July/August 2004 issue
In Memoriam: Judge Stephen M. Reasoner of the Eastern District of Arkansas
On August 14, 2004, Judge
Stephen M. Reasoner of
the Eastern District of
Arkansas passed away. He
had received a heart
transplant in May, but he
never fully recovered. He
was 60 years old.
Stephen M. Reasoner was
born in Houston, Texas.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the
University of Arkansas in 1966. He received his
law degree from the University of Arkansas
School of Law in 1969, where he served as editor
of the Arkansas Law Review.
After graduating from law school he joined the
firm of Barrett, Wheatley, Smith, and Deacon in
Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he practiced until his
appointment to the federal bench. He also served
in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1969 to 1973
until he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.
He was appointed to the U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Arkansas in 1988 and
served as chief judge from 1991 to 1998. During
his time on the bench, Judge Reasoner developed
a reputation for his courteous demeanor and his
abilities as a trial judge.
He took senior status in 2002 after being certified
as medically disabled due to a history of
congestive heart failure. “I love this job,” he said,
“but I must accept the fact that the Eastern
District of Arkansas needs healthy and vigorous
judges who are able to fully discharge their
duties. I am no longer able to do that.”
In 1990 he prevented the sale of a rural savings
and loan to a Little Rock bank, because the sale
would have violated an Arkansas law that
prohibits banks from branching across county
lines. He declared the federal regulation at issue
null and void because Congress did not give the
agency the authority to ignore state law. Arkansas
State Bank Commissioner v. Resolution Trust
Corp. 745 F. Supp. 550.
In 1996 he sentenced
Dave Hale, a witness in the Whitewater hearings
who had been convicted of mail fraud, to 28
months in prison and ordered him to make
restitution of $2.4 million. In 2002 he ruled that
the state of Arkansas must improve mental health
services for inmates and that the State Hospital is
to provide a mental evaluation of a prisoner within
30 days of a trial judge’s order. Terry ex rel. Terry
v. Hill, 232 F. Supp. 934.
Judge Reasoner is survived by his wife Susan and
his son, Brian. He will be greatly missed.
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