{{Short description|American judge (1927–2002)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Robert F. Stephens | honorific_suffix = | office = Kentucky Secretary of Justice | term_start = May 4, 1999 | term_end = April 13, 2002 | governor = Paul E. Patton | predecessor = Dan Cherry | successor = Ishmon F. Burks Jr | office2 = Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | term_start2 = October 2, 1982 | term_end2 = October 5, 1998 | predecessor2 = John Palmore | successor2 = Joseph Lambert | office3 = Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | term_start3 = December 5, 1979 | term_end3 = May 4, 1999 | predecessor3 = Scott Elgin Reed | successor3 = James E. Keller | order4 = 42nd | office4 = Attorney General of Kentucky | term_start4 = January 5, 1976 | term_end4 = December 5, 1979 | governor4 = Julian Carroll | predecessor4 = Ed W. Hancock | successor4 = Steve Beshear | office5 = County Judge of Fayette County | term_start5 = January 5, 1970 | term_end5 = January 5, 1976 | predecessor5 = Joe E. Johnson III | successor5 = Paul D. Gudgel | birth_name = Robert Francis Stephens, Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|08|16}} | birth_place = Covington, Kentucky | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|04|13|1927|08|16}} | death_place = Lexington, Kentucky | resting_place = Lexington Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Democratic Party | spouse = {{marriage|Lola June Sandusky|June 27, 1953|1983|end=div}}<br />{{marriage|Pattie White McLellan|November 26, 1985|September 28, 1993|end=div}} | relations = | children = 4 | alma_mater = Indiana University<br />University of Kentucky College of Law | profession = Lawyer | known_for = Longest-serving chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | branch = United States Navy | service_years = 1945 | rank = | unit = | commands = | battles = World War II }} '''Robert Francis Stephens Jr.''' (August 16, 1927 – April 13, 2002) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge.
==Early life== Robert Francis Stephens Jr. was born August 26, 1928, in Covington, Kentucky, to Robert Francis and his first wife, Helen Macke.<ref name=fulfilled>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=Robert Stephens has fulfilled dream, built stellar career |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=December 9, 2001}}</ref> He was the only child of this marriage, which ended in divorce, but his father would marry twice more, and each marriage brought Stephens a step-sibling.<ref name=fulfilled /> At age 7, Stephens moved with his mother to Miami, Florida, where her new husband, Joseph Dressman, was the city editor for the ''Miami Herald''.<ref name=fulfilled /> When the paper was sold, Stephens' step-father lost his job, and the family moved back to Northern Kentucky, where Dressman got a job with ''The Cincinnati Times-Star''.<ref name=fulfilled />
Stephens graduated as valedictorian of his class at Beechwood High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, in 1945.<ref name=stepdown>{{cite news |last=Estep |first=Bill |title=Chief Justice preparing to step down |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=May 7, 1998}}</ref> He joined the United States Navy for a year and served in World War II before completing a pre-law curriculum at Indiana University in 1948 and receiving his law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1951.<ref name=lhlobit>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=Robert F. Stephens 1927–2002 |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=April 14, 2002}}</ref> After graduation, he worked as a law clerk for future Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs, then a justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.<ref name=fulfilled /> In 1952, he began work as an attorney for the state Department of Insurance.<ref name=stepdown /> From 1953 to 1958, he served as counsel for Savage Lumber and Manufacturing Company, a Lexington company owned by his father-in-law.<ref name=fulfilled /><ref name=stepdown /> For the next three years, he was a partner in a Lexington law firm with Harry B. Miller Jr., but left the firm and pursued a solo legal practice and political career.<ref name=fulfilled />
In 1985, Stephens served as a vestry member at Lexington's Christ Church Cathedral.<ref name=stepdown />
