Ralph M. Holman

Ralph Milo Holman (June 7, 1914 – September 3, 2013) was an attorney and judge in the state of Oregon, United States. He was the 74th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously he was a circuit court judge for Clackamas County, Oregon. His great uncle was United States Senator Rufus C. Holman. Early life A fourth generation Oregonian, Ralph Holman was born on June 7, 1914, in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in Molalla, Oregon, southeast of Portland. There he attended elementary school and graduated in 1932 from Molalla High School (from which eight Holmans have graduated). During the Great Depression, he worked as a clerk during the daytime, posting relief checks. At night, he attended the Northwestern College of Law (now Lewis & Clark Law School) in Portland, Oregon. In 1937, he graduated from law school with a Juris Doctor, and passed the bar that year. Holman began practicing law in Oregon City, Oregon, with the firm Butler, Jack, Beckett and Holman, before joining the United States Navy during World War II. He served from 1942 to 1946, when he was discharged as a Chief Petty Officer. During this time, he lost his lower left leg in a forklift accident. Judicial career After World War II, Holman returned to Oregon, where he was appointed to the Clackamas County Circuit Court by Governor Douglas McKay in 1950. He served as a circuit court judge for 15 years, until 1965. While on the bench in that court, he served on the Committee on the Administration of Justice created by the Oregon Legislature, and was chairman of the subcommittee on Juvenile Law. Through his efforts on this committee, the legislature passed a law which allowed for abusive parents to lose their parental rights, thereby enabling abused children to become adopted. Holman's 1960 decision in Dickman v. School District No. 62C, a case that allowed the use of public funds for purchasing textbooks for parochial schools, spurred an appeals process that ultimately led to the United States Supreme Court. His decision was overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court, which argued the "child benefit" theory could not be used to justify public expenditures for private causes. The United States Supreme Court left this decision intact when they denied certiorari. In 1964, Holman was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court, the state's highest court, filling the position of George Rossman whose term had expired.