Ann Aiken | |
|---|---|
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| Senior Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon | |
| Assumed office December 29, 2023 | |
| Chief Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon | |
| In office February 1, 2009 – January 31, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Ancer L. Haggerty |
| Succeeded by | Michael W. Mosman |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon | |
| In office February 4, 1998 – December 29, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | James A. Redden |
| Succeeded by | Mustafa T. Kasubhai |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ann Louise Aiken (1951-12-29)December 29, 1951 (age 73) Salem, Oregon, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | University of Oregon (BS,JD) Rutgers University (MA) |
Ann Louise Aiken (born December 29, 1951)[citation needed] is an American attorney and jurist in the state ofOregon. A native Oregonian, she has served as a state court judge of theOregon circuit courts and worked in private legal practice. She is aseniorUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon. She served as chief judge of the court from February 1, 2009 to January 31, 2016.
Aiken was born inSalem, Oregon, in 1951.[1] In 1974, she graduated from theUniversity of Oregon with aBachelor of Science degree, and then fromRutgers University inNew Jersey in 1976 with aMaster of Arts degree.[1] Aiken returned to Oregon and graduated with aJuris Doctor in 1979 from theUniversity of Oregon School of Law. After law school, she worked as alaw clerk for Judge Edwin Allen of theLane County Circuit Court from 1979 to 1980.[1]
She entered private legal practice in 1980 and remained there until 1982.[1] In 1982, Aiken worked as a fundraiser and field staffer forTed Kulongoski's unsuccessful campaign forGovernor of Oregon in 1982, and then worked as the chief clerk of theOregon House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983.[1] Aiken returned to private practice that year and remained there until she became a district judge in Lane County in 1988.[1] Based in Eugene, she then became anLane County Circuit Court Judge in 1992, remaining on the bench until 1997.[1]
PresidentBill Clinton nominated her to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon vacated byJames A. Redden in November 1995, and again on January 7, 1997.[1] Aiken was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on January 28, 1998, receiving her commission on February 4, 1998.[1] On February 1, 2009, she became Chief Judge of the Court, the first woman to hold that position in the District of Oregon.[2] She served in that capacity until January 31, 2016.[1] She assumedsenior status on December 29, 2023.[2][1]
On September 26, 2007, Judge Aiken declaredunconstitutional two portions of theUSA PATRIOT Act that deal with the government's power to conduct certain surveillance without first obtaining a warrant. The decision received national attention and came in the case of theBrandon Mayfield lawsuit against the federal government for false detainment following the2004 Madrid train bombings, in which Mayfield was uninvolved in the bombings.[3] In the decision, Aiken held that those provisions of theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act violate theFourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[4]
On October 7, 2015, Judge Aiken resentencedDwight L. Hammond and his son Steven D. Hammond to five years in prison with credit fortime served for federalarson, themandatory minimum for that crime. The Hammonds had illegally set fires on their ranch which burned 140 acres (57 ha) of federal land. U.S. District JudgeMichael R. Hogan had sentenced the Hammonds to 3 months and 1 year in prison respectively, but Judge Aiken ruled that the minimum sentences must be followed.[5] Armedmilitiamen led byAmmon Bundyoccupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near the Hammonds' ranch in protest of the ruling, demanding that the Hammonds be released and that the hundred-year-old wildlife refuge be given over to local control.[6] The defendants in the case were granted a full Presidential pardon by President Donald J. Trump on July 10, 2018.[7]
Judge Aiken made a key decision in the caseJuliana v. United States, a suit brought by 21 youths against the U.S. government stating their rights to a clean environment were violated due to actions that the government had taken. While several similar suits at state and federal level had been dismissed, Judge Aiken instead was compelled by the argument that access to a clean environment was a fundamental right, allowing the case to proceed.[8][9] This decision was reversed by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which remanded the case with instructions to dismiss it.[10] Nevertheless, on remand, Judge Aiken allowed Plaintiffs to amend their complaint and allowed the case to continue.[11] Once back before the Court of Appeals on a petition forwrit of mandamus, the Ninth Circuit granted the petition and again instructed Judge Aiken "to dismiss the case forthwith."[11]
In 1978, Aiken married James Klonoski, a political science professor at theUniversity of Oregon and one-time chair of theDemocratic Party of Oregon. Klonoski died in January 2009.[12] They had five children together.
The rally was peaceful, authorities said....But afterward, a group of armed militants split off, went to the wildlife refuge 30 miles away and took it over. Ammon Bundy has been acting as the group's leader, and they say they won't back down until the government relinquishes the federal refuge to the people.
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon 1998–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon 2009–2016 | Succeeded by |