==Family== On June 27, 1953, Stephens married Lola June Sandusky; the couple had four children – three sons and a daughter.<ref name=kids>{{cite news |title=Where prominent Kentuckians send their children |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=January 10, 1993}}</ref><ref name=1marriage>{{cite news |title=Sandusky-Stephens |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |location=Louisville, Kentucky |date=May 3, 1953 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/108494258/ |accessdate=March 29, 2016}}</ref> They separated in 1983 and later divorced.<ref name=engagements>{{cite news |title=Engagements |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=September 16, 2001}}</ref><ref name=blasts>{{cite news |title=Lawyer blasts justice |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Kentucky Post |location=Covington, Kentucky |date=June 19, 1992}}</ref>
Stephens married his second wife, Pattie White McLellan, on November 26, 1985.<ref name=fulfilled /><ref name=judgeshop>{{cite news |last=Tolliver |first=Thomas |title=Attorney says Chief Justice is 'judge shopping' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=June 20, 1992}}</ref> The couple separated on September 1, 1990, and Stephens filed for divorce on June 1, 1992.<ref name=reinstate>{{cite news |last=Tolliver |first=Thomas |title=Chief Justice denied move for new judge |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=June 24, 1992}}</ref> When the case was assigned to one of Stephens' former political opponents, his lawyer, State Senator Michael Maloney, withdrew the divorce petition and re-filed it the next day.<ref name=reinstate /> When the second petition was assigned to a different judge, Stephens' wife's lawyer accused Stephens of judge shopping, alleging the second judge had political connections to both Stephens and Maloney.<ref name=judgeshop /> On appeal, the Fayette County Domestic Relations Commissioner reinstated the original petition, saying Maloney should have asked the judge to recuse himself rather than withdrawing and re-filing the petition.<ref name=reinstate /> Ultimately, both judges recused themselves from hearing the case, and it was randomly assigned to a third judge, who finalized the divorce on September 28, 1993.<ref name=thirdjudge>{{cite news |last=Tolliver |first=Thomas |title=Moloney scolded for 'judge shopping' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=June 26, 1992}}</ref><ref name=divorcefinal>{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Robert H. |title=Chief Justice denies divorce claim on hidden assets |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=September 29, 1993}}</ref>
==Political career== In 1964, Stephens become the county attorney for Fayette County.<ref name=fighting>{{cite news |last=Hackett |first=George W. |title=Gabbard fighting Stephens for judgeship |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=October 21, 1984}}</ref> Running as a Democrat in 1969, he defeated incumbent county judge Joe E. Johnson III.<ref name=countyjudge>{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Virginia |title=Ex-politician finds 'reasonable' home in horse business |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=May 14, 1984}}</ref> In this position, he acquired several acres of park land for the city, including the {{convert|105|acre|km2}} Shillito Park.<ref name=lhlobit /> He also oversaw the planning of the Lexington Civic Center and created the Bluegrass Area Development District, serving as its first chair in 1971.<ref name=lhlobit /> After being re-elected in 1973, Stephens was a leader in the movement to consolidate the governments of Lexington and Fayette County, forming the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in 1974.<ref name=lhlobit /> The position of county judge lost much of its power in the merger.<ref name=lhlobit /> Stephens considered running for mayor of Lexington, but Governor Julian Carroll advised him against it, and he decided not to enter the race.<ref name=fulfilled />
In 1975, Stephens defeated David van Horn in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Kentucky.<ref name=vanhorn>{{cite news |last=Hewlett |first=Jennifer |title=David van Horn 1929–2001 |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=January 2, 2002}}</ref> He won the general election over Republican Joe Whittle.<ref name=whittle>{{cite news |title=Whittle suggested for U.S. Attorney job |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=May 23, 1985}}</ref> As attorney general, he strengthened consumer protection measures and unified the state's Commonwealth's attorneys offices under the office of the attorney general to provide them with more support in their duties.<ref name=lhlobit />
