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Christine Durham
Christine M. Durham was an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, a position she has held since 1982. Justice Durham was appointed by Democratic Governor Scott Matheson. She was retained in 2014 for a term that was set to expire on January 5, 2025.[1][2] She retired early in November 2017.[3]
Durham became chief justice of the court in 2002. She stepped down as chief justice as of March 31, 2012, though she remained on the court as associate justice.[4]
Education
Durham received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College. She went on to earn her J.D. from the Duke University School of Law.[1]
Career
After graduating from law school, Durham went into private practice. She joined the Third District Court in 1978. Durham served on this court until she was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court in 1982. She served as chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 2002 to 2012.[5]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2012: Eighth Annual Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence, American Judicature Society
- 2007: William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence
- Honorary degree, University of Utah
- Honorary degree, Weber State University
- Honorary degree, Salt Lake Community College
- Honorary degree, College of Eastern Utah[6][1]
Associations
- 1985: Governor's Task Force to implement amendments to the Judicial Article of the Utah Constitution
- Head of the National Center for State Courts
- President, Conference of Chief Justices[7]
- Co-chair Committee, Improving Jury Service
- Former chair, Public Outreach Committee
- Leader, Coalition for Civic, Character, and Service Learning
- Former member, Utah Constitutional Revision Commission
- Council, American Law Institute
- Member, American Bar Association Council of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
- Member, Utah Judicial Council
- Member, Commission on Justice in the 21st Century
- Member, Duke University Board of Trustees.[1]
Elections
2014
Durham was retained to the Utah Supreme Court with 77.8 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014. [2]
Performance evaluations
The Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, following a 2014 survey, recommended that Justice Durham be Retained. The full report is available here.
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Durham received a campaign finance score of -0.85, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.45 that justices received in Utah.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
See also
External links
- Utah Courts, "Christine Durham biography"
- Project Vote Smart, "Chief Justice Christine M. Durham (UT)"
- Salt Lake City Weekly, "Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine M. Durham," May 6, 2009
- Albany Law Review, "Choosing a "primacy" approach: Chief Justice Christine M. Durham advocating states rights in our federalist system," Summer 2002
- Utah State Courts, "2012 State of the Judiciary address"
- Deseret News, "Utah Supreme Court chief justice stepping down, plans to stay on court," January 23, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Utah Courts, "Christine Durham Biography"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Utah Elections, "2014 Candidate Filings," accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ Desert News, "Utah's first female Supreme Court justice to retire," May 2, 2017
- ↑ Deseret News, "Utah Supreme Court chief justice stepping down, plans to stay on court," January 23, 2012
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Chief Justice Christine M. Durham (UT)"
- ↑ Utah Bar Association, "Justice Christine Durham to Receive National Award," August 31, 2012
- ↑ Deseret News, "Utah chief justice named to 2 posts," August 12, 2009
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Utah • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Utah
State courts:
Utah Supreme Court • Utah Court of Appeals • Utah District Courts • Utah Juvenile Courts • Utah Justice Courts
State resources:
Courts in Utah • Utah judicial elections • Judicial selection in Utah
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current judges | Matthew Durrant, Diana Hagen, John A. Pearce, Paige Petersen, Jill Pohlman | ||
| Former judges | Christine Durham, Deno Himonas, Thomas Rex Lee, Ronald E. Nehring | ||
