The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem,Oregon,near the capitol building on State Street. The building was finished in 1914 and also houses the state's law library,while the courtroom is also used by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Same-sex marriage in the entire state of Oregon has been legally recognized since May 19,2014,when a U.S. District Court judge 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 United States Constitution. This amendment had been passed after Commissioner Chairman Diane Linn in the city of Portland Oregon in Multnomah County in 2004 agreed to begin to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. 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.
Paul J. De Muniz is a retired American judge in the state of Oregon. He is the first Hispanic Chief Justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was elected to the court in 2000,and elected as Chief Justice in 2006. He won re-election in May 2006 for another six-year term on the state's highest court. De Muniz previously served on the Oregon Court of Appeals for ten years.
Edwin J. Peterson is an American jurist in the state of Oregon. He was the 39th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court,serving from 1983 to 1991,and is currently a Distinguished Jurist in Residence at Willamette University College of Law in Salem,Oregon.
Robert D. "Skip" Durham is a retired Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously,Durham was a judge for the Oregon Court of Appeals and a lawyer in private practice.
Thomas "Tom" A. Balmer is an Associate Justice and former Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. A native of Washington,he was appointed to the court in 2001 as an Associate Justice,later serving as Chief Justice from 2012 to 2018.
Berkeley "Bud" Lent was an American politician and jurist in the state of Oregon. He was the 38th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court,serving from 1982 to 1983. Elected to the court in 1976,Lent remained until 1988. Previously,the native Oregonian also was elected to both branches of the Oregon legislature,including time as the Senate Majority Leader,and was a county circuit court judge. Lent also served as a mediator and senior judge in Oregon.
Arno H. Denecke was an American jurist born in Illinois. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1963 to 1982,and as the 37th Chief Justice of the court from 1976 until leaving the bench. The World War II veteran retired from the United States Army at the rank of colonel in 1974.
Richard William Riggs is an American attorney and former judge in the state of Oregon. He is a senior judge for Oregon,and was the 94th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1998 to 2006.
Betty Cantrell Roberts was an American politician and judge from the U.S. state of Oregon. She was the 83rd Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court,the highest state court in Oregon. She was the first woman on the Oregon Supreme Court,and had also been the first woman on the Oregon Court of Appeals. Roberts served from 1982 to 1986 on the high court and from 1977 to 1982 on the Court of Appeals.
Robert Edward Jones is an American politician and Judge in Oregon. He is currently a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland. A Portland native,he previously served as the 84th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives.
Jacob B. Tanzer was an American attorney in the state of Oregon. Prior to private practice Tanzer served as the 81st Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He also served on the Oregon Court of Appeals,was a deputy district attorney for Multnomah County,Oregon,and worked for the United States Department of Justice.
George Albert Van Hoomissen is an American attorney in the state of Oregon,United States. He previously served as the 87th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and served on the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Portland,Oregon native was also the district attorney for Multnomah County,Oregon,and served as a Democrat in the Oregon Legislature.
Ralph Milo Holman was an attorney and judge in the state of Oregon,United States. He was the 74th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously he was a circuit court judge for Clackamas County,Oregon. His great uncle was United States Senator Rufus C. Holman.
Otto Richard Skopil Jr. was an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. The native Oregonian actively served as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1979 to 1986. Previously,Skopil served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon from 1972 to 1979,and was the Chief Judge of that court from 1976 to 1979. Of German ancestry,he was a veteran of World War II and received both his undergraduate education and law degree from Willamette University.
Michael Wise Mosman is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He served as Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon from February 1,2016 to December 23,2019. He also served a 7-year term on the FISA Court from May 4,2013 to May 3,2020. The Oregon native previously served as the United States Attorney for the same district.
James Alger Fee was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. A veteran of the United States Army,his first judicial position was with the Oregon Circuit Court. While a federal judge he made national news for his decision during World War II regarding the application of the exclusion orders that had forced those of Japanese heritage from the West Coast.
Jack L. Landau is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. A native of Colorado,he worked in private legal practice in Oregon before he joined the Oregon Department of Justice. He served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1993 to 2011,and on the Oregon Supreme Court from 2011 to 2017.
Michael Jerome McShane is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.
