Mark Bennett (Iowa)

Mark Bennett

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Nonpartisan

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa

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Education

Bachelor's

Gustavus Adolphus College, 1972

Law

Drake University Law School, 1975

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Mark W. Bennett was a federal judge with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. He joined the court in 1994 after a nomination by President Bill Clinton (D). Bennett served as chief judge of the court from 1999 to 2006. He assumed senior status on June 4, 2015. Bennett retired from the court on March 2, 2019.

Early life and education

Bennett was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1950. He earned a bachelor's degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1972. He earned a J.D. from Drake University Law School in 1979.

Professional career

Bennett spent his entire pre-judicial legal career in private practice in Iowa from 1975 to 1991. While in private practice, Bennett served as general counsel for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union from 1975 to 1989, became a supervising attorney with the Drake University Law School's Legal Ethics Clinic from 1981 to 1983, and was a special prosecutor with the Committee of Professional Ethics and Conduct of the Iowa State Bar in 1987. Bennett worked as a lecturer in trial advocacy with the University of Iowa College of Law from 1984 to 1985. He served as an instructor with the Drake University Trial Advocacy Institute from 1987 to 1989.

Judicial career

Northern District of Iowa

Bennett started his federal judicial career as a federal magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa from 1991 to 1994. On the recommendation of Senator Tom Harkin, Bennett was nominated by President Bill Clinton on June 21, 1994, to a seat vacated by Donald O'Brien as O'Brien went on senior status. Bennett was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 9, 1994, on a voice vote and received commission on August 26, 1994. Bennett served as the chief judge of the Northern District of Iowa from 1999 to 2006.

See also

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
• United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Judge Bennett Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• The Nation, "How Mandatory Minimums Forced Me to Send More Than 1,000 Nonviolent Drug Offenders to Federal Prison," November 12, 2012

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Donald O'Brien	Northern District of Iowa 1994–2015 Seat #2	Succeeded by: -