The United States Senate votedto confirm President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s, nomination of Justice Adrienne C. Nelson, Oregon Supreme Court, to serve as a U.S. district judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (Ninth Circuit press release available here).
Upon taking her oath on February 24, Justice Nelson will become the first African American woman appointed to the district court.
Justice Nelson is the first African American justice appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court, where she has served since 2018. From 2006 to 2018, she served as a circuit court judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland. Prior to taking the bench, she worked as a coordinator and senior attorney for Portland State University from 2004 to 2006 and was an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law School from 2002 to 2005. From 1996 to 1999, she was a public defender with Multnomah Defenders, Inc., where she represented indigent defendants who were charged with state crimes in all manner of criminal cases.