On September 16, 1963, Moynahan was nominated by President
John F. Kennedy to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky vacated by Judge
Hiram Church Ford. Moynahan was confirmed by the
United States Senate on November 4, 1963, and received his commission on November 8, 1963. He served as Chief Judge from 1969 to 1984, assuming
senior status on September 30, 1984. Moynahan served in that capacity until his death on September 30, 1999, in Lexington. Moynahan added this example. "Consider a coal miner, old, broken down from years of hard work. He files a state claim for workman's compensation, a black lung case and social security claim in federal court. That's one man with three cases going, one in state court and two in federal" court. In that same
Portrait, the Judge said that "He regards voting as a privilege and obligation." ""I've voted in every election, save one . . . I missed that when I was a prisoner of war." == References ==