John R. Tunheim
John R. Tunheim | |
|---|---|
 U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim | |
| Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2023 | |
| Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota | |
| In office July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Michael J. Davis |
| Succeeded by | Patrick J. Schiltz |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota | |
| In office December 26, 1995 – December 1, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Donald Alsop |
| Succeeded by | Jeffrey Bryan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 30, 1953 |
| Education | Concordia College (BA) University of Minnesota (JD) |
John Raymond Tunheim (born September 30, 1953)[1] is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Education and career
Tunheim was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, in 1953. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975.[2] He then attended the University of Minnesota Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1980. From 1980 to 1981, Tunheim was a law clerk for Judge Earl R. Larson of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. From 1981 to 1984, he was in private practice in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He then joined the Office of the State Attorney General of Minnesota, serving as an assistant state attorney general and the manager of the Public Affairs Litigation Division from 1984 to 1985, as Minnesota state solicitor general from 1985 to 1986, and as chief deputy state attorney general from 1986 to 1995. He was an adjunct professor in the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994. Tunheim also chaired the Assassination Records Review Board, which oversaw the collection of records relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, from 1994 to 1995.[3]
Tunheim was interviewed for the 2021 documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.[4] In 2025 he testified at the second hearing of the House Oversight Committee's "Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets".[5]
Federal judicial service
On July 10, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Tunheim to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota vacated by Donald Alsop. Tunheim was confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 1995, and received his commission on December 26. He served as chief judge from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2022. He assumed senior status on December 1, 2023.[6] He has sat by designation on both the Eighth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Tunheim served on the federal judiciary's Committee on Court Administration and Case Management from 2000 to 2009, and chaired it from 2005.[7][8]
References
- ^ United States Senate (February 1, 1994). Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs. p. 21.
- ^ Nicole M. Moen, THE FEDERAL LAWYER, December 2015, p. 35, https://fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Tunheim-Hon-John-R-pdf-3.pdf
- ^ Steller, Chris. "Minnesota judge: CIA 'probably misled' panel he led on JFK assassination". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ Hopewell, John (October 12, 2019). "AGC Television Picks up Worldwide on Oliver Stone's 'JFK: Destiny Betrayed'". Variety. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Whiteside, Steph (20 May 2025). "Witnesses accuse CIA of obstructing JFK investigations". NewsNation.
- ^ John R. Tunheim at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "The Honorable John R. Tunheim". American Conference Institute. December 4, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2018. (conference biography)
- ^ "Lawyers in Brisbane".
External links
- John R. Tunheim at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
- Minnesota judge: CIA ‘probably misled’ panel he led on JFK assassination
- Judge John Tunheim to Chair Humphrey School Advisory Council. University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs (2009).