Mary M. Schroeder

Mary M. Schroeder
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office December 31, 2011
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office November 30, 2000 – December 1, 2007
Preceded by	Procter Ralph Hug Jr.
Succeeded by	Alex Kozinski
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office September 26, 1979 – December 31, 2011
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Succeeded by	Andrew D. Hurwitz
Personal details
Born	(1940-12-04) December 4, 1940 (age 80) Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Education	Swarthmore College (BA) University of Chicago (JD)

Mary Murphy Schroeder (born December 4, 1940) is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Education and career[]

Schroeder with her Ninth Circuit predecessor, Procter Hug

Born on December 4, 1940, in Boulder, Colorado, Schroeder received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1962 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965, one of six women in her class.^[1] She received an honorary Doctor of Laws (Legum Doctor (LL.D.)) from Swarthmore College in May 2006. Schroeder practiced as a trial attorney with the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice from 1965 until 1969. She served as a law clerk to Justice Jesse Addison Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court in 1970. She joined the law firm of Lewis & Roca in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971 and became a partner in 1973. She was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1975 and served until 1979.^[2]

Federal judicial service[]

Schroeder was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 3, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979, and received her commission on September 26, 1979. She served as the first female Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2007. She assumed senior status on December 31, 2011.^[2]

Notable activities[]

Schroeder was elected to the American Law Institute in 1974 and was elected to the ALI Council in 1993.^[3] She served as an Adviser on the Restatement Third of Agency and currently serves as an Adviser on the Restatement Third, The Law of Consumer Contracts^[4] and Principles of Government Ethics.^[5]

Significant cases[]

• The northern spotted owl, a case related to the Endangered Species Act
• The Napster file trading software copyright infringement appeal.
• Hirabayashi v. United States coram nobis
• In CAPEEM v. Torlakson, Schroeder legitimized the use of the n-word to describe African-Americans in legislative documents. The plaintiffs had argued that the application of Monteiro v. Tempe Union (which challenged the use of material containing the racial epithet under the Equal Protection Clause) to CAPEEM v. Torlakson would legitimize the usage of the epithet in legislative documents. Nevertheless, Schroeder used Monteiro as a precedent. Another aspect of the lawsuit was that dates had been assigned to paranormal biblical events in school curriculum and this amounted to endorsement of religion. Schroeder ruled that the biblical events were historical events and dates could be assigned, for example, to the Exodus and King David.^[6]
• Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co. holding an employer's grooming standards that appropriately discriminate by gender (here requiring women to wear makeup to work) are not facially discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
• In August 2015, Schroeder found that the United States District Court for the Southern District of California's policy of indiscriminately shackling criminal defendants in all pretrial hearings violated the Constitution's Due Process Clause.^[7][8] Her judgment was affirmed by the narrowly divided circuit en banc, before being vacated by the unanimous Supreme Court of the United States.^[9][10]

"A Community Voice v. USEPA" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021. (May 14, 2021): Schroeder ruled that the EPA failed to properly examine lead standards, and that it must reconsider those standards. ^[11] Schroeder concluded her opinion by writing "Consistent with our holding in this opinion that the EPA must reconsider the DLHS, we direct the EPA to reconsider the clearance levels as well in the same proceeding. Both sets of standards must work together to effectuate Congress’s intent to end the hazards of lead poisoning in our children."

Personal life[]

She is married to Milton Schroeder, a professor at the Arizona State University College of Law, and has two children.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mary M. Schroeder.

• Mary Murphy Schroeder at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances on C-SPAN