Richard F. Cebull

Richard F. Cebull
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana
In office March 18, 2013 – May 3, 2013
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana
In office July 25, 2001 – March 18, 2013
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Jack D. Shanstrom
Succeeded by	Susan P. Watters
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana
In office 1998–2001
Personal details
Born	1944 (age 72–73) Billings, Montana
Alma mater	Montana State University (B.S.) University of Montana School of Law (J.D.)

Richard Frank Cebull (born 1944, Billings, Montana) is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana from 2001 to 2013.

Born in Billings, Montana and raised in Roundup, Montana, Cebull received a B.S. from Montana State University in 1966 and a J.D. from the University of Montana Law School in 1969. He was in private practice in Montana from 1969 to 1997. He was a Trial Judge of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court from 1970 to 1972.

Cebull served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Montana from 1998 to 2001. On May 17, 2001, Cebull was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Montana vacated by Jack D. Shanstrom. Cebull was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 20, 2001, and received his commission on July 25, 2001. He became chief judge in 2008.

In a 2002 case brought by natural beef producers, the Charter family, against the United States Department of Agriculture, Cebull upheld the constitutionality of the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985, a government-mandated commodity checkoff program for the United States beef industry. The Charter family objected to being forced to pay into the fund, thus associated against their will with political and economic positions taken by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the primary checkoff contractor. Cebull ruled that "The federal government created and controls the beef checkoff program. … Because the government may utilize private speakers to disseminate content-oriented speech, the [Beef] Act does not violate the rights of free speech or association." The ruling was vacated and remanded by the Ninth Circuit in 2005.

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