| Born | February 28, 1948 United States |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Attorney |
Patrick A. Shea (born February 28, 1948) is a Salt Lake City based lawyer who has taken on many cases related to freedom of the press. He also served for a short time as head of the Bureau of Land Management under President Bill Clinton.
Shea co-authored with Rodney K. Smith Religion and the Press: Keeping First Amendment Values in Balance, a book which argued that Freedom of the Press had been taken too far in allowing the media to publish unsubstantiated claims that demean religious leaders.[1]
Shea also represented Massachusetts Democratic Party in seeking to gain enough information to exclude Romney from running for governor in Massachusetts.[2] He represented Skip Knowles in his case involving being fired by the Salt Lake Tribune for plagiarism.[3] He represented Steven Greenstreet's defense against Kay Anderson's attempts to revoke Greenstreet's use of an interview with Anderson in a documentary film This Divided State.[4] Shea also was one of the lawyers for Brent Jeffs in his sexual molestation suit against his uncle Warren Jeffs.[5]
Shea received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University. He then was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1975. He has taught courses at Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Kansas State University, and Westminster College. Since his return to Utah in 2001 Shea has been a member of the University of Utah political science department's faculty. Shea is currently a Fellowship Adviser to Honors Program at Westminster College, Salt Lake City in collaboration with 'The Living Arts Experience: A Seminar in Liberal Ideals'.
Prior to becoming head of the BLM Shea was the head of City Creek Canyon Park in Salt Lake City.
Shea is an Irish Catholic.
Shea was the Democratic candidate for governor of Utah in 1992 and ran for the United States Senate against Orrin Hatch in 1994.