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21 Facts About Joel Flaum

1.

Joel Martin Flaum was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

2.

Joel Flaum was a United States Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander, JAG Corps from 1981 to 1992.

3.

Joel Flaum was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois, from 1964 to 1965.

4.

Joel Flaum then transitioned into public service as an Assistant State's Attorney of Cook County, Illinois, from 1965 to 1969.

5.

Joel Flaum served as a Lecturer, Northwestern University School of Law from 1967 to 1969, and he helped found the Police Legal Advisory Program at Northwestern.

6.

Joel Flaum was an Assistant Attorney General of Illinois from 1969 to 1970, and he became First Assistant Attorney General of Illinois from 1970 to 1972.

7.

Joel Flaum was First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1972 to 1975.

8.

On November 18,1974, at the age of 38, Joel Flaum was nominated by President Gerald Ford to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by Judge Philip Willis Tone.

9.

Joel Flaum was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18,1974, and received his commission on December 20,1974.

10.

Joel Flaum's service terminated on June 1,1983, due to elevation to the Seventh Circuit Court.

11.

Joel Flaum was then nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 14,1983, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated by Judge Robert Arthur Sprecher.

12.

Joel Flaum was confirmed by the Senate on May 4,1983, and received his commission on May 5,1983.

13.

Joel Flaum served as Chief Judge from 2000 to 2006.

14.

In March 2017, Joel Flaum found that police officers could not be sued for needlessly destroying property during a search because they had prevented the owner from witnessing which officers had caused the damage.

15.

Joel Flaum was joined by Kenneth Francis Ripple in his concurrence, and the two of them joined part of the majority opinion written by Diane Wood.

16.

On June 25,2018, Joel Flaum again cast the decisive vote in favor of abortion rights, to deny rehearing of the April 2018 cases.

17.

On September 7,2018, Joel Flaum ruled that the felon dispossession statutes that barred felons from getting rifles does not violate the Second Amendment.

18.

Joel Flaum was joined by Kenneth Francis Ripple over the dissent of Amy Coney Barrett.

19.

In June 2020, Joel Flaum, joined by Judge Amy St Eve and then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett, held that during resentencing under the First Step Act, a previous sentence over double the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines range could not simply be reimposed without explanation.

20.

Joel Flaum died in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on December 4,2024, at the age of 88.

21.

Joel Flaum was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln by the Governor of Illinois in 2008 in the area of government and law.