Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Simpson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisville in 1967 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1970.
[1] On June 6, 1986, Simpson was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky vacated by Judge Charles M. Allen.
[1] On August 23, 2024, Simpson made the controversial ruling to dismiss the most serious charge against former Louisville police officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, blaming the officer's homicidal actions on her boyfriend's justified use of self-defense during the home invasion she was murdered in.
The dismissed charge alleged that the officers deprived Taylor of her civil rights by subjecting the 26-year-old woman to an unreasonable firearm home raid with a warrant obtained on falsified grounds.
[2][3] Taylor's death sparked widespread protests and calls for police reform, and the legal proceedings have been a focal point of intense public scrutiny.