Priscilla Owen (born in Palacios, Texas, October 4, 1954) is a judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Palacios is a city located in Matagorda County, Texas. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in Leap years). ... 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...

She previously was a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. In 2001, she was nominated by George W. Bush to her current post, which includes Owen's home state of Texas. However, this nomination did not come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate until 2005 due to resistance from Democrats, who filibustered her nomination until 2005, when a compromise was met. Supporters call her a no-nonsense, consistent conservative with long experience as a state judge, but Democrats have criticized Owen for her conservative positions on contentious social and economic issues and her pro-life stance. Texas Supreme Court The Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States, if not the world. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and the 43rd and current president of the United States. ... State nickname: Lone Star State Other U.S. States Capital Austin Largest city Houston Governor Rick Perry Official languages None. ... The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... In political science, a democrat (lowercase d) is an advocate, follower, or proponent of democracy. ... A filibuster is a process, typically an extremely long speech, that is used primarily to stall the legislative process and thus derail a particular piece of legislation rather than to make a particular point in the content of the diversion per se. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Pro-life demonstrators at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22, 2002. ...

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. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Houston redirects here. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) 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. ... Pat Neff Hall Baylor University is an independent coeducational Baptist institution of higher learning located in Waco, Texas The university holds the distinction as one of the most prestigious institutions in Texas. ... Law school is the term used in the United States to indicate an institution where future lawyers obtain legal degrees, mainly teaching using the socratic method. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... J.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin Juris Doctor, also called a Doctor of Law or Doctorate of Jurisprudence, and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited U.S. law school after successfully completing three years of post-graduate law study. ... A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of students at a law school. ... 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. ...

Justice 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. Justice 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 the dissolution of a marriage can have on their children and to lessen the adversarial nature of legal proceedings when a marriage is dissolved. The Federalist Society began at Yale Law School in 1982 as a student organization that challenged what it saw as the orthodox liberal ideology found in most law schools. ...

In May 2005, a deal was reached in the US Senate between the Democrats and Republicans clearing the way for Owen's confirmation. She was finally confirmed by a vote of 55 to 43 on May 25, 2005 and was sworn in on June 6, 2005. Seal of the Senate The Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

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

• Priscilla R. Owen Biography (http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/owenbio.htm)
• Four-Year Injustice - Priscilla Owen deserves a vote! (supporting Owen's nomination) (http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1399738/posts)
• Save our Courts - Justice Priscilla Owen's Judicial Record (opposing Owen's nomination) (http://saveourcourts.civilrights.org/nominees/nominees/owen.html)
• Yahoo News Story on deal clearing way for nomination (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=5&u=/ap/filibuster_fight)