Richard Howard Battey

Richard Howard Battey (born October 16, 1929) is a senior United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

Battey was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of South Dakota in 1950, he received a J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1953. After serving as a United States Army Lieutenant from 1953 to 1955, he went into private practice in Redfield, South Dakota from 1955 to 1985.

Battey was nominated as a Judge for the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota by Ronald Reagan on September 27, 1985. He was confirmed by the Senate on October 25, 1985, and received his commission on October 28, 1985. He served as chief judge from 1994-1998. He assumed senior status on January 1, 1999.

Battey is known for being the presiding judge in the dispute over the recovery fossil remains on Federal lands including by the Sue discoverer Peter Larson and Black Hills Institute of Geological Research paleontologists. Battey, controversially, did not recuse himself from the prosecution of Larson. Battey sentenced Larson to two years in Federal Prison, despite the maximum sentence being only six months. South Dakota law makers have petitioned Barack Obama for a pardon for Larson. Battey is portrayed in a negative light for his handling of Sue Dinosaur Case in the Sundance Film Festival Documentary Dinosaur 13 and in the film Holy Man for his handling of the Douglas White child molestation case.

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