Representative Heartsill Ragon

Hiram Heartsill Ragon (March 20, 1885 – September 15, 1940) was a United States Representative from Arkansas and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. A lifelong Democrat, he served six terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1923 to 1933 and later became a prominent federal trial judge, presiding over significant cases during the New Deal era.

Ragon was born on March 20, 1885, in Dublin, an unincorporated community in Logan County, Arkansas. He attended the common schools of the area and continued his education at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Arkansas. He then enrolled at the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, an institution later known as the University of the Ozarks, before pursuing further studies at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Seeking a legal career, he entered the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, where he received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1908.

In 1908, Ragon was admitted to the bar and commenced the private practice of law in Clarksville, Arkansas, where he practiced continuously until 1923. Early in his career he became active in public service and state politics. He was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives, serving from 1911 to 1913. He subsequently held local prosecutorial office as district attorney in Clarksville from 1916 to 1920, gaining experience in criminal law and courtroom practice that would later inform both his legislative and judicial work.

Ragon’s prominence within the Democratic Party in Arkansas grew rapidly in the late 1910s. He served as Secretary of the Democratic Arkansas state convention in 1918 and advanced to Chairman of the Democratic Arkansas state convention in 1920. That same year he was chosen as a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention, reflecting his rising influence in state and national party affairs. These roles positioned him as a leading Democratic figure in Arkansas and laid the groundwork for his subsequent election to Congress.

Heartsill Ragon was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives for the 68th Congress and was reelected to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1923, until his resignation effective June 16, 1933. During these six terms in office, he represented Arkansas in the House of Representatives and participated in the legislative process during a period that encompassed the later years of the post–World War I era, the prosperity of the 1920s, and the onset of the Great Depression. As a member of the House, he contributed to the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in Arkansas, taking part in debates and votes on the major economic and social issues confronting the nation in that transformative period.

Ragon left Congress in 1933 upon his appointment to the federal bench. He was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 12, 1933, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas vacated by Judge Frank A. Youmans. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination on the same day, May 12, 1933, and he received his commission on May 17, 1933. As a United States district judge, he presided over a wide range of civil and criminal matters in a region deeply affected by the economic dislocations of the Depression and the implementation of New Deal legislation.

Among the most notable cases of his judicial career was United States v. Miller, decided in 1939. In that case, reported at 26 F. Supp. 1002, Ragon authored an opinion holding that a federal firearms statute violated the Second Amendment. His decision was subsequently appealed by the federal government and reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, which reversed his ruling in United States v. Miller (1939), a decision that became a landmark in the constitutional interpretation of the Second Amendment. The case has remained a significant reference point in later debates over federal gun control and the scope of the right to keep and bear arms.

Judge Heartsill Ragon continued to serve on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas until his death. His judicial service terminated on September 15, 1940, when he died in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was interred in Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith. His career encompassed more than three decades of public service as a state legislator, district attorney, six-term United States Representative, and federal district judge, during which he played a role in both Arkansas and national legal and political history.