Orlando Garcia

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Orlando Luis Garcia
	Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
Progress
	Confirmed 111 days after nomination.
	Nominated: November 19, 1993
	ABA Rating: Unanimously Qualified
	Questionnaire:
	Hearing: February 24, 1994
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: March 9, 1994
	Confirmed: March 10, 1994
	Vote: Voice vote

Orlando Luis Garcia is a federal judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He joined the court in 1994 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. He served as the chief judge from 2016 to 2022.^[1]

Early life and education

A native of Jim Wells County, Texas, Garcia graduated from the University of Texas with his bachelor's degree in 1975 and from the University of Texas School of Law with his J.D. in 1978.^[1]

Professional career

1994 - Present: Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

2016 - 2022: Chief judge

1991-1992: Justice, Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals
1983-1991: State representative, Texas House of Representatives
1978-1990: Private practice, San Antonio, Texas^[1]

Judicial career

Western District of Texas

Garcia was nominated by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1993, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas vacated by Emilio Garza. The American Bar Association rated Garcia Unanimously Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Garcia's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 24, 1994, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden on March 9, 1994. Garcia was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on March 10, 1994, and he received his commission the next day. Garcia served as the chief judge of the district court from 2016 to 2022.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Noteworthy cases

Judge issues preliminary injunction on Texas' sanctuary cities law (2017)

See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (City of El Cenizo et al v. Texas et al., SA-17-CV-404-OLG)

On August 30, 2017, Judge Orlando Garcia issued a preliminary injunction preventing partial enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 4 (hereafter, SB4) to allow various civil lawsuits filed by Texas cities and counties against the state to proceed. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on May 7, 2017, after the Texas State Senate voted 20-11 to approve the bill on May 3, 2017. SB4 requires local law enforcement to comply with federal immigration investigations. SB 4 allows any resident of a Texas city or county can ask the state attorney general to investigate the lack of compliance with immigration laws. The legislation allows fines up to $1,500 for first violations, $25,000 for additional violations, and misdemeanors and possible removal from office for law enforcement officials accused of breaking the law.

In his injunction, Judge Garcia "blocked provisions in the law that required local law enforcement departments to comply with federal requests to hold unauthorized immigrants in their custody. He also blocked a part of the law that said local departments couldn't implement policies that would 'materially limit' the enforcement of immigration laws. ... The order did not block a portion of the law that allows police officers to ask people's immigration status during any legal detention, but it limited the actions officers can take after learning that a person is undocumented. Officers can only report the person's immigration status to federal authorities.."^[4] An appeal of Judge Garcia's injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit was expected.

Challenge to Texas ban on same-sex marriage (2014)

See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (De Leon et al. v. Perry et al., 5:13-cv-00982-OLG)

On February 26, 2014, Judge Garcia struck down the Texas ban on same-sex marriage and issued an injunction as to the enforcement of the state statute, ruling that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantees of equal protection and due process of law to same-sex couples. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of a November 2005 voter-approved amendment to the Texas Constitution that banned same-sex marriage, as well as provisions of the Texas Family Code enacted in 1997 and 2003, which prohibited the issuance of marriage licenses to persons of the same gender and prohibited recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, respectively.

The plaintiffs, Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes and Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetmen, filed suit against Texas Governor Rick Perry, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Bexar County Clerk Gerard Rickhoff, and Commissioner David Lakey of the Texas Department of State Health Services, seeking the ability to marry as a same-sex couple within Texas (Phariss and Holmes) and the ability to have their out-of-state, same-sex marriage recognized by the Texas government (De Leon and Dimetmen). Judge Garcia found for the plaintiffs in his ruling, writing:

“

Today's Court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the United States Constitution and Supreme Court precedent. Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution.^[5]

”

Garcia stayed his decision pending any appeal to the Fifth Circuit. The defendants filed a notice of appeal the day after Garcia's ruling was made public. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex marriages must be recognized in all states under the Equal Protection Clause of the Amendment XIV, United States Constitution.^[6]^[7]^[8]