Richard G. Kopf

Who is Richard G. Kopf?

Richard George Kopf is a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. He served as chief judge of that court from 1999-2004. President George H. W. Bush nominated Kopf to the seat in 1992. From 1987 to 1992, Kopf served as a magistrate judge in the same district. He assumed senior status on December 1, 2011.

Kopf has received considerable press coverage for abortion-related decisions, particularly for his 474-page opinion striking down a ban on late-term abortions in Carhart, et al., v. Ashcroft. His decision included the following apology: "I apologize for the length of this opinion. I am well aware that appellate judges have plenty to do and that long-winded opinions from district judges are seldom helpful....I pity the poor appellate judge who has to slog through this thing. I am truly sorry."

In 2007 Kopf dismissed a case over the use of the words "rape" and "sexual assault" in a rape trial in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Tory Bowen had filed a lawsuit against Judge Jeffre Cheuvront for violating her right to free speech in a rape trial; Kopf dismissed the suit because Bowen had not shown enough evidence to demonstrate her lawsuit was not frivolous.