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Harold Lyman Ryan papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MG 378

Scope and Contents

The papers of Judge Harold L. Ryan span the years 1981 to 1995. The case files include both civil and criminal cases, and include legal briefs, opinions and other court documents, memos written by law clerks, and manuscript notes concerning cases the judge heard as District Court Judge. Other material includes orders, prisoner petitions, death penalty cases, travel files and appointment books, jury instructions and Court of Appeals decisions on Ryan's cases. Also included are office administrative records.

Similar files may be found in the case files of Judge J. Blaine Anderson, MG 356.

Dates

  • Creation: 1981-1995

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Use

Use of some materials remains restricted; those in sealed envelopes marked "Confidential" have not been opened.

Biographical / Historical

Harold Lyman Ryan was born June 17, 1923 in Weiser, Idaho, to Frank Drayton and Luella Ryan. His father, grandfather and uncle were all attorneys, so it is not surprising he also followed that profession. He graduated from Weiser High School in 1941, and attended the University of Idaho from 1941 to 1943 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He was at the University of Washington under the V-12 program until the summer of 1944 when he went to midshipmen's school at the University of Notre Dame and graduated with a commission as Ensign in the fall of 1944. After that he received further training as a small boat landing craft officer at Fort Pierce, Florida, until the spring of 1945. He was then assigned to the U.S.S. Merrick and served the rest of World War II in the Pacific

He returned to the University of Idaho in 1946 and entered the College of Law, graduating in January of 1950. He was admitted to the Idaho State Bar in May 1950 and entered practice in Weiser with his father, Frank D. Ryan, under the firm name of Ryan and Ryan.

He served in the Idaho State Senate as Washington County Senator from 1963 to 1966. He had a keen interest in the modernization of the Idaho court system and served as chairman of the Joint Commission of the Idaho Legislature which developed Idaho court reform, completely changing and modernizing the court structure in Idaho, creating a court administration and the Idaho Judicial Council.

He was appointed Commissioner of the Idaho State Bar in April of 1967, replacing his deceased partner, Nick G. Speropulos. He served as president of the Bar for the 1968-1969 term. As bar commissioner he lobbied extensively for improvement in state judicial salaries.

He was a good friend, and campaign director, of Idaho Senator James McClure who played an integral part in his appointment, by President Ronald Reagan, to the federal judiciary in December 1981. He was appointed Chief Judge for the District of Idaho in May 1988, and served until June 1992.

As a federal judge in the mid 1980s Ryan ruled in favor of inmate Walter "Bud" Balla and others that conditions in the state prison violated their constitutional rights. He imposed a cap on inmate population which necessitated the construction of a new maximum security facility. (See Balla v. Board of Corrections, box 8, folders 245-246 and box 18, folders 520-526.)

In the spring of 1993, shortly after taking semi-retired senior status, he ruled in favor of the state of Idaho in its long running battle with the federal government over storage of nuclear waste at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. As a result the government drastically reduced the amount of low level nuclear waste shipped to Idaho.

He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity, El Korah Shrine, Weiser Kiwanis Club, Weiser Chamber of Commerce, and Arid Club. He was a charter member of the Idaho Association of Defense Counsel, a member of the Idaho State Bar Association, Third District Bar Association, Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, and American Board of Trial Advocates.

Among his honors and awards are the 1986 Award of Legal Merit presented by the University of Idaho College of Law, the University of Idaho Alumni Association 1990 Silver & Gold Award, the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association 1984 James H. Hawley Award, and the Idaho Bar Association 1994 Distinguished Lawyer Award.

Judge Ryan continued to work on court papers up to the time of his death from cancer on April 10, 1995. He is survived by his wife Ann Dagres, and three sons.

Extent

47.5 cubic feet

Abstract

Case files of 9th District Court Judge Harold L. Ryan; includes court documents, trial notes, and memos of law clerks. Also office administrative files.

Arrangement

The material in this record group was in well labeled folders when received. The civil cases in boxes deposited in May 1991 are in case number order, those deposited later are in alphabetical order by plaintiff; this arrangement was retained during processing. The criminal cases are in case number order throughout. Other material is in alphabetical order. The Judge's secretary, Judith Gilliam, provided the list of the types of papers in the collection used to assign series designations. With the exception of the alphabetical files of civil cases the material remains in received order

The Panel Cases, Series I, were appeal cases decided on the basis of evidence by a three judge panel; Judge Ryan was sitting by designation.

