Morgan Christen | |
---|---|
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
Assumed office January 11, 2012 | |
Appointed by | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Andrew Kleinfeld |
Associate Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court | |
In office April 5,2009 –January 11,2012 | |
Appointed by | Sarah Palin |
Preceded by | Warren Matthews |
Succeeded by | Peter J. Maassen |
Personal details | |
Born | Morgan Brenda Christen or Brenda June Christen [1] December 5,1961 Chehalis,Washington,U.S. |
Spouse | James Torgerson [2] |
Children | Erin Christen [2] |
Education | University of Washington (BA) Golden Gate University (JD) |
Morgan Brenda Christen (born December 5,1961) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a state court judge on the Alaska Supreme Court from 2009 to 2012 and on the Alaska Superior Court from 2002 to 2009. [3]
Christen was born in 1961 in Chehalis,Washington. [4] She graduated from the University of Washington in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies. She then attended the Golden Gate University School of Law,graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1986. [1]
After graduating from law school,Christen was a law clerk to Alaska Superior Court judge Brian Shortell from 1986 to 1987. From 1987 to 2002,she was in private practice at the law firm Preston Gates &Ellis,becoming a partner in 1993. [1]
Christen was a judge on the Alaska Superior Court from 2002 to 2009. In 2009,she was one of two candidates recommended by the seven-member Alaska Judicial Council to replace Justice Warren Matthews on the Alaska Supreme Court. [5] Christen was opposed by anti-abortion advocacy groups due to her service as a Planned Parenthood board member in the mid-1990s. [3] [5] Nonetheless,on March 4,2009,Governor Sarah Palin selected Christen to fill the vacancy on the Alaska Supreme Court. [5]
On May 18,2011,President Barack Obama nominated Christen to the seat on the Ninth Circuit vacated by Andrew Kleinfeld,who assumed senior status on June 12,2010. [6] On September 8,2011,the Senate Judiciary Committee reported her nomination out of committee by a voice vote. The Senate confirmed Christen by a 95–3 vote on December 15,2011. [7] She received her commission on January 11,2012 [8] and maintains her chambers in Anchorage. [9]
Mark Jeremy Bennett is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Marsha Lee Berzon is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
William Alan Fletcher is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Bill Clinton,Fletcher was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1998. Fletcher is a Professor (Emeritus) at the UC Berkeley School of Law,where he still teaches federal courts.
Ronald Murray Gould is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1999.
Sidney Runyan Thomas is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1996. He served as the Ninth Circuit's chief judge from 2014 to 2021. His chambers are located in Billings,Montana.
Sandra Segal Ikuta is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Kim Anita McLane Wardlaw is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1998. She is the first Hispanic American woman to be appointed to a federal appeals court. Wardlaw was considered as a possible candidate to be nominated by Barack Obama to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Ferdinand Francis Fernandez is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Helen Patricia Willey Gillmor is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Mary Helen Murguia is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona from 2000 to 2011.
Patricia Ann Millett is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2013 as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She formerly headed the Supreme Court practice at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &Feld. Millett also was a longtime former assistant to the United States Solicitor General and served as an occasional blogger for SCOTUSblog. At the time of her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit,she had argued 32 cases before the United States Supreme Court—once the record for a female lawyer. In February 2016,The New York Times identified her as a potential nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.
Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 2009 to 2012 and as a California superior court judge from 2002 to 2009.
Lucy Haeran Koh is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.
Leslie Emi Kobayashi is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Michelle Taryn Friedland is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Florence Yu Pan is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 2021 to 2022 and a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2021.
Martha Maria Pacold is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Daniel Paul Collins is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Holly Aiyisha Thomas is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2018 to 2022.