Terence T. Evans

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Terence T. Evans

Judge Terence Thomas Evans (born 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In 1979 Evans was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be a Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Judge Evans served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District from 1991 until his nomination to the Seventh Circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1995.

Judge Evans received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University in 1962 and his J.D. degree from the same institution's law school in 1967.

Judge Evans' judicial philosophy is marked by pragmatism, an approach well-served at the appellate level by his previous experience as a trial judge. He is particularly known for his sense of humor, and his willingness and ability to weave lighthearted remarks into his judicial opinions. Perhaps the best known example of this was the judge's opinion in United States v. Murphy, 406 F.3d 857, 859 (7th Cir. 2005), in which the following footnote was included:

"The trial transcript quotes Ms. Hayden as saying Murphy called her a snitch bitch 'hoe.' A 'hoe,' of course, is a tool used for weeding and gardening. We think the court reporter, unfamiliar with rap music (perhaps thankfully so), misunderstood Hayden's response. We have taken the liberty of changing 'hoe' to 'ho,' a staple of rap music vernacular as, for example, when Ludacris raps 'You doin' ho activities with ho tendencies."

Judge Richard Posner was also once the subject of Judge Evans' wit, when he stated in Bankcard America, Inc. v. Universal Bancard Systems, Inc., 203 F.3d 477 (7th Cir.), cert denied, 531 U.S. 877 (2000):

"Football fans know the sickening feeling: your team scores a big touchdown but then a penalty flag is tossed, wiping out the play. Universal Bancard Systems, Inc. Click for Enhanced Coverage Linking Searches knows that feeling firsthand after seeing not one, but two big touchdowns called back. The referee who waved off the first--a $ 7.8 million verdict--and then the second--a $ 4.1 million jury verdict after a second trial--was the Honorable Richard A. Posner, the circuit's chief judge who in this case was wearing, by designation, the robe of a district judge. Like the instant replay official, we now review the decisions of our colleague--using the voluminous record rather than a television monitor and recognizing that our review in 1999 of a case that began in 1993 is a far cry from instant."