Susan P. Graber
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Assumed office
December 15, 2021
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office
April 1, 1998 – December 15, 2021
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded byEdward Leavy
Succeeded byJennifer Sung
Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
In office
May 2, 1990 – April 1, 1998
Appointed byNeil Goldschmidt
Preceded byRobert E. Jones
Succeeded byR. William Riggs
Personal details
Born (1949-07-05) July 5, 1949 (age 74)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Political partyDemocratic
EducationWellesley College (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Susan Pia Graber (born July 5, 1949) is an American attorney and jurist. She is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A native of Oklahoma, she was the 90th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1990 to 1998. She served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1988 to 1990.

Early life

Graber was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 5, 1949, to a Jewish family.[1][2][3] After high school Graber attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.[1] She graduated from Wellesley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969, Phi Beta Kappa.[1] Graber attended Yale Law School where she earned her Juris Doctor in 1972.[1] She attended Yale with Hillary Rodham (now Clinton) and Bill Clinton.[4]

Legal career

Upon graduation Graber became an assistant attorney general for the New Mexico Bureau of Revenue, where she continued until 1974.[1] That year she entered private law practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, until 1975.[1] In 1975 she moved to Ohio where she returned to private practice, this time in Cincinnati, until 1978.[1] Then in 1978 Graber moved to Portland, Oregon, where she became an associate at Stoel Rives Boley Jones and Grey (now Stoel Rives LLP).[1][5] In 1981 she became a partner.[1] In 1986, the Northwest Women's Law Center gave her their Founder's Award to recognize her pro bono service.[5] In 1983, while she was a practicing attorney, Graber was designated to serve occasionally as a state district court judge on a temporary or pro tempore basis when the regular judges of the court were unavailable.[6] She also served as a mediator for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon from 1986 to 1988.[5]

Judicial career

Oregon court of appeals

Graber began her career as a judge when Governor Neil Goldschmidt appointed her to the Oregon Court of Appeals. She was appointed on February 11, 1988, to replace judge Thomas F. Young, who had died in office. Graber served on the court of appeals until May 2, 1990.[7] While on the bench she served as president of the Oregon Appellate Judges Association.[5]

Oregon Supreme Court

On May 2, 1990, Graber was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Goldschmidt to replace Robert E. Jones.[8][9] However, Jones, prior to resigning his position, filed for re-election and won the election.[8] Thus Jones resigned a second time and Goldschmidt appointed Graber a second time on January 7, 1991.[8] She became the second woman to serve on that court, following Betty Roberts.[4] Graber then won election to a full six-year term in 1992, but resigned on April 1, 1998, before the term expired.[8] While on the court she was considered to be a candidate for appointment to the United States Supreme Court.[4]

Federal judicial service

On July 30, 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Graber to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to replace Judge Edward Leavy, who assumed senior status.[1] She was subsequently confirmed by the United States Senate by a 98–0 vote on March 17, 1998.[10] She received her commission on March 19, 1998.[1] With her appointment she became the first female judge to serve on that court from the state of Oregon.[11]

In 1998, the Classroom Law Project named her Legal Citizen of the Year, and in 2001 she received the Oregon For Country Award from Yale University. Graber was selected to be chairperson of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Appellate Practice in 2001.[12] She has served on two committees of the United States Judicial Conference: Committee on State-Federal Jurisdiction (2010–13) and Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (2013–16).

Judge Graber on February 11, 2021, announced her intention to assume senior status upon appointment of her successor.[13] She assumed senior status on December 15, 2021, when her successor, Jennifer Sung was confirmed by the United States Senate.[1]

Notable rulings

In 2006, Graber upheld a 159-year mandatory minimum sentence imposed on a mentally handicapped getaway driver.[14]

On November 30, 2021, Graber wrote the majority opinion in Duncan v. Bonta, a major 2nd amendment case that dealt with a law regulating high-capacity gun magazines, specifically, the law prohibits gun magazines that hold more than 10 bullets. Graber and the 7-4 majority found that the law does not violate the 2nd amendment.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Graber, Susan - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  2. ^ Who's who in American law. Marquis Who's Who, Inc. 1998. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8379-3513-3.
  3. ^ Sayers-Fay, Kimberly; Ritigstein, Eric (April 2006). "Hon. Susan P. Graber U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit" (PDF). Federal Bar Association.
  4. ^ a b c West, Michael (June 22, 2000). "Arrested development: an analysis of the Oregon Supreme Court's freespeech jurisprudence in the post-Linde years". Albany Law Review. Albany Law School. 63 (4): 1237. ISSN 0002-4678.
  5. ^ a b c d Press Release May 11, 1999. Archived July 17, 2003, at the Wayback Machine University of Oregon. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  6. ^ "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Federal Judge Profiles" (PDF). BerkeleyLaw. pp. 23–26. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ^ Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Judges of the Oregon Court of Appeals. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  9. ^ Oregon State Archives: Oregon Governor's Records Guides. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  10. ^ On the Nomination (Susan Graber, of Oregon, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit)
  11. ^ Firsts. Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine OWLS Foundation. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  12. ^ Moot Court Board: The Honorable Susan P. Graber. Cornell Law School. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.
  13. ^ "Appellate judge who "loves justice" to move to senior status". www.jewishportland.org.
  14. ^ "Recent Case: Ninth Circuit Affirms Mandatory Sentence" (PDF). Harvard Law Review. 120: 1988. 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Court Upholds California's Ban On High-Capacity Gun Magazines". Huffpost. November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  16. ^ "Virginia Duncan et al. v. Rob Bonta" (PDF). ca9.uscourts.gov. November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2021.

External links

Legal offices Preceded byRobert E. Jones Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court 1990–1998 Succeeded byR. William Riggs Preceded byEdward Leavy Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1998–2021 Succeeded byJennifer Sung
Judges of the United States courts of appeals
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