{{Short description|American judge (1933–2021)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = James D. Heiple | honorific_suffix = | image = Judge James D. Heiple.png | alt = | caption = | office = Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court | term_start = January 1997 | term_end = May 2, 1997 | predecessor = Michael A. Bilandic | successor = Charles E. Freeman | office1 = Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court | term_start1 = December 3, 1990 | term_end1 = December 3, 2000 | predecessor1 = Howard C. Ryan | successor1 = Thomas Kilbride | office2 = Judge of the Illinois Court of Appeals | term_start2 = 1980 | term_end2 = 1990 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|09|13}} | birth_place = Peoria, Illinois | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|01|18|1933|09|13|mf=yes}} | death_place = Peoria, Illinois | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | party = Republican | other_party = | spouse = | relatives = | alma_mater = Bradley University (BS)<br>University of Louisville (JD)<br>University of Virginia (LLM) | occupation = lawyer, judge | profession = | known_for = | awards = }} '''James Dee Heiple'''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica0000unse_i3r7/page/334/mode/2up|title=Who's Who in American Law, 1996-1997|year=1996|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=334}}</ref> (September 13, 1933 – January 18, 2021) was an American attorney and jurist. He was elected as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1990, and went on to serve as its chief justice briefly in 1997, and continued to serve on the court until his retirement in 2000.<ref name="ICG">[http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/supremecourt/justicearchive/Bio_Heiple.asp James D. Heiple at Illinoiscourts.gov].</ref>
==Early life and education== Born in Peoria, Illinois, Heiple received a B.S. from Bradley University in his hometown. He studied law in Louisville, Kentucky, and received a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1957. Heiple later received an LL.M from the University of Virginia School of Law.<ref name="ICG"/>
==Career== After admission to Illinois bar, Heiple entered private legal practice with his father in Tazewell County, Illinois, with offices in Washington and Pekin, until 1970.<ref name="ICG"/> He specialized in municipal law and acted as corporation counsel for many municipalities.<ref name="ISBA obit">{{cite news|title=Justice James D. Heiple 1933–2021|url=https://www.isba.org/barnews/2021/01/justicejamesdheiple19332021|date=January 20, 2021|access-date=January 22, 2021|publisher=Illinois State Bar Association}}</ref> During this period, he also worked as an appellate law clerk, public defender, special master in chancery, manager of two banks, and farm-owner.<ref name="ICG"/><ref name="ISBA obit"/> He served as president of the Illinois Judges Association and Tazewell County Bar Association, as well as acting as chair for Illinois State Bar Association councils.<ref name="ISBA obit"/>
Heiple was elected to the Illinois Circuit Court in 1970. Ten years later, he was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court. He successfully ran in 1990 to succeed retiring Illinois Supreme Court Justice Howard C. Ryan, for whom he had previously clerked.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kenney |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5J-qXCW_usC&pg=PA129 |title=Basic Illinois Government: A Systematic Explanation |last2=Brown |first2=Barbara L. |date=1993 |publisher=SIU Press |isbn=978-0-8093-1822-3 |language=en}}</ref> He billed himself as a "Common Sense Choice" for north-central Illinois and won that election against Tobias Barry by less than one percentage point.<ref name="ISBA obit"/> Several lawyers were of the opinion that Heiple would more inclined to engage in oral arguments and author dissenting opinions, given his reputation as "an independent thinker".{{sfn|Miller|2001|p=312}}
Heiple authored the state Supreme Court's opinion in the controversial "Baby Richard Case" in 1994.<ref>In re Doe, 159 Ill. 2d 347, 349–51, 638 N.E.2d 181, 181–82 (1994) available at https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2123883/in-re-petition-of-doe/.</ref> The case involved a mother who was no longer in a relationship with the father and consequently gave up their baby for adoption without informing him. Heiple notably wrote how the state's adoption laws "are designed to protect natural parents in their preemptive rights to their own children wholly apart from any consideration of the so-called best interests of the child. If it were otherwise, few parents would be secure in the custody of their own children".<ref name=Schlenker>{{cite news|title=Illinois Justice James Heiple Passes Away|url=https://www.wglt.org/post/illinois-justice-james-heiple-passes-away#stream/0|first=Charlie|last=Schlenker|date=January 20, 2021|access-date=January 22, 2021|publisher=WGLT}}</ref> In doing so, he reversed the decisions of the circuit and appeals courts and gave custody of the child to the biological father.<ref name=Schlenker/> The judgment led to criticism among the general populace and public disagreement between Heiple and elected officials, including Jim Edgar, the Governor of Illinois at the time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Controversial 'Baby Richard' judge could face impeachment|url=https://apnews.com/article/411c3bb5e172f47be0439bae93035795|date=April 4, 1997|access-date=January 22, 2021|work=Associated Press}}</ref>
