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Biography
Bernard Martin Decker (April 2, 1904 – November 3, 1993) was a United States federal judge.
Born in Highland Park, Illinois, Decker received an A.B. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1926 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1929. He was in private practice in Waukegan, Illinois from 1929 to 1951. He was a law clerk to judge on the Appellate Court of Illinois from 1944 to 1948. He was an Illinois circuit court from 1951 to 1962.
On December 12, 1962, Decker received a recess appointment from President John F. Kennedy to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois created by 75 Stat. 80. Formally nominated on January 15, 1963. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28, 1963, and received his commission on April 2, 1963. He assumed senior status on April 2, 1980. Decker served in that capacity until his death, on November 3, 1993, in Chicago, Illinois.