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Ricardo Hinojosa
2025 - Present
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Ricardo H. Hinojosa is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He joined the court in 1983 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan (R). From 2009 to 2016, Hinojosa served as the chief judge of the district court.[1]
Hinojosa assumed senior status on May 21, 2025.[2]
Education
Hinjosa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and later graduated from Harvard Law School with his J.D. degree in 1975.[1]
Professional career
Hinojosa began his legal career as a law clerk with the Texas Supreme Court from 1975 to 1976. From 1976 to 1983, Hinojosa was a private practice attorney licensed in the State of Texas before being appointed to the court in 1983.[1]
Judicial career
Southern District of Texas
On the recommendation of Texas U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, Hinojosa was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 12, 1983, to a seat vacated by Judge Woodrow Seals as Seals assumed senior status. Hinojosa was confirmed by the Senate on May 4, 1983, and received commission on May 5, 1983.[1] Hinojosa assumed senior status on May 21, 2025.[1]
U.S. Sentencing Commission
Hinojosa has served as a commissioner on the United States Sentencing Commission since 2003, the committee that sets the current Federal Criminal Sentencing Guidelines.[3]
Hinojosa has played an active part in eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders and giving judges more leeway on setencing drug offenders as it has allowed judges to be more flexible in their sentencing.[4] Hinojosa also played a role in having tougher sentences for those who are charged with criminal violations of theSarbanes Oxley Act, tougher sentences for terrorism related crimes, sex offenders, and started more victims advisory interaction to allow the commission to set guidelines that enhance public safety.
Hinjosa served as Chairman, appointed by President George W. Bush, from 2004 to 2009.[5]
Awards and associations
See also
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
External links
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas
- Judges of the Southern District of Texas
- Opinions of the Southern District of Texas
- Judge Hinojosa's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Judge Hinojosa's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ United States Courts, "Future Judicial Vacancies," accessed May 16, 2025
- ↑ United States Sentencing Commission, "Ricard Hinojosa nominated to US Sentencing Commission," June 25, 2003
- ↑ United States Sentencing Commission, "Drug Sentences Reduced Retroactively," December 11, 2007 (dead link)
- ↑ United States Sentencing Commission, "About the Commissioners," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Chief Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa Selected to Receive 29th Annual Devitt Award," May 26, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ PR Newswire, "Chief Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa Selected to Receive 29th Annual Devitt Award," May 26, 2011
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Woodrow Seals |
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas 1983-2025 |
Succeeded by - |
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| 1981 |
Bartlett • Beam • Becker • Bork • Cacheris • Cardamone • Chapman • Coughenour • Cox • Crow • Cyr • Doumar • Eschbach • Forrester • Garwood • Gibson • Glasser • Hall • Hamilton • Head • Jones • Kiser • Krenzler • Lee • Magnuson • McLaughlin • Miner • Moore • Nowlin • O'Connor • Pierce • Posner • Potter • Russell • Ryan • Shabaz • Sprizzo • Stevens • Waters • Wilhoit • Wilkins • Winter | ||
| 1982 |
Acker • Acosta • Altimari • Bell • Bissell • Black • Bullock • Caldwell • Coffey • Contie • Coyle • Dowd • Fagg • Fong • Fox • Gadbois • Gibson • Ginsburg • Hart • Higginbotham • Hogan • Irving • Jackson • Jolly • Kanne • Kovachevich • Krupansky • Lynch • Mansmann • McNamara • Mencer • Mentz • Mihm • Moody • Nordberg • Paul • Pieras • Plunkett • Porfilio • Potter • Pratt • Rafeedie • Restani • Roberts • Scalia • Selya • Telesca • Wellford | ||
| 1983 |
Baldock • Barbour • Barry • Bowman • Carman • Carter • Curran • Davis • Dorsey • Feldman • Fish • Flaum • Gibbons • Hallanan • Harris • Hinojosa • Hull • Hupp • Katz • Keenan • Kelly • Kram • Laffitte • Limbaugh, Sr. • Limbaugh, Sr. • Milburn • Nesbitt • Nevas • O'Neill • Rymer • Sharp • Starr • Vinson • Vukasin • Wexler • Woods | ||
| 1984 |
Barker • Beezer • Biggers • Billings • Bissell • Boyle • Brewster • Browning • DiCarlo • Duhe • Garcia • George • Hall • Hargrove • Higgins • Hill • Holland • Ideman • Jarvis • Keller • Leavy • Lee • Legge • Leisure • Little • Livaudais • Longobardi • McKibben • Milburn • Newman • Norgle • Prado • Rea • Rosenblatt • Rovner • Scirica • Smith, Jr. • Sneeden • Stotler • Suhrheinrich • Torruella • Wiggins • Wilkinson | ||
| 1985 |
Alley • Altimari • Anderson • Aquilino • Archer • Arnold • Baldock • Batchelder • Battey • Broomfield • Brown • Brown • Brunetti • Buckley • Cobb • Conmy • Cowen • Davidson • Dimmick • Duff • Easterbrook • Edgar • Farnan • Fernandez • Fitzpatrick • Fuste • Greene • Gunn • Guy • Hall • Hilton • Holderman • Hughes • Johnson • Jones • Korman • Kozinski • La Plata • Leinenweber • Letts • Lovell • Ludwig • Maloney • Mansmann • Marcus • McDonald • Meredith • Miller • Mills • Miner • Motz • Nelson • Noonan • Porfilio • Revercomb • Rhoades • Ripple • Rodriguez • Rosenbaum • Roth • Ryan • Sam • Scott • Sentelle • Silberman • Sporkin • Stanton • Stapleton • Strand • Strom • Tacha • Tevrizian • Thompson • Todd • Tsoucalas • Walker • Walter • Weber • Williams • Wilson • Wingate • Wolf • Wollman • Young • Zloch | ||
| 1986 |
Anderson • Boggs • Bryan • Cedarbaum • Cholakis • Conway • Davies • Dearie • Dubina • Duggan • Edmondson • Fawsett • Fitzwater • Gex • Graham • Hackett • Hansen • Henderson • Hittner • Howard • Jensen • Kay • Kleinfeld • Kosik • Lagueux • Lechner • Magill • Mahoney • Manion • McAvoy • McQuade • Norris • O'Scannlain • Rehnquist • Ryskamp • Scalia • Selya • Simpson • Smalkin • Spencer • Stiehl • Wilkins • Williams • Woodlock • Zatkoff | ||
| 1987 |
Alesia • Beam • Bell • Conboy • Cowen • Cummings • Daronco • Doty • Dwyer • Ebel • Ellis • Gadola • Gawthrop • Greenberg • Harrington • Howard • Hoyt • Hutchinson • Kanne • Kelly • Larimer • Leavy • Lew • Marsh • Mayer • McKinney • Michel • Mukasey • Musgrave • Niemeyer • Parker • Phillips • Politan • Pro • Raggi • Reasoner • Reed • Scirica • Sentelle • Smith • Smith • Stadtmueller • Standish • Tinder • Torres • Trott • Turner • Van Antwerpen • Voorhees • Webb • Whipple • Wolin • Wolle • Wood • Zagel | ||
| 1988 |
Arcara • Babcock • Brorby • Butler • Cambridge • Camp • Conlon • Cox • Dubois • Duhe • Ezra • Forester • Friedman • Garza • Hutton • Jordan • Kennedy • Lake • Lamberth • Lifland • Lozano • Marovich • Nygaard • Patterson • Schell • Smith • Smith • Tilley • Waldman • Zilly | ||
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State of Texas Austin (capital) |
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