Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Michael McShane

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Michael McShane

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Do you have a photo that could go here? Click here to submit it for this profile!

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Tenure

2013 - Present

Years in position

12

Education

Bachelor's

Gonzaga University, 1983

Law

Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College, 1988

Personal
Birthplace
Pittsburgh, Pa.


Michael Jerome McShane is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He joined the court in 2013 after a nomination from President Barack Obama. He became chief judge in 2024.[1]

Early life and education

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, McShane attended Gonzaga University, earning his B.A., cum laude, in 1983. He went on to earn his J.D. in 1988 from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College.[1]

Professional career

Judicial career

District of Oregon

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Michael J. McShane
Court: United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Progress
Confirmed 243 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: September 19, 2012
ApprovedAABA Rating: Majority Qualified, Minority Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: February 13, 2013
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: March 7, 2013 
ApprovedAConfirmed: May 20, 2013
ApprovedAVote: Voice vote
DefeatedAReturned: January 3, 2013

McShane was nominated on September 19, 2012, by Barack Obama to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon vacated by Michael Hogan. The American Bar Association rated McShane Majority Qualified, Minority Well Qualified for the nomination. Under provisions of Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the standing rules of the Senate, McShane's nomination was returned to the president on January 3, 2013. President Obama resubmitted the nomination on January 4, 2013. Hearings on McShane's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 13, 2013, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on March 7, 2013. McShane was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on May 20, 2013, and he received his commission on May 30, 2013.[1][2][3][4]

Noteworthy cases

Federal judge blocks Trump administration restrictions on abortion access (2019)

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to block a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aimed at keeping Title X fund recipients from engaging in abortion-related activities.[5] McShane’s ruling followed a similar decision made by Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District of Washington, who granted an injunction on April 25, 2019.[6] Preliminary injunctions keep new rules from going into effect while courts decide how to resolve legal challenges brought against them. In this case, HHS issued a final rule prohibiting the use of Title X funds to perform, promote, or refer for abortion as a family planning method.[7] The rule also requires clear financial and physical separation for clinics conducting Title X and non-Title X activities.[7]

McShane’s order, issued on April 29, 2019, came down four days before the HHS rule was supposed to go into effect.[5] He argued that the rule is “a solution in search of a problem” and that “[a]t worst, it is a ham-fisted approach to health policy that recklessly disregards the health outcomes of women, families, and communities.”[5] He also held that the people challenging the rule raised serious claims that the rule was arbitrary and capricious.[5] The arbitrary-or-capricious test comes from Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which requires courts reviewing agency decisions to rule against actions found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

Judge McShane said that a previous version of the HHS rule survived a challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1991 case Rust v. Sullivan.[5] There, the court applied the Chevron doctrine and held that the HHS interpretation of Title X reflected a plausible reading of the law and must be upheld.[5] Under the Chevron doctrine, federal courts defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous laws that Congress empowers the agency to implement.

However, McShane held that post-Rust actions by Congress and HHS changed the way courts should approach the issue.[5] He ruled that “HHS must do more than merely dust off the 30-year old regulations and point to Rust.”[5] He said, “That HHS appears to have failed to seriously consider persuasive evidence that the Final Rule would force providers to violate their ethical obligations suggests that the rule is arbitrary and capricious.”[5]

Marriage ban struck down in Oregon (2014)
See also: United States District Court for the District of Oregon (Geiger v. Kitzhaber, 6:13-cv-01834-MC)

On May 19, 2014, Judge Michael McShane ruled that Oregon's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The case involved four couples that sued the state of Oregon to end the ban on same-sex marriage. The state of Oregon opted to not defend the law as both the state's Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum, and Governor John Kitzhaber believed the law to be unconstitutional.[8] When the state chose to not defend the law, pro-traditional marriage group the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) attempted to join the case in its defense. The National Organization for Marriage's cause for joining the case involved interests of members of their organization and questions about the impartiality of Judge McShane, who is openly gay.[9] McShane dismissed their request to join stating that he hasn't contributed to the promotion of the same-sex cause in a way that would affect his impartiality and that NOM admitted to having less than 100 members in the state.[10]

In the ruling Judge Michael McShane quoted the Fourteenth Amendment:

“ The Constitution commands that no state may "deny to any person ... the equal protection of the laws."[11][12] ”
McShane's ruling allowed same-sex marriages to be recognized and be performed in the state of Oregon.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the National Organization for Marriage's request to block McShane's ruling.[13]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Michael Jerome McShane," accessed May 24, 2017
  2. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1956 — Michael J. McShane — The Judiciary," accessed May 24, 2017
  3. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 20 — Michael J. McShane — The Judiciary," accessed May 24, 2017
  4. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 112th Congress," accessed May 24, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 United States District Court, District of Oregon, "State of Oregon v. Alex M. Azar II, Opinion and Order," April 29, 2019
  6. ↑ United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington, "Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motions for Preliminary Injunction," April 25, 2019
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Federal Register, "Compliance With Statutory Program Integrity Requirements, A Rule by the Health and Human Services Department," published March 4, 2019
  8. ↑ Slate, "Oregon’s Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down—Can Anyone Step Up to Defend It?" May 19, 2014
  9. ↑ National Organization for Marriage, "National Organization for Marriage Files Motion Seeking to Intervene in Oregon Marriage Case," April 21, 2014
  10. ↑ The Register-Guard, "Gay marriage wins round," May 15, 2014
  11. ↑ Courthouse News, "Geiger v. Kitzhaber," May 19, 2014
  12. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  13. ↑ Buzzfeed, "Ninth Circuit Denies Same-Sex Marriage Opponents’ Attempt To Stop Oregon Marriage Ruling," May 19, 2014

Political offices
Preceded by
- 		United States District Court for the District of Oregon
2013-Present		 Succeeded by
-


Oregon courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Oregon • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Oregon

State courts:

Oregon Supreme Court • Oregon Court of Appeals • Oregon Circuit Courts • Oregon Tax Court • Oregon County Courts • Oregon Justice Courts • Oregon Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Oregon • Oregon judicial elections • Judicial selection in Oregon

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Michael_McShane&oldid=9801664"