Oregon Supreme Court Justice Adrienne Nelson, the first Black judge on the state’s high court, has been named to the federal bench.
She will be the first Black woman on the U.S. District Court in Oregon.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Nelson with a 52-46 vote. In July, President Joe Biden nominated Nelson for the federal judicial seat.
Nelson has served on the Oregon Supreme Court since 2018. Prior to that, she spent a dozen years as a trial judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court.
She also practiced law on multiple fronts. Nelson was a senior attorney for Portland State University, a public defender and in private practice at Portland-based labor law firm Bennett Hartman, then known as Bennett, Hartman, Morris & Kaplan.
Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, championed her nomination.
“Around my state, Justice Nelson is lauded for her prodigious work ethic, integrity and humility,” Wyden said on the Senate floor. “Support for her nomination comes from her fellow Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court, nonprofit and business leaders, as well as law enforcement officials from urban and rural communities.”
Nelson attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
She was the first Black judge and second woman of color on the state’s high court when then-Gov. Kate Brown appointed her to the Oregon Supreme Court.
In high school, Nelson had the highest grade point average, but her Arkansas high school wouldn’t let a Black student be recognized as the valedictorian. Nelson’s mother sued the school district and won; Nelson was named valedictorian.
Nelson’s departure will create the first vacancy on the state’s highest court for Gov. Tina Kotek to fill. Elisabeth Shepard, a spokesperson for Kotek’s office, declined to answer questions about the timeline and process for filling the seat.
“Justice Nelson will be a fantastic addition to the U.S. District Court, and Governor Kotek looks forward to filling this vacancy with an equally qualified candidate,” Shepard said in an email.
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact [email protected]. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.
Ben Botkin - Oregon Capital Chronicle
Ben Botkin covers justice, health and social services issues for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. He has been a reporter since 2003, when he drove from his Midwest locale to Idaho for his first journalism job. He has written extensively about politics and state agencies in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon. Most recently, he covered health care and the Oregon Legislature for The Lund Report. Botkin has won multiple journalism awards for his investigative and enterprise reporting, including on education, state budgets and criminal justice.
