Robert J. Shelby

Robert James Shelby (born March 13, 1970) is an American attorney and judge serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Early life, military service, and education Shelby was born in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1994 from Utah State University and his Juris Doctor in 1998 from the University of Virginia School of Law. Shelby served on the Salt Lake County Bar Association's Executive Committee since 2002, and as its vice chairman since 2011. He served on the Utah Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure and its Ethics and Discipline Committee.

Federal judicial service

On November 30, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Shelby to be district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah, In the early hours of September 22, 2012, on what was officially still the legislative day of September 21, the Senate confirmed Shelby in a voice vote. He received his commission on September 25, 2012.

Notable decisions

On December 20, 2013, Shelby struck down Amendment 3 of Utah’s State Constitution, which defined marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman, opening the way for same-sex marriage in the state. He found that Amendment 3 was in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees due process and equal protection. This highly significant ruling set off a series of other district court decisions that overturned bans in several other states. His ruling was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 25, 2014. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined the review the Tenth Circuit's ruling, legalizing same-sex marriage in Utah. On September 10, 2024, he would enjoin the Utah Social Media Regulation Act for violating the first amendment. On April 17, 2025, Shelby dismissed a lawsuit filed in October 2023 accusing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of fraud in its handling of tithing funds, primarily due to the plaintiffs missing the three-year statute of limitations after the information regarding the church's financial holdings became public in late 2019 and early 2020.