Priscilla Owen (born in Palacios, Texas, October 4, 1954) is a judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She previously was a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. Palacios is a city located in Matagorda County, Texas. ... Jump to: navigation, search October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in Leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States District Courts: Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of Louisiana Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi Western, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of Texas The court is based at... The U.S. state of Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, which is the highest state appellate court for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency, which the law considers to be a civil matter and not criminal) and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest...

Early career

Prior to her election to the Texas Supreme Court in 1994, Owen was a partner in the Houston office of Andrews & Kurth L.L.P. where she practiced commercial litigation for seventeen years. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Baylor University, and graduated in the top of her class from Baylor Law School in 1977, receiving a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude. She was a member of the Baylor Law Review. Owen also received the highest score on the Texas Bar examination for that year. Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Houston redirects here. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B., from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search A law school is an institution where future lawyers obtain legal degrees. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search J.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin Juris Doctor, also called Doctor of Jurisprudence, and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited U.S. law school after successfully completing three years of study. ... Jump to: navigation, search A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of students at a law school. ... Jump to: navigation, search A bar examination is an series of tests conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction. ...

In private practice, Owen handled a broad range of civil matters at the trial and appellate levels. She was admitted to practice before various state and federal trial courts and appellate courts. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the American Judicature Society, the American Bar Association, and a Fellow of the American and Houston Bar Foundations. The American Law Institute (ALI) was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ... The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. ...

Owen served as the liaison to the Supreme Court of Texas’ Court-Annexed Mediation Task Force and to statewide committees regarding legal services to the poor and pro bono legal services. She was part of a committee that successfully encouraged the Texas Legislature to enact legislation that has resulted in millions of dollars per year in additional funds for providers of legal services to the poor. Owen also serves as a member of the board of the A.A. White Dispute Resolution Institute and is on the boards of advisors of the Houston and Austin Chapters of the Federalist Society. Owen was instrumental in organizing a group known as Family Law 2000 that seeks to find ways to educate parents about the effect that divorce can have on their children and to lessen the adversarial nature of legal proceedings when a marriage is dissolved. Jump to: navigation, search The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, began at Harvard Law School, University of Chicago Law School and Yale Law School in 1982 as a student organization that challenged what it saw as the orthodox liberal ideology...

Federal nomination and filibuster

In 2001, Owen was nominated by President George W. Bush to her current post on a federal appellate court that hears appeals arising in several states, including Owen's home state of Texas. However, due to Senate disagreement over the issue of appointees considered to be extremely conservative, Democrats (who controlled the U.S. Senate at the time) did not let her come up for a vote. In 2003, after Republicans had taken the Senate back, Democrats filibustered her. Only in 2005, after Republicans picked up four more seats in the Senate did she again come up for a vote. Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jump to: navigation, search The President of the United States (often abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... Jump to: navigation, search George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former Governor of the State of Texas. ... Jump to: navigation, search A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... ... Jump to: navigation, search Conservatism is a major political philosophy supporting traditional values or an established social order. ... Jump to: navigation, search Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Support

Supporters called Owen a no-nonsense, "consistent conservative" with long experience as a state-court judge.

Opposition

Opponents criticized Owen for her conservative positions on contentious social and economic issues, pro-corporate decisions and her pro-life stance. Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy noted that even Bush's appointee as Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, during his service with Owen on the Texas Supreme Court had frequently criticized Owen; Gonzales argued, for example, that one of Owen's positions taken in dissent would "judicially amend" a statute for the benefit of manufacturers selling defective products. [1] On abortion, Democrats criticized Owen for consistenly voting against judicial overrides of Texas's parental-notification abortion law. On a court with nine Republican appointees, Owen joined a majority decision on overrides once. [2] A corporation (usually known in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a company) is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name... Jump to: navigation, search Pro-life is a self-descriptive term used in English-speaking countries, and especially the United States of America for those who hold life, or the sanctity of life, or the right to life to be universal values, and seek their enforcement by legislation or constitutional... Jump to: navigation, search Edward Moore Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, having served since 1963. ... Alberto Gonzales, current Attorney General of the United States The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. ... Jump to: navigation, search Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955 in San Antonio, Texas, USA) is the current Attorney General of the United States, becoming the first Hispanic to serve in the position. ...

Gang of 14 and higher aspirations

Democratic Party senators had filibustered her nomination until May 2005 when a compromise was arranged by the "Gang of 14," which were a group of moderate senators from both the Republican and Democratic Parties. She was finally confirmed by a vote of 55 to 43 on May 25, 2005 and was sworn in on June 6, 2005. She was often cited as a potential Bush Supreme Court nominee for the O'Connor vacancy. On September 17 of that year Minority Leader Harry Reid informed Majority Leader Bill Frist that Democrats would filibuster Owen if she were nominated for the Supreme Court. [3] However, on October 31, President Bush nominated Samuel Alito to fill the Justice O'Connor vacancy following the withdrawal of nominee Harriet Miers. Jump to: navigation, search The Democratic Party, founded in 1792, is the second-oldest political party in the world (after the Tories of the United Kingdom). ... The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... Jump to: navigation, search In a legislature or other decision making body, a filibuster is an attempt to obstruct a particular decision from being taken by using up the time available, typically through an extremely long speech. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Gang of 14 (sometimes called the Mod Squad, with mod standing for moderate) was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of moderate Senators who successfully negotiated a compromise to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over the organized use of the filibuster by Senate... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search John Roberts, now Chief Justice, is pictured here with President Bush. ... Jump to: navigation, search Justice Sandra Day OConnor Sandra Day OConnor (born March 26, 1930) has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1981. ... Jump to: navigation, search September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search Harry Mason Reid (born December 2, 1939) is the senior United States Senator from Nevada and a member of the Democratic Party, for which he serves as Senate Minority Leader. ... Jump to: navigation, search William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee and a cardiac surgeon. ... Jump to: navigation, search October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining, as the final day of October. ... Jump to: navigation, search Judge Samuel Alito Samuel A. Alito Jr. ... Jump to: navigation, search Harriet Miers Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945 in Dallas, Texas) is an American lawyer, currently serving as White House Counsel. ...

Attribution

Material on this page is taken from the website of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Policy. As a product of the United States government, this material is in the public domain. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Judge Owen's DOJ Biography
• Judge Owen's Official Federal Judicial Center Biography
• Four-Year Injustice - Priscilla Owen deserves a vote! (supporting Owen's nomination)
• Save our Courts - Justice Priscilla Owen's Judicial Record (opposing Owen's nomination)
• Priscilla Owen's political donations