Adrienne Nelson

Adrienne Nelson is judge to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on July 14, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on February 15, 2023, by a vote of 52 - 46.^[1][2][3] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.^[4] Nelson received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.^[5] Click here to read more about this study.

Judicial nominations, appointments, and elections

United States District Court for the District of Oregon (2023-Present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On July 14, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Nelson to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.^[6] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here. Nelson's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[7] The president renominated her on the same day. She was confirmed by a 52 - 46 vote of the U.S. Senate on February 15, 2023.^[2]

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Adrienne Nelson
Court: United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Progress
Confirmed 216 days after nomination.
Nominated: July 14, 2022
ABA Rating: Well qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
Hearing: October 12, 2022
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
Reported: December 1, 2022 (initial nomination)
Confirmed: February 15, 2023
Vote: 52 - 46

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Nelson on February 15, 2023, on a vote of 52 - 46.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Adrienne Nelson confirmation vote (February 15, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	46	0	2
Republican	3	46	0
Independent	3	0	0
Total	52	46	2

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Nelson's nomination on October 12, 2022. Nelson was reported to the full Senate on December 1, 2022, after a 12-10 committee vote.^[8]

Nelson's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[9] The president renominated her on the same day.^[2] In a committee hearing on February 2, 2023, Nelson was reported to the full Senate, after a 11-9 committee vote.^[3]

Nomination

On July 14, 2022, President Biden nominated Nelson to replace Judge Michael Mosman, who assumed senior status on December 27, 2021.^[6]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Nelson well qualified.^[10] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Nelson's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[11] The president renominated Nelson on the same day.^[2]

Oregon Supreme Court (2018-2023)

2023

See also:Oregon Supreme Court justice vacancy (February 2023)

Governor Tina Kotek (D) appointed Aruna Masih to the Oregon Supreme Court. Justice Adrienne Nelson resigned after she was elevated to the U.S. District Court of Oregon on February 23, 2023. Masih was Governor Kotek's (D) first nominee to the seven-member supreme court.

In Oregon, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here. If an interim vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a candidate to serve until the following general election. The next primary election was scheduled on May 21, 2024, with a general election scheduled on November 5, 2024. Masih will have the opportunity to run for a full term.

2018

See also: Oregon Supreme Court elections, 2018

General election

Nelson was first appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown (D) in January 2018 to fill the vacancy left by Justice Jack Landau.^[12] She was subsequently elected to the court in a nonpartisan election in November 2018. To read more about judicial selection in Oregon, click here.

Multnomah County Circuit Court

Nelson was a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon from 2006 to 2018.^[13]

2012 election

See also: Oregon judicial elections, 2012

Nelson ran unopposed and was re-elected in the May 15th primary.^[14]

Biography

Education

Nelson received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and English, summa cum laude, from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1989 and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1993.^[13][15]

Professional career

• 2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the District of Oregon
• 2018-2023: Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
• 2006-2018: Judge, Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
• 2004-2006: Senior attorney, Portland State University
• 2004-2006: Private practice, Bennett, Hartman, Morris & Kaplan
• 1996-1999: Public defender, Multnomah Defenders, Inc.^[1]

About the court

District of Oregon
Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 6
Judges: 6
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Michael McShane
Active judges: Amy Baggio, Karin J. Immergut, Mustafa Kasubhai, Michael McShane, Adrienne Nelson, Michael H. Simon Senior judges: Ann Aiken, Anna Brown, Ancer Haggerty, Robert E. Jones, Malcolm Marsh, Michael Mosman

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of courthouses in Portland, Eugene, Medford, and Pendleton, Oregon. The district court was created in 1859, when the state was admitted to the union. Appeals are submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse. Initial appeals are heard by the Ninth Circuit at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.

The District of Oregon has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The jurisdiction of the District of Oregon consists of all the counties in the state of Oregon. These counties are split into subdivisions, consisting of the following counties:

The Eugene Division holds court in the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse, covering the counties of Benton, Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Marion.

The Medford Division holds court in the James A. Redden United States Courthouse, covering the counties of Curry, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake.

The Pendleton Division holds court in the John F. Kilkenny United States Post Office and Courthouse, covering the counties of Baker, Crook, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler.

The Portland Division holds court in the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, covering the counties of Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Hood River, Jefferson, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, Washington and Yamhill.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

State supreme court judicial selection in Oregon

See also: Judicial selection in Oregon

The seven justices on the Oregon Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections.^[16] Judges' terms begin on the first Monday in January following their election.^[17]

Judges serve six-year terms. Judges seeking to serve more than one term must stand for re-election.^[16]

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a judge must be:

• a U.S. citizen;
• a state resident for at least three years;
• a state bar member; and
• under the age of 75.^[16]

Chief justice

The chief justice is selected by peer vote and serves in that capacity for a six-year term.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the governor appoints a replacement. The appointee serves until the next general election occurring 61 or more days after the vacancy, at which point he or she may run for election.^[16] The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.^[18]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

• Strong Democrat
• Mild Democrat
• Indeterminate^[19]
• Mild Republican
• Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

See also

• United States District Court for the District of Oregon

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Oregon
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes