Appointed by Barack Obama Spouse(s) Belinda Gergel Name Richard Gergel | Preceded by Henry Herlong Alma mater Duke University Role Judge | |
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Born August 14, 1954 (age 69)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. ( 1954-08-14 ) Education Duke University School of Law, Duke University | ||
Book Talk | Judge Richard Gergel's “Unexampled Courage”
Richard Mark Gergel (born August 14, 1954) is a South Carolina lawyer and United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
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Early life and education
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Gergel earned a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University in 1975 and a Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law in 1979. Gergel's cousin was well known industrial chemist Max Gergel, President/CEO of the Columbia Organic Chemical Company, or COCC.
Professional career
From 1979 until 1980, Gergel served as a law clerk for a law firm in Columbia, South Carolina, and he was a partner with the firm from 1981 until 1982. Beginning in 1983, and continuing until his nomination to the district court, he was the president and partner with his own law firm (most recently known as Gergel, Nickles and Solomon) in Columbia. He has specialized in personal injury law.
Gergel was the attorney representing the South Carolina Education Association and public school teacher Maggi Hall when her First Amendment Rights were denied her by her Superintendent William Foil of Mullins SC. The case went to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond VA and was considered one of the most important First Amendment cases to come down from the 4th Circuit in over a decade.
The case, Hall vs. Marion School District 2, 31 F. 3d 183 (4th Cir. 1994) upheld the lower court's decision that Mullins District 2 acted illegally in firing Hall for exercising free speech in criticizing her superintendent and school board for reckless spending. Hall wrote her journey with the First Amendment, "AFFIRMED: Teachers as Citizens." AFFIRMED, appearing as a one word sentence, on a separate line, is the final word in an opinion wherein the appellate court upholds the decision of the lower.
Federal judicial service
On December 22, 2009, President Obama nominated Gergel to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, to fill the seat vacated by Judge Henry Michael Herlong, Jr., who assumed senior status on June 1, 2009. In his questionnaire to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Gergel wrote that South Carolina Democratic Congressmen John M. Spratt, Jr. and Jim Clyburn both previously had recommended Gergel to Obama as a district court nominee, and that South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also supported the nomination. Gergel had a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on April 16, 2010. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010, and received commission on August 9, 2010.
Trial of Dylann Roof
Richard Gergel was a presiding judge on Dylann Roof's trial. On January 10, 2017 he sentenced Roof to death by lethal injection.