===Kentucky Supreme Court=== In November 1979, a month before his term as attorney general expired, Stephens was appointed by Governor Carroll to fill a vacancy on the Kentucky Supreme Court caused by the resignation of Scott Elgin Reed.<ref name=hha /><ref name=plan>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=Chief Justice to offer judge-election plan |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=October 5, 1985}}</ref> The following year, he was chosen in a special election to fill the remainder of Reed's unexpired term, defeating N. Mitchell Meade.<ref name=blasts /><ref name=fighting /> In October 1982, following the resignation of chief justice John Palmore, Stephens was chosen by his peers as the court's new chief justice over James B. Stephenson, who also desired the job.<ref name=fighting /><ref name=4new>{{cite news |title=State Supreme Court getting 4 new justices |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=January 3, 1983}}</ref>
Lexington lawyer Julian Reid Gabbard challenged Stephens for his seat representing the 5th Appellate District in the 1984 election.<ref name=84challenge>{{cite news |last=Cohn |first=Ray |title=51 House members will face opposition in primary |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=March 16, 1984}}</ref> While Stephens had worked to increase the number of judgeships in the state to mitigate judges' workloads, Gabbard maintained that, "I've never seen a judge overworked. I've only seen them overpaid."<ref name=fighting /> Gabbard also said the increasing costs of filing a suit were impeding citizens' access to the court system.<ref name=fighting /> Further, Gabbard complained that Stephens' acceptance of campaign contributions from lawyers could compromise his impartiality when those lawyers later argued cases before him.<ref name=contributions>{{cite news |title=Lawyers' contributions to judge challenged |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lexington Herald Leader |date=October 30, 1984}}</ref>
Late in the contest, Gabbard asked to have the seat declared vacant until 1986 because the 1984 General Assembly had changed the district's make-up, moving Powell, Lee, Estill and Garrard counties to other districts while adding Anderson, Spencer and Washington counties to the 5th District.<ref name=vacant>{{cite news |title=Judicial candidate wants seat vacant |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=October 18, 1984}}</ref> Although both Stephens and Gabbard lived in Fayette County, which was not moved, Gabbard argued that no candidate could meet the two-year residency requirement for the district because the district, as reconstituted, had not existed that long.<ref name=vacant /> Gabbard complained that the change was made after the candidates had filed for office and further accused Stephens of having lobbied for the change in order to remove Powell County from his district because residents of that county had petitioned for his removal from the court after he overturned a death sentence for a county resident convicted of murder.<ref name=battle>{{cite news |last=Reynold |first=Sharon M. |title=Lawyer vows court battle if district makeup changed |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=April 5, 1984}}</ref>
Stephens raised about $93,000 in the race, which he used in a multimedia ad campaign.<ref name=84elect>{{cite news |last=Tolliver |first=Thomas |title=Robert Stephens wins re-election to high court |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=November 7, 1984}}</ref> Gabbard, who refused contributions from lawyers, raised almost $6,000 and did relatively little campaigning.<ref name=84elect /> Stephens won the election for a full, eight-year term on the court by a vote of 65,917 to 14,087.<ref name=84elect />
Stephens implemented a plan to educate the public about the role of the Supreme Court by holding court in locations other than the state capital.<ref name=movecourt>{{cite news |last=Mueller |first=Lee |title=JUDGE CALLS HIGH COURT'S PLANNED TRIP POLITICAL |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=March 15, 1988}}</ref> In 1986, the court sat in Louisville, and in May 1987, it sat in both Owensboro and Paducah in the western part of the state.<ref name=movecourt /> In 1988, however, Court of Appeals justice Dan Jack Combs objected to the court's plan to sit in Ashland, Pikeville, and Hazard, claiming the move was designed to help 7th District Justice James B. Stephenson retain his seat on the court. Combs was Stephenson's challenger in the election, and Ashland, Pikeville, and Hazard were the three most populous cities in the district.<ref name=movecourt /> Stephens claimed the timing of the court's tour through the eastern part of the state was coincidental.<ref name=movecourt /> Combs ultimately won a convincing victory in the election.<ref name=combselect>{{cite news |last=Mueller |first=Lee |title=Combs expected to steer high court to left |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=November 17, 1988}}</ref>
