Mary M. Schroeder

Mary Murphy Schroeder (born December 4, 1940) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mary M. Schroeder
Schroeder in 2017
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office December 31, 2011
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office November 30, 2000 – December 1, 2007
Preceded by	Procter Ralph Hug Jr.
Succeeded by	Alex Kozinski
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office September 26, 1979 – December 31, 2011
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Succeeded by	Andrew D. Hurwitz
Personal details
Born	(1940-12-04) December 4, 1940 (age 83) Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Education	Swarthmore College (BA) University of Chicago (JD)

Early life and education

Schroeder with her Ninth Circuit predecessor, Procter Hug (2012)

Born on December 4, 1940, in Boulder, Colorado, Schroeder received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1962 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965, one of six women in her class.^[1] She received an honorary Doctor of Laws (Legum Doctor (LL.D.) from Swarthmore in May 2006.

Career

Schroeder practiced as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice Civil Division from 1965 until 1969. She served as a law clerk to Justice Jesse Addison Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court in 1970. She joined the law firm of Lewis & Roca in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971 and became a partner in 1973. She was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1975 and served until 1979.^[2]

Schroeder was elected to the American Law Institute in 1974 and was elected to the ALI Council in 1993.^[3] She served as an Adviser on the Restatement Third of Agency and serves as an adviser on the Restatement Third, The Law of Consumer Contracts^[4] and Principles of Government Ethics.^[5] She served as president of the National Association of Women Judges in 1998-99.^[6]

Federal judicial service

Schroeder was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 3, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979, and received her commission on September 26, 1979. She served as the first female chief judge of the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2007. She assumed senior status on December 31, 2011.^[2]

Awards

Schroeder has received numerous prestigious awards, including but not limited to:

• the American Law Institute's John Minor Wisdom Award in 2023
• the Arizona State Bar Association’s James A. Walsh Outstanding Jurist Award
• the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award
• the Joan Dempsey Klein NAWJ Honoree of the Year Award

In addition, the Arizona State University Law School has named two awards after Schroeder:

• the Mary M. Schroeder Public Interest Prize
• the Judge Mary M. Schroeder Federal Practice Award

Notable cases

• The northern spotted owl, a case related to the Endangered Species Act
• The Napster file trading software copyright infringement appeal.
• Hirabayashi v. United States coram nobis in which the opinion authored by Schroeder vacated the infamous convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi for refusing to report to a control center and breaking curfew during the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II
• In CAPEEM v. Torlakson, Schroeder rejected a claim that California schools inaccurately portrayed Hinduism.^[7]
• Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co. holding an employer's grooming standards that appropriately discriminate by gender (here requiring women to wear makeup to work) are not facially discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
• In August 2015, Schroeder found that the United States District Court for the Southern District of California's policy of indiscriminately shackling criminal defendants in all pretrial hearings violated the Constitution's Due Process Clause.^[8][9] Her judgment was affirmed by the narrowly divided circuit en banc, before being vacated by the unanimous Supreme Court of the United States.^[10][11]
• On December 14, 2016, Schroeder in a unanimous opinion upheld California's 10-day waiting period for firearm purchases under the now-abrogated intermediate scrutiny.^[12]
• "A Community Voice v. USEPA" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021. (May 14, 2021): Schroeder ruled that the EPA failed to properly examine lead standards, and that it must reconsider those standards.^[13] Schroeder concluded her opinion by writing "Consistent with our holding in this opinion that the EPA must reconsider the DLHS, we direct the EPA to reconsider the clearance levels as well in the same proceeding. Both sets of standards must work together to effectuate Congress’s intent to end the hazards of lead poisoning in our children."

Personal life

She is married to Milton Schroeder, a professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, and has two children, Katherine and Caroline.

See also

• List of United States federal judges by longevity of service

References

1. "Judge Mary M. Schroeder becomes Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit. News release". Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
2. Mary Murphy Schroeder at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
3. American Law Institute - Officers and Council Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
4. Restatement Third, the Law of Consumer Contracts - Project Participants Archived 2014-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
5. Principles of Government Ethics - Project Participants Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Past Presidents | National Association of Women Judges". www.nawj.org. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
7. "Ninth Circuit Tosses Claims of Anti-Hindu Bias in California Schools". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
8. Note, Recent Case: Ninth Circuit Deems Unconstitutional Routine Shackling in Pretrial Proceedings, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1163 (2018).
9. United States v. Sanchez-Gomez, 798 F.3d 1204 (9th Cir. 2015).
10. United States v. Sanchez-Gomez, 859 F.3d 649 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc).
11. "United States v. Sanchez-Gomez". Oyez Project. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
12. "Silvester v. Harris Appellate Opinion" (PDF). CourtListener. December 14, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
13. "9th Circ. Says EPA Must Revisit Lead-Related Standards". Law360. May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.

External links

• Mary Murphy Schroeder at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Legal offices
Preceded by Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1979–2012	Succeeded by Andrew D. Hurwitz
Preceded by Procter Ralph Hug Jr.	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2000–2007	Succeeded by Alex Kozinski