American judge (born 1966)
Jennifer Walker Elrod (born Jennifer Leigh Walker; September 6, 1966) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit since 2007. She previously served as a state court judge on the 190th District Court of Texas from 2002 to 2007.
Background
Elrod was born Jennifer Leigh Walker in 1966 in Port Arthur, Texas, and grew up in Baytown, Texas.
After high school, Elrod studied economics at Baylor University, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude. At Baylor, she was the Outstanding Graduating Senior of the Honors Program and was eventually named Outstanding Young Alumna. She went to Harvard Law School in 1989 and received her Juris Doctor in 1992, graduating cum laude. At Harvard Law School, she was a member of the Board of Student Advisers, an active member of the Harvard Federalist Society, and a finalist in the Ames Moot Court competition. She became a member of the State Bar of Texas in 1992.
After law school, Elrod was a law clerk for Judge Sim Lake of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas from 1992 to 1994. She then entered private practice at the law firm Baker Botts.
Judicial career
State judicial service
In 2002, Governor Rick Perry appointed Elrod to be a judge on the 190th District Court in Harris County. She was elected to the judgeship in the 2002 general election, and again in 2006 when she ran unopposed. As a state district court judge, she presided over jury and bench trials involving civil litigation. Elrod remained on the Harris County bench until her confirmation to the Fifth Circuit.
Federal judicial service
President George W. Bush nominated Elrod to a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit on March 29, 2007, to replace Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who assumed senior status on August 26, 2006. Elrod received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 19, 2007, and was voted out of committee on September 20, 2007. She was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote on October 4, 2007.[2] She received her commission on October 19, 2007.[3] She maintains chambers in Houston, Texas.
In 2014, she upheld a Texan abortion law that required abortion doctors to get admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, thus forcing abortion facilities to comply with the expensive standards of hospital-style surgical centers.[4] The law also banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and heavily restricted the use of abortion pills.[4]
On August 16, 2023, Elrod wrote the Fifth Circuit ruling that would limit access to mifepristone (which is used for the abortion pill) in all 50 states if the Supreme Court lifts its stay.[5]