Series II, Civil Cases, includes such cases as those to quiet title, personal injury, foreclosures, product liability, discrimination (Civil Rights), environmental concerns, and debt collection. Case files in boxes stored in May 1991 are in case number order; those in boxes stored December 1994 and April 1995 are in alphabetical order by name of plaintiff. The two alphabetical files were combined into one sequence during processing. Boxes 16 to 19 in this series contain records for four cases with voluminous pleadings and exhibits: Marchand v. Mercy Medical Center is a medical malpractice suit; Balla v. State of Idaho Board of Corrections concerns rights of prisoners and prison conditions; The John Brassey material appears to be the incoherent ramblings of a man who refers to himself as "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's functional mobile robot tenth man on the U.S. Supreme Court", and involves something he refers to as "Plan Scam"; finally Lucky Custer Gold v. Excel Minerals involves the lease of a mine and payment of royalties.

Judge Ryan's office kept a copy of every order the judge drafted and entered. Series three contains copies of those orders which were not placed in a judge's case file. They are in chronological order by year, with subdivisions for cases, social security disability, bankruptcy and status/scheduling conference. From 1982 to 1986 all files are in alphabetical order; from 1987 on the case files are in chronological order by month, while the other subject files remain in alphabetical order.

Series IV contains orders generated from petitions or complaints filed by prisoners from 1982 through 1993; the 1994 petitions are filed with civil orders. The petitions are in alphabetical order by petitioner. Also included are chronological correspondence files containing letters to the judge from prisoners in both the correctional center in Boise and in Orofino. One 1986 file includes letters concerning medical problems and concerns at the prisons, which were forwarded to the Director of Corrections.

Cases and other Death Penalty related material are in Series V. The case files are in alphabetical order by prisoner. Also included are handbooks and background material for meetings of the 9th circuit death penalty task force.

Series VI contains the judge's travel files and appointment books from 1982 through 1995. The travel files are in chronological order and contain correspondence and memos concerning meetings Judge Ryan attended or participated in. Also included are travel arrangements and programs. The file for the Idaho State Bar meeting in 1994 contains remarks written by Judge Ryan but delivered by Judge Lodge accepting the 1994 Distinguished Lawyers Award. The appointment books are prepared for judges by the West Publishing Company and contain many pages of legal information both before and after the dated pages. Some of the judge's appointments are on post-it notes. There are two appointment books for 1982: the American Express book has entries for January only, the West's Appointment Book for Judges and Lawyers has entries for February through December. Most entries in the appointment books appear to be in Judy Gilliam's handwriting.

The Jury Instructions in series VII are divided by Civil Cases and Criminal Cases; each is in alphabetical order. The civil cases are in order by plaintiffs last name, but, since the plaintiff in the criminal cases is always the United States, these are in order by defendant's last name. Most instructions deal with specific cases, but the judge also prepared instructions on special topics; the cases and topics are interfiled in one sequence. Some files include a special verdict form to be completed by the jury foreperson. Many preliminary instructions are the same for all cases. The instructions are not dated. Other court documents for most of the cases can be found in the appropriate case file series. The inventory lists both the title and nature of the case.

Series VIII contains the U.S. Court of Appeals decisions on Judge Ryan's cases The civil and criminal cases are interfiled alphabetically by first letter of the last name of the plaintiff in civil cases, and the last name of the defendant in criminal cases; each letter of the alphabet is then arranged chronologically.

The court records documenting the criminal cases Judge Ryan handled are in Series IX. These are filed in case number order. At the end of each year are files containing correspondence and sentencing material. The individual files contain court documents, memos from law clerks, judge's and clerk's notes, correspondence from friends and family of the defendant as to his/her character. The types of cases in this series include, but are not limited to, bank robbery, murder, transport of illegal aliens, embezzlement, possession and distribution of controlled substances, and fraud.

The final series contains chambers administrative files. These are in four parts, closed, chief judge, ninth circuit, and active. Each section is arranged alphabetically and folder headings are duplicated in the various sections. Included are circular letters from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and other organizations to which Judge Ryan belonged. Other material includes correspondence, minutes of meetings, and information on personnel policies. The calendars in the closed administrative files are large "month at a glance" type calendars which list all of the judge's appointments.

Some folders contain confidential records. These items were in sealed envelopes when received, and remain in the original envelope in the appropriate file.

Duplicate copies of printed or near print material was discarded as were invoices for law books. Most of the legal folders were changed to letter size folders. In all the collection was reduced by 15.5 cubic feet.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers of Ninth District Court Judge Harold L. Ryan were transferred to the University of Idaho Library, at the request of Law School Dean Sheldon Vincenti, by the judge's office between February and November 1995.

Title
Guide to the Harold Lyman Ryan Papers1981-1995
Author
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen
Date
©1996
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository