at the University of Virginia and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps. He served as JAG officer until August 1978. Following his release from active duty he continued to serve in the United States Army Reserve and retired as a Colonel, JAG, USAR in 1996. In 1991, he and his JAG Detachment were activated during the first Gulf War.

Gibson was in private practice as a sole practitioner in Somerset, Pennsylvania, from 1978 through 1997. During that time he served as a public defender, attorney for Children and Youth Services, solicitor for a school district and various municipalities, and as solicitor for Somerset County.

State judicial career

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He was elected to the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas in 1997. During his time on the common pleas bench, he was instrumental in establishing Victim Impact Panels and Juvenile Drug Court (only the second such court in Pennsylvania).

Federal judicial service

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On April 28, 2003, Gibson was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by D. Brooks Smith. Gibson was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 23, 2003, and received his commission the following day.[2] Gibson assumed senior status on June 3, 2016.

In April 2017, Gibson was reversed by a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after he rejected the claims under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution made by the parents of a mentally ill prisoner who had committed suicide after being segregated into solitary confinement.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Kim R. Gibson, Senior District Judge". www.pawd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  2. ^ Pres. Nom. 540, 108th Cong. (2003).
  3. ^ Note, Recent Case: Third Circuit Holds Parents of Mentally Ill Young Man Held in Solitary Confinement Stated Claims of Cruel and Unusual Punishment, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1481 (2018).
  4. ^ Palakovicv v. Wetzel, No.3:14-145,2015 (W.D. Pa. June 26, 2015).
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
2003–2016 		Succeeded by
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