Ted Stewart

{{Short description|American judge (born 1948)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ted Stewart | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | term_start = September 1, 2014 | term_end = | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | term_start1 = 2011 | term_end1 = 2014 | predecessor1 = Tena Campbell | successor1 = David Nuffer | office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah | term_start2 = November 11, 1999 | term_end2 = September 1, 2014 | appointer2 = Bill Clinton | predecessor2 = John Thomas Greene Jr. | successor2 = Howard C. Nielson Jr. | pronunciation = | birth_name = Brian Theadore Stewart | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|8|19}} | birth_place = Logan, Utah, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = Chris Stewart (brother) | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = Utah State University (BS)<br>{{nowrap|University of Utah (JD)}} | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }}

'''Brian Theadore Stewart''' (born August 19, 1948)<ref>{{Cite book|page=1446|title=Proceedings of a National Convention of Railroad Commissioners|volume=2|year=1991|author=National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners}}</ref> is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

== Early life and education ==

Stewart was born in Logan, Utah. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State University in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.<ref name=fjc>{{FJC Bio|nid=1391021|inline=yes}}</ref>

== Career ==

From 1974 until 1980, Stewart worked in private legal practice in Salt Lake City. He then served as an assistant to Senator Orrin Hatch in 1980, and then worked as an administrative assistant to Congressman James V. Hansen from 1981 until 1985. From 1985 until 1992, Stewart was a commissioner on the Public Service Commission of Utah. From 1993 until 1998, Stewart served as the executive director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources.<ref name=fjc/> From 1998 until becoming a federal judge in 1999, Stewart served as a chief of staff to then-Utah Governor Mike Leavitt.<ref name=fjc/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-10-mn-64301-story.html|title=Clinton Calls on Senate to Confirm Judicial Nominees|first=SAM FULWOOD|last=III|date=10 August 1999|publisher=|via=LA Times}}</ref>

Stewart was a visiting professor at Utah State University in 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. He was also a visiting professor at Weber State University in 1997.<ref name="fjc" />

=== Federal judicial service ===

In mid-1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Stewart to federal district court to fill a seat vacated by Judge John Thomas Greene Jr., who assumed senior status in November 1997.<ref name=fjc/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/z?nomis:106PN0045500:|title=PN455 - Nomination of Brian Theadore Stewart for The Judiciary, 106th Congress (1999-2000)|date=5 October 1999|website=thomas.loc.gov|access-date=28 May 2011|archive-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217100453/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/z?nomis:106PN0045500:|url-status=dead}}</ref> Clinton, a Democrat, nominated Stewart, a Republican, because Stewart was a friend of Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Hatch at that time was the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.<ref name=NYT1999>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/22/us/in-odd-turn-democrats-stall-clinton-s-nominees.html|title=In Odd Turn, Democrats Stall Clinton's Nominees|first=Neil A.|last=Lewis|work=The New York Times |date=22 September 1999|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> Clinton did so as a courtesy to Hatch, hoping the gesture would encourage Republican senators to act to confirm many of the president's languishing judicial nominees.<ref name=NYT1999/>

However, Hatch demanded that Stewart be confirmed before senators could consider other judicial nominees.<ref name=NYT1999/> That enraged Senate Democrats, who refused to allow for a vote on Stewart. That prompted Republican senators to take the then very rare move of filing for cloture on the nomination of a federal district judge. On September 21, 1999, Democrats unified to successfully filibuster Stewart's nomination, by a 55–44 vote on the Senate floor that may well have been the only successful filibuster ever on a federal district court nominee.<ref name=NYT1999/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00281|title=On the Cloture Motion (Cloture Motion: Nom. Brian T. Stewart of Utah, to be U.S. Dist. Judge)|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref>

Two weeks later, Democratic and Republican senators announced a deal that paved the way for votes on the nominations of Stewart and two other judicial nominees.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 1, 1999|title= Standoff over Stewart ends on Hill Hatch cries victory as Demos lift their block on nominee|url=https://www.deseret.com/1999/10/2/19468511/standoff-over-stewart-ends-on-hill-br-hatch-cries-victory-as-demos-lift-their-block-on-nominee|website=deseret.com|access-date=May 29, 2023}}</ref> On October 5, 1999, the Senate confirmed Stewart by a 93–5 vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00308|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation, Brian T. Stewart, of Utah, to be U.S. District Judge)|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> Stewart received his judicial commission on November 11, 1999.<ref name=fjc/> He served as chief judge from 2011 to 2014. He assumed senior status on September 1, 2014.<ref name=fjc/>

===Notable case===

Stewart made the initial ruling in favor of the terms-of sale restrictions on the easement in the LDS plaza by the Salt Lake Temple.<ref>''Deseret News'', May 3, 2004</ref>

On August 1, 2023, Stewart dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Free Speech Coalition against the state of Utah. The lawsuit claimed that a Utah law requiring an age verification system on websites containing pornography violated the First Amendment. The Free Speech Coalition stated that it would appeal Judge Stewart's ruling.<ref name="Tavss 2023">{{cite web |last=Tavss |first=Jeff |title=Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging Utah porn site age-verification law |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=August 1, 2023 | url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/08/01/judge-dismisses-lawsuit/ |access-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Metz 2023">{{cite web |last=Metz |first=Sam |title=Utah law requiring age verification for porn sites remains in effect after judge tosses lawsuit |website=AP |date=August 2, 2023 |url=https://apnews.com/article/porn-age-verification-lawsuit-dismissed-utah-23cf1851eeba6ca52ad3fdd0e846cb1f |access-date=August 10, 2023}}</ref>

== Personal ==

Stewart is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With his brother, Chris Stewart, he wrote the book ''Seven Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope'', which was published in 2009, and the book ''The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World'', which was published in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/new-utah-congressman-has-ties-that-bind-family|title=New Utah congressman has ties that bind: family|date=23 January 2013|publisher=}}</ref> In 2017, he wrote the book ''Supreme Power: 7 Pivotal Supreme Court Decisions That Had a Major Impact on America''.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{FJC Bio|nid=1391021}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=John Thomas Greene Jr.}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah}}|years=1999–2014}} {{s-aft|after=Howard C. Nielson Jr.}} {{s-bef|before=Tena Campbell}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah}}|years=2011–2014}} {{s-aft|after=David Nuffer}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ted}} Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American judges Category:21st-century American judges Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Utah Category:People from Logan, Utah Category:United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Category:University of Utah alumni Category:Utah State University alumni Category:Utah State University faculty