Judge Stephen Higginson
Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Stephen Andrew Higginson was born in April 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and received an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a Juris Doctor from Yale University.
Higginson clerked for the chief judge of the D.C. District U.S. Court of Appeals before he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron White. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Massachusetts before he moved to the Eastern District of Louisiana, where he became chief of appeals.
Higginson became a professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law while supervising the appellate section. He was elected to the American Law Institute.
Higginson was nominated by President Barack Obama to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in May 2011. He was confirmed by the Senate in October and received his judicial commission in November 2011.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Higginson to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) in February 2021. He became the presiding judge of FISCR in August 2023.
Higginson is married to Collette Creppell, and they have three children.
In the News…
A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a federal law banning those convicted of simply possessing methamphetamine from owning guns does not meet the historical test of firearm regulation and, thus, violates the Second Amendment.
Judge Stephen Higginson authored the opinion, supported by Judge Willett and Judge Engelhardt, which stated, “Laws punishing the knowing receipt of a stolen horse, the theft of mail, and the counterfeiting and forgery of public securities with death” presented by the government as historical precedents for severe punishment did not apply to the “use and sale of drugs.“
The majority also found that none of these examples are connected with firearm regulations and do not demonstrate historic tradition.
The court stated, “Not one piece of historical evidence suggests that, at the time they ratified the Second Amendment, the Founders authorized Congress to disarm anyone it deemed dangerous.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Higginson today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Stephen Higginson
U.S. Court of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit
John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building
600 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
