May/June 2004 issue

In Memoriam: Judge Paul Benson of the District of North Dakota

On April 22, 2004, Judge Paul Benson, former district court judge for the District of North Dakota, passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 85 years old.

Paul Benson was born on June 1, 1918, on his family’s farm near Verona, North Dakota. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Dakota in 1942, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly thereafter, where he served until 1946.

He received his law degree from the George Washington University School of Law in 1949. During his law school years he also worked as an aide to his uncle, U.S. Senator Milton Young.

He worked one year as a private attorney in Cavalier, North Dakota, before joining a Grand Forks law firm in 1950. He stayed with the firm until 1971. From 1952 to 1954 he also served as assistant city attorney for Grand Forks. He left the firm briefly in 1954 to serve one year as the State Attorney General of North Dakota. From 1960 to 1965 he also made time to lecture at the University of North Dakota School of Law.

In 1971 he was appointed as a judge to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. He served as chief judge for the district from 1971 until 1985, when he took senior status. During his time on the bench he presided over some high profile cases, including the 1977 trial of Leonard Peltier for the deaths of two FBI agents and the 1983 trials involving the deaths of two federal marshals in Medina, North Dakota. Soon after the Medina cases he began receiving death threats, and several pipe bombs were sent to him in the mail. One bomb exploded, injuring postal workers in Fargo. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Marshals assigned a security detail to Judge Benson and his family.

While he was known for keeping to himself, Judge Benson was also known for his kindness and objectivity. According to U.S. Magistrate Karen Klein, the judge felt strongly about “remaining true to the law rather than bending his application of the law to fit his own personal views.”

Judge Benson’s wife, Laurel, passed away a few years ago. He is survived by his children, Peter, Santal, Polly, Amy, and Laurel.


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