Constandinos Himonas
{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Infobox judge
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| name = Constandinos Himonas
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| office = Justice of the Utah Supreme Court
| term_start = March 18, 2015
| term_end = March 1, 2022
| appointer = Gary Herbert
| predecessor = Ronald E. Nehring
| successor = Diana Hagen
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1964}}
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| education = University of Utah (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)
}}
Constandinos Himonas (born 1964)[https://2019ejc.sched.com/speaker/justice_constandinos_deno_himonas.754i6pn 2019 Equal Justice Conference speaker bio] is an American lawyer and former judge who served as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 2015 to 2022.{{cite web|title=JUSTICE CONSTANDINOS HIMONAS|url=http://www.utcourts.gov/judgesbios/showGallery.asp?dist=10&ct_type=S|website=Utcourts.gov|publisher=Utah Supreme Court|accessdate=25 February 2015}}
Early life and education
Himonas is originally from Price, Utah and has Greek heritage. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1986 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1989.{{Cite web|title=Constandinos Himonas, '89, Nominated to Utah Supreme Court {{!}} University of Chicago Law School|url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/constandinos-himonas-89-nominated-utah-supreme-court|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.law.uchicago.edu}}
Legal career
Prior to taking the bench, Himonas worked for 15 years at the law firm of Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough.{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.utah.edu/u0656303-CONSTANDINOS_G._HIMONAS/hm/index.hml|title=CONSTANDINOS G. HIMONAS - Home - Faculty Profile - The University of Utah|website=faculty.utah.edu|access-date=2018-03-30}} Prior to being confirmed to the Utah Supreme Court, Himonas served as a trial judge in the 3rd District Court.
Utah Supreme Court
After being nominated by Governor Gary Herbert, he was unanimously confirmed by the Utah Senate to the position.{{cite news|url=http://www.sltrib.com/home/2177583-155/himonas-unanimously-confirmed-to-the-utah|title=Himonas unanimously confirmed to the Utah Supreme Court|accessdate=March 4, 2015}} He resigned on March 1, 2022.{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Jordan |date=October 29, 2021 |title=Utah Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas retires, plans return to private sector |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/10/29/utah-supreme-court/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |language=en-US}}
Notable rulings and selected opinions
= ''In re Gray and Rice'' =
This opinion, authored by Justice Himonas, deals with the right of transgender individuals to change their legal sex designation on their birth certificates. This case was an appeal by two transgender individuals—Sean Childers-Gray, a transgender man, and Angie Rice, a transgender woman—who had petitioned the Utah District Court for the right to change both their name and sex designation on their birth certificate.{{Cite web|title=Utah Supreme Court considers plight of two transgender people who want their IDs to reflect their 'actual reality'|url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/01/09/utah-supreme-court-considers-plight-of-two-transgender-people-who-want-their-ids-to-reflect-their-actual-reality/|access-date=2021-12-02|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|language=en-US}} The District Court granted the name change but refused the sex change.{{Cite web|title=In re Gray and Rice, 2021 UT 13.|url=https://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/In%20re%20Gray%20and%20Rice20210506.pdf|url-status=live|website=Utah Courts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506183120/https://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/In%20re%20Gray%20and%20Rice20210506.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-06 }} Justice Himonas, and a majority of the Utah Supreme Court ultimately found that "A person has a common-law right to change facets of their personal legal status, including their sex designation." This decision rested upon the common-law right to change one's own name as well as a Utah statute that tied sex designation changes to name changes.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- http://www.sltrib.com/home/1965736-155/gov-herbert-nominates-deno-himonas-for
- http://www.utah.gov/governor/news_media/article.html?article=10667
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Himonas, Constandinos}}
Category:21st-century American judges
Category:American people of Greek descent
Category:Justices of the Utah Supreme Court
Category:People from Price, Utah
Category:University of Utah alumni
Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni
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