Theodore Ralph Kulongoski is an American politician,judge,and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party,he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and also served as the state Insurance Commissioner. He was the Attorney General of Oregon from 1993 to 1997 and a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1997 to 2001. Kulongoski has served in all three branches of the Oregon state government.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Oregon since May 19,2014,when Judge Michael J. McShane of the U.S. District Court for the District Court of Oregon ruled in Geiger v. Kitzhaber that Oregon's 2004 state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A campaign that was then under way to win voter approval of a constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex marriage was suspended following the decision. In July 2015,Governor Kate Brown signed legislation codifying same-sex marriage in various Oregon statutes. The law change went into effect on January 1,2016.
Rives Kistler is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. After college and law school on the East Coast,he moved to Oregon where he worked in private practice before joining the Oregon Department of Justice. Kistler then joined the Oregon Court of Appeals before appointment to the Oregon Supreme Court in 2003.
Martha Lee Walters is an American labor attorney and who served as the 43rd chief justice of Oregon from 2018 to 2022;she was a member of the court from 2006 to 2022. She became the first female justice on the state's highest court in three years when she was appointed in 2006 and the first female chief justice when she was elected by her fellow justices in 2018. A native of Michigan,she worked on the Casey Martin lawsuit against the PGA Tour while in private legal practice.
Robert Donald "Skip" Durham Jr. is a retired justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously,Durham was a judge for the Oregon Court of Appeals and a lawyer in private practice.
Lawton R. Nuss is a former Kansas Supreme Court justice appointed by Governor Bill Graves in August 2002. By virtue of tenure,he became chief justice upon Robert E. Davis's resignation. Nuss announced his decision to retire,effective December 17,2019.
Richard William Riggs was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 94th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1998 to 2006.
Michael Jon Wilkins is an American lawyer and judge. He is a retired Justice of the Utah Supreme Court and current chairman of the Utah Independent Ethics Commission.
Thomas Edward Humphrey is an American lawyer and jurist. He served as an associate justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 2015 to 2022. Hs is a former chief justice of the Maine Superior Court.
The 2002 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 5,2002. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Oregon John Kitzhaber was unable to seek a third consecutive term as governor,therefore creating an open seat. To replace him,former Oregon Supreme Court Associate Justice Ted Kulongoski won a crowded and competitive Democratic primary,while former State Representative Kevin Mannix emerged from an equally competitive Republican primary. The campaign between Kulongoski and Mannix,who were joined by Libertarian nominee Tom Cox,was close and went down to the wire. Ultimately,Kulongoski eked out a narrow margin of victory over Mannix,which was slightly smaller than Cox's total vote share,allowing Kulongoski to win what would be the first of two terms as governor. As of 2023,this is the last time that Oregon voted for a gubernatorial nominee and a U.S. Senate nominee of different political parties.
David W. Stratas is a Canadian jurist. He has served on the Federal Court of Appeal since 2009 and the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada since 2012.
Richard C. Baldwin is a former American judge,who served as a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017. A native of California,he was a legal aide attorney prior to joining the Oregon Supreme Court and returned to private practice after retirement from the court.
Geiger v. Kitzhaber is a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon that requires Oregon to allow same-sex couples to marry and to recognize same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions. The decision arose from two consolidated cases that alleged that Oregon's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage,Article 15,§5,and all related marriage statutes,violate the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Among the several defendants,Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed appearances in the case to defend Oregon's position,but declined to defend the constitutionality of the bans and ordered state agencies to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages established elsewhere.
Thomas Andrew Zlaket is an American lawyer and jurist who served as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court from 1992 to 2002 and as the chief justice of the court from 1997 to 2002.
Gregory Thomas D'Auria is an American lawyer and judge who has served as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court since 2017. He previously was Solicitor General of Connecticut.
Adrienne Camille Nelson is an American lawyer who is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. She previously served as a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court from 2006 to 2018 and a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 2018 to 2023.
Christine Elyse Keller is an American lawyer and judge from Connecticut. She is a Senior Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Evelyn Zabel Wilson is a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Stephen Kent Bushong is an American lawyer who has served as a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court since 2023.