===Censure=== The Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board investigated complaints in 1996 that Heiple abused his position during several traffic stops and disobeyed police. Several legal scholars were of the opinion that the investigation resulted – at least to some degree – from the public attention drawn by the aforementioned adoption opinion and its unpopularity.<ref>Jerome B. Meites and Steven F. Pflaum, Justice James D. Heiple: Impeachment and the Assault on Judicial Independence, Loyola University Law Journal vol. 29 (Summer 1998) available at http://lawecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1496&context=luclj</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=After Censure, Chief Justice Of Illinois Quits|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/03/us/after-censure-chief-justice-of-illinois-quits.html|first=Dirk|last=Johnson|date=May 3, 1997|access-date=January 22, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> He was selected by his fellow justices as the chief justice in January 1997.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/84775290/|title=Court names Heiple chief justice|work=Herald and Review|date=1996-09-26}}</ref> The formal complaint filed that same month discussed the various traffic stops in Pekin and various western Illinois counties. It ultimately led to formal censure of Heiple by the Illinois Courts Commission on April 30, 1997. This prompted his resignation as chief justice (but not the court) on May 2, 1997.<ref name=NYT/><ref>{{cite web |title=In re James D. Heiple |url=https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/jib/Documents/Orders%20from%20Courts%20Commission/Heiple.pdf |website=State of Illinois |access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Ken |last2=Pearson |first2=Rick |title=Heiple Quits as Top Justice, Stays on Court |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-05-03-9705030175-story.html |access-date=January 21, 2021 |work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
On April 14, 1997, Heiple was the subject of the first judicial impeachment proceedings in Illinois in 145 years, conducted by an investigative panel of ten representatives of the Illinois House of Representatives. Fellow Justice Benjamin K. Miller testified during Heiple's impeachment proceedings that Heiple had failed to let other court members know the seriousness of the Commission's investigation. The panel voted not to impeach Heiple; he remained on the bench through the end of his term in 2000.<ref name = Tribune>{{cite news |last=Long|first=Ray|date=January 17, 2001|title=Republican Justice Says He Will Retire From State's Supreme Court|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/01/17/republican-justice-says-he-will-retire-from-states-supreme-court/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, Illinois|access-date=March 9, 2017}}</ref> Voters elected Democrat Thomas Kilbride to succeed Heiple. By the end of his tenure on the Illinois Supreme Court, he had written 175 majority opinions, 98 dissents, 27 special concurrences, and 18 partial concurrences or partial dissents.<ref name=Kravetz>{{cite news|title=James Heiple, former Illinois Supreme Court chief justice from Peoria area, dies at 87|url=https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/2021/01/20/james-heiple-former-illinois-supreme-court-justice-dies-87/4238009001/|first=Andy|last=Kravetz|date=January 20, 2021|access-date=January 20, 2021|newspaper=Journal Star|location=Peoria, Illinois}}</ref>
==Personal life== Heiple married Virginia Kerswill on July 28, 1956. Together, they had three children: Jeremy, Jonathan, and Rachel. His wife died in 1995, and their daughter died almost two decades later in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=James Heiple – Obituary (1933–2021)|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pekintimes/obituary.aspx?n=james-heiple&pid=197565295&fhid=17636|date=January 22, 2021|access-date=January 22, 2021|newspaper=Pekin Daily Times}}</ref> Both his sons followed their father's footsteps and joined the legal profession.<ref name=Kravetz/><ref>{{cite web |title=LL.M. Class Notes, Fall 2002 |url=https://www.law.virginia.edu/static/uvalawyer/html/alumni/uvalawyer/f02/llm.htm |website=University of Virginia School of Law |access-date=January 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=LL.M. Class Notes – Fall 2002|url=https://www.law.virginia.edu/static/uvalawyer/html/alumni/uvalawyer/f02/llm.htm|access-date=January 20, 2021|publisher=University of Virginia School of Law|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727230732/https://www.law.virginia.edu/static/uvalawyer/html/alumni/uvalawyer/f02/llm.htm|archive-date=July 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Heiple was a life member of the National Rifle Association of America.{{sfn|Miller|2001|p=312}}
Heiple died on January 18, 2021, at the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois. He was 87 and suffered a brain hemorrhage in the time leading up to his death.<ref name=Kravetz/><ref name=AP>{{cite news|title=Ex-Chief Justice James Heiple dies after brain hemorrhage|url=https://apnews.com/article/peoria-pekin-courts-illinois-2fb5b71b96c19c30337fda7970a4b4d3|date=January 21, 2021|access-date=January 21, 2021|work=Associated Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226025059/https://apnews.com/article/peoria-pekin-courts-illinois-2fb5b71b96c19c30337fda7970a4b4d3|archive-date=February 26, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== '''Specific''' {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} '''Bibliography''' {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9U9Z7rzh6DQC|title=Uncollecting Cheever: The Family of John Cheever vs. Academy Chicago Publishers|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2001|last=Miller|first=Anita|isbn=9780742515345}} {{refend}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court |before=Howard C. Ryan |after=Thomas R. Fitzgerald |years=1990–2000}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiple, James D.}} Category:1933 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois Category:Bradley University alumni Category:University of Louisville School of Law alumni Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni Category:Lawyers from Peoria, Illinois