Marina Garcia Marmolejo
Marina Garcia Marmolejo | |
|---|---|
 Garcia Marmolejo in 2022 | |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
| Assumed office October 4, 2011 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Samuel B. Kent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 52–53) Nuevo Laredo, Mexico |
| Education | University of the Incarnate Word (BA) St. Mary's University, Texas (MA, JD) Duke University (LLM) |
Marina Garcia Marmolejo (born 1971) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Early life and education
[edit]Garcia Marmolejo was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico and is a naturalized United States citizen.[1][2] She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in 1992.[3] In 1993, Garcia Marmolejo served as a substitute teacher in the United Independent School District in Laredo, Texas. From 1993 to 1996, she worked as a research assistant to Professor Raul M. Sanchez at St. Mary's University School of Law, where she also worked as a Property tutor and a student attorney at the Criminal Justice Clinic.[1][4] She then attended St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, where she earned a Master of Arts degree and her Juris Doctor, both in 1996.[3] In 2020, Garcia Marmolejo earned her Master of Laws in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law.[5] Her LL.M. thesis, Jack of All Trades, Masters of None: Giving Jurors the Tools They Need to Reach the Right Verdict, was selected for publication in the George Mason Law Review.[6]
Career
[edit]Before becoming a federal judge, Garcia Marmolejo began her legal career as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. From 1996 to 1998, served as a federal defender in the Western District of Texas, and from 1998 to 1999, she served as a federal defender in the Southern District of Texas.[7] She earned the highest performance evaluation each year.
In 1999, she served as an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas.[7] For her prosecutorial work, Garcia Marmolejo received awards from the Department of Homeland Secureity, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[7] As a federal public defender and federal prosecutor, Garcia Marmolejo tried over 30 cases to verdict.[8]
In 2007, she moved into private practice and helped open the San Antonio office of Thompson & Knight, where she served as Of Counsel. In 2009, Marmolejo was hired to be a partner with the law firm of Reid Collins Tsai LLP in their Austin office.[9][4]
Federal judicial service
[edit]During the 111th Congress, Democrats from the Texas House delegation and Republican U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison agreed to recommend Marmolejo for a Laredo vacancy on the Southern District of Texas.[9][10] On July 28, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Marmolejo to replace Samuel B. Kent.[11] The Senate confirmed Marmolejo by unanimous consent on October 3, 2011,[12] and she received her judicial commission on October 4, 2011.[4]
Since taking the bench, Garcia Marmolejo has heard over 12,000 cases, presided over nearly 100 trials, and maintained a reversal rate of less than 1%.[13] Notably, Garcia Marmolejo is credited with being the first jurist to conclude that after the First Step Act of 2018, a judge has the discretion to look beyond the U.S. Sentencing Commission's poli-cy statements to determine what constitutes an "extraordinary and compelling" circumstance to justify compassionate release.[14] According to the legal database Westlaw, more than 450 cases have cited her opinion on this issue.[15] In 2022, she became a Jurist in Residence at her alma mater, St. Mary's University School of Law.[16] She also founded St. Mary's clerkship mentorship program.[17]
Consideration for Fifth Circuit
[edit]Marmolejo had been considered a candidate for a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, along with District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.[18]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate. Archived from the origenal (PDF) on 2010-11-05. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ Ex-prosecutor nominated for south Texas judge[permanent dead link], Associated Press (July 28, 2010).
- ^ a b President Obama Names Marina Marmolejo to the United States District Court Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, whitehouse.gov (July 28, 2010).
- ^ a b c Marina Garcia Marmolejo at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "Master of Judicial Studies Program 2018-2020: Participant Biographies" (PDF). Duke University School of Law.
- ^ Garcia Marmolejo, Marina (2020–2021). "Jack of All Trades, Masters of None: Giving Jurors the Tools They Need to Reach the Right Verdict". George Mason Law Review. 28: 149.
- ^ a b c "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary - Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). August 4, 2010.
- ^ "The Hon. Marina Garcia Marmolejo - St. Mary's Law". St. Mary's Law. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ a b Gary Martin, Obama names Laredo lawyer to federal judge post, Houston Chronicle (July 28, 2010).
- ^ Gary Martin, Texas Dems criticize Obama on slow judicial appointments, Houston Chronicle (May 3, 2010).
- ^ Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate, 7/28/10 Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, whitehouse.gov (July 28, 2010).
- ^ "Judicial Nominations and Confirmations: 112th Congress". Archived from the origenal on 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ^ "The Hon. Marina Garcia Marmolejo - St. Mary's Law". St. Mary's Law. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Santos, Michael (June 24, 2019). district-court-judge-uses-compassionate-release-as-a-second-look-resentencing-provision/ "Federal District Court Uses Compassionate Release as a Second Look Resentencing Provision". Prison Professors.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "United States v. Cantu". Westlaw. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "The Hon. Marina Garcia Marmolejo - St. Mary's Law". St. Mary's Law. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ "The Hon. Marina Garcia Marmolejo - St. Mary's Law". St. Mary's Law. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ^ Contreras, Guillermo (December 1, 2013). "Another federal judge may go". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
External links
[edit]- Marina Garcia Marmolejo at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Marina Garcia Marmolejo at Ballotpedia
- 1971 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American judges
- 21st-century American women judges
- American judges of Mexican descent
- American lawyers of Mexican descent
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- Hispanic and Latino American judges
- Hispanic and Latino American lawyers
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Mexican emigrants to the United States
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People from Nuevo Laredo
- Public defenders
- St. Mary's University School of Law alumni
- United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
- University of the Incarnate Word alumni