Marco A. Hernandez

Marco Hernandez
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Assumed office
February 9, 2011
Appointed by Barack Obama
Preceded by Garr King
Personal details
Born 1957 (age 58–59)
Nogales, Arizona, U.S.
Alma mater Western Oregon University
University of Washington, Seattle

Marco Antonio Hernandez (born 1957) is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. A native of Arizona, he served as a Circuit Court judge in Washington County from 1995 until 2011, including as presiding judge for three years. He was nominated for a federal judgeship with the United States District Court for the District of Oregon three times under two U.S. Presidents, and confirmed as judge in February 2011.

Early life and education

Hernandez was born in Nogales, Arizona, in 1957 and is of Hispanic descent.[1][2][3] He moved to Oregon at 17 and began work as a dishwasher, and then as a janitor before working his way through community college while working as a teacher's aide.[4] Hernandez then moved on to a four-year school and received a B.A. degree from Western Oregon State College (now known as Western Oregon University) in 1983.[4][5] He then attended the University of Washington School of Law and earned his J.D. in 1986.[5]

After law school he returned to Oregon where he spent three years working for Legal Aid Services of Oregon where he often represented farm workers.[2][6] Hernandez himself had picked crops in the field in his youth.[2] Following his time with legal aid, Hernandez the joined the Washington County District Attorney's office as a deputy prosecutor in 1989.[7]

Shortly before leaving office in January 1995, Governor Barbara Roberts appointed Hernandez to be a Circuit Court judge in Washington County, Oregon.[3] In 2001, he allowed a claim for loss of companionship in a pet case to go to trial, the first time such as claim was allowed to go to trial in the United States.[8] Hernandez served as presiding judge of the County's Circuit Court from 2002 to 2005.[5][7] He won re-election to a new six-year term on the court in May 2008.[2] He has also served as the judge for the county's Mental Health Court,[9] and as presiding judge from 2002 until 2005.[10]

Federal judicial nominations

In January 2008, Hernandez was one of three candidates recommended by a six-member judicial selection committee to replace Garr King on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.[11] President George W. Bush selected Hernandez to fill the vacancy on the District Court of Oregon and submitted his nomination on July 23, 2008.[2] Senators Gordon H. Smith and Ron Wyden supported the nomination, but it was made with less than six months remaining in the Bush Presidency.[2][12] The nomination was not acted upon by the 110th Congress and was thus returned.[13]

Republican Gordon Smith was defeated for re-election in 2008, and newly elected President Barack Obama restarted the judicial selection process for the District of Oregon.[3] Democrat Ron Wyden recommended Hernandez in addition to five other candidates selected by a thirteen-member judicial selection committee.[12] On July 14, 2010, Obama renominated Hernandez to replace Garr King.[14] He is one of few people to be nominated to the federal bench by presidents from two different political parties.[7] The Senate failed to act on Obama's nomination, and President Obama nominated Hernandez again in January 2011.[4] On February 7, 2011, the Senate unanimously confirmed Hernandez as the newest judge for the District of Oregon,[4] and he received his commission on February 9.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Marco A. Hernandez". Office of Legal Policy. United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Holly Danks, Politics could sink local judge's federal nomination, The Oregonian (July 24, 2008).
  3. 1 2 3 Peter Wong, Obama names two as federal judges in Oregon, Statesman Journal (July 14, 2010).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pope, Charles (February 7, 2011). "Senate unanimously approves Marco Hernandez to be federal judge". The Oregonian. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 President Obama Names Five to United States District Court, whitehouse.gov (July 14, 2010).
  6. ↑ Tomlinson, Stuart (July 14, 2010). "Obama nominates two for U.S. District Court judgeships in Oregon". The Oregonian. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Christensen, Nick (July 17, 2010). "County judge nominated to federal bench – again". The Hillsboro Argus. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Duckler, Geordie L.; Dana M. Campbell (June 2001). "Nature of the Beast". Oregon State Bar Bulletin. Oregon State Bar.
  9. ↑ Gregory, Roger (March 28, 2008). "Washington County Mental Health Court gives some a chance to turn their lives around". The Oregonian. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  10. 1 2 "Hernandez, Marco Antonio". Biographical Directory of Federal Judges. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  11. ↑ James Pitkin, Immergut’s Out: The Final Three Who Are In For A Federal Judge Appointment, Willamette Week (January 25, 2008).
  12. 1 2 James Pitkin, Ron Wyden Adds Marco Hernandez As The Sixth Name to Judges’ List, Willamette Week (July 28, 2009).
  13. ↑ "Marco A. Hernandez". Judicial Nominations. Yale Law School. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  14. ↑ Presidential Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate, 7/14/10, whitehouse.gov (July 14, 2010).
Legal offices
Preceded by
Garr King		 Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
2011–present 		Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.