The court's most notable decision during Stephens' tenure was the 1989 case of ''Rose v. Council for Better Education'', which found Kentucky's entire public education system unconstitutional because of the inherent inequity between funding for poorer districts and more affluent ones.<ref name=keobit>{{cite news |title=Robert Stephens mourned |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=April 17, 2002 |url=http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/17/loc_robert_stephens.html |accessdate=March 10, 2016}}</ref> He also presided over decisions that ended legal immunity for Kentucky cities and found legal the economic incentives offered by the state to Toyota to entice the construction of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky assembly plant.<ref name=dnobit>{{cite news |title=Former Chief Justice Robert Stephens Dies |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Bowling Green, Kentucky |date=April 14, 2002 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=20020414&id=EP4aAAAAIBAJ&pg=5709,1299362&hl=en}}</ref> As chief justice, Stephens instituted advances such as videotaping the court's proceedings and keeping electronic court records.<ref name=dnobit /> He also advocated reforms by the Kentucky Bar Association to increase transparency in cases of discipline against lawyers.<ref name=dnobit />
Stephens' peers on the court elected to him to an unprecedented third, four-year term as chief justice in 1990.<ref name=90chief>{{cite news |last=Chellgren |first=Mark |title=Chief Justice rethinking decision to retire in '92|newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=June 20, 1990}}</ref> Later that year, he announced he would reconsider his longstanding decision to retire at the end of his term in 1992, but said his re-election as chief justice was not a factor in the decision.<ref name=90chief /> He was unopposed in the 1992 election.<ref name=92unopposed>{{cite news |title=Who has filed to run for state House, Senate, judgeships |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=January 29, 1992}}</ref> In July 1997, Stephens was in the minority in a 5–2 decision against Harold McQueen Jr., who sought a stay of execution in the electric chair on grounds that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment.<ref name=coj>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=From Chief Justice to chief of justice |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=February 17, 1999}}</ref>
Stephens continued as chief justice until October 1998, making him the longest-serving chief justice in the court's history.<ref name=dnobit /> He resigned from the court in May 1999 to accept an appointment as Secretary of Justice in the administration of Governor Paul E. Patton.<ref name=dnobit /> He was instrumental in securing Ishmon F. Burks Jr.'s appointment as the first African-American commissioner of the Kentucky State Police in August 2000.<ref name=lhlobit />
In June 2001, Stephens was diagnosed with lung cancer, which spread to his liver later that year.<ref name=fulfilled /> He continued in his position as Secretary of Justice until his death, which occurred at his home on April 13, 2002.<ref name=dnobit /> After lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Stephens was buried in Lexington Cemetery.<ref name=lhlobit />
==Awards and honors== In 1984, Stephens received the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award, in part for his work in making continuing legal education mandatory for judges in Kentucky.<ref name=hha>{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Merlene |title=CITY/STATE |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=March 10, 1984}}</ref> The Kentucky Bar Association named him its Outstanding Judge of the Year in 1986.<ref name=u&law>{{cite news |last=Bridges |first=G. Wayne |title=YOU AND THE LAW |newspaper=The Kentucky Post |location=Covington, Kentucky |date=April 1, 1991}}</ref>
Just before the expiration of her term in December 1987, Governor Martha Layne Collins appointed Stephens to a seat on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.<ref name=ukbot>{{cite news |last1=Lucke |first1=Jaime |last2=Rugeley |first2=Cindy |last3=Roser |first3=Mary Ann |title=Wilkinson is left two spots to fill on UK's board |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=December 8, 1987}}</ref> Before assuming the position, Stephens requested a non-binding opinion from the Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Judiciary on the legality of his simultaneously serving as a Supreme Court Justice and a university trustee.<ref name=ethics>{{cite news |last=Brammer |first=Jack |title=Judicial panel says Chief Justice can join UK board, with limitations |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=January 12, 1988}}</ref> The panel advised Stephens not to provide legal counsel to the board, not to raise funds for the university, not to vote as a trustee on any matter likely to result in a lawsuit, and to recuse himself as a justice from any case involving the university.<ref name=ethics /> Stephens agreed to these restrictions and began his term as trustee in January 1988.<ref name=ethics /> His term expired in 1992, and then-Governor Brereton Jones refused to re-appoint him, along with two other state court judges who sat on other university boards, because he felt there was too much potential for conflicts of interest.<ref name=boardcoi>{{cite news |last=Gregory |first=Eric |title=Jones names new boards, Wilkinson ousted |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=July 1, 1992}}</ref>
In 1991, Stephens received a Justice Award from the Kentucky Women's Advocates "for creating the Gender Bias Task Force to investigate the fairness of the judicial system for women and for making records regarding domestic violence public."<ref name=justiceaward>{{cite news |last=Kreimer |first=Peggy |title=Local officials honored, criticized by women's group |newspaper=The Kentucky Post |location=Covington, Kentucky |date=October 5, 1991}}</ref> The organization gave Stephens a second Justice Award in 1995 for "his support of the adoption of gender fairness into state judicial language and his continued support of equal justice for women".<ref name=justiceaward2>{{cite news |last=Ward |first=Barbara |title=Kentucky women advocates give Gorman 'Outstanding Unjust Award' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=February 19, 1995}}</ref>
Stephens was elected president of the Conference of Chief Justices in 1992.<ref name=dnobit /> In 1993, staff members for the Kentucky Supreme Court compiled and published 500 copies of a 55-page book of Stephens' accomplishments entitled "A Decade of Progress for Kentucky Courts".<ref name=book>{{cite news |title=Book of praise for judge gets mixed reviews |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Kentucky Post |location=Covington, Kentucky |date=September 23, 1993}}</ref> The book was mailed to every state's chief justice and to every judge in Kentucky.<ref name=book /> Critics complained that the book contained no criticism of Stephens, was researched during employees' regular work hours, and was mailed at state taxpayers' expense.<ref name=book /> Administrative Office of the Courts Director Don Cetrulo ultimately reimbursed the state for the postage and donated three weeks of vacation time to cover the time spent researching the book.<ref name=reimburse>{{cite news |last=Houck |first=Jeanne |title=Court officer tries to ease controversy |newspaper=The Kentucky Post |location=Covington, Kentucky |date=October 19, 1993}}</ref>
Stephens was inducted into the University of Kentucky Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 1996.<ref name=ukhof>{{cite web |title=Alumni Hall of Fame |publisher=University of Kentucky Alumni Association |url=http://law.uky.edu/alumni-and-giving/alumni-hall-fame |accessdate=March 29, 2016}}</ref> The Robert F. Stephens Justice Center, which opened in 2001, houses the district and circuit courts for Fayette County.<ref name=center>{{cite news |last=Brim |first=Risa |title=Courthouse awaited as 'next big thing' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=April 12, 2001}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef | before = Ed W. Hancock}} {{s-ttl | title = {{nowrap|Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Kentucky}} | years = 1975}} {{s-aft | after = Steve Beshear}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Robert F.}} Category:1927 births Category:2002 deaths Category:20th-century American Episcopalians Category:Chief justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court Category:County judges in Kentucky Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Kentucky Category:Indiana University alumni Category:Kentucky attorneys general Category:Kentucky Democrats Category:Kentucky county attorneys Category:Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court Category:Politicians from Covington, Kentucky Category:United States Navy sailors Category:University of Kentucky alumni Category:20th-century Kentucky state court judges Category:20th-century American lawyers