Ricardo Hinojosa
| Ricardo Hinojosa | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
| Title: | Chief Judge |
| Position: | Seat #7 |
| Station: | McAllen, TX |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | Ronald Reagan |
| Active: | 05/05/1983 - Present |
| Chief: | 2009 - Present |
| Preceded by: | Woodrow Seals |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1950 |
| Home State: | Rio Grande City, TX |
| Bachelors: | U. of Texas, Austin, B.A., 1972 |
| Law School: | Harvard Law, J.D., 1975 |
Contents |
Ricardo H. Hiojosa is an Article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He joined the court in 1983 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Hinojosa also is a member of the US Sentencing Commission.
Early life and education
A native Texan, 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 Juris Doctor Degree in 1975. [1]
Professional career
Hinojosa began his legal career with 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 Federal Bench. [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 Woodrow Seals as Seals assumed senior status. Hinojosa was confirmed by the US Senate on May 4, 1983 on a Senate vote and received commission on May 5, 1983. [1]
US 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. [2]
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 setencing[3]. Hinojosa also played a