John W. Kern III (born 1928 or 1929 – January 30, 2018) was a judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
[3] After law school, Kern served in the Central Intelligence Agency for two years, then he moved to Washington, D.C. to clerk for Judge Harold Montelle Stephens of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In 1980, Kern was one of several more conservative judges, led by Frank Q. Nebeker, who attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the reappointment as chief judge of Theodore R. Newman Jr.[7] After sixteen years on the bench, Kern assumed senior status and became dean of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, on October 3, 1984.
[2] In 1998, Kern was appointed by Judge Norma Holloway Johnson as a special master to investigate whether independent counsel Ken Starr had illegally leaked secret grand jury information concerning the Monica Lewinsky scandal to media outlets.
His father, John W. Kern Jr., was the 31st mayor of Indianapolis and later chief judge of the United States Tax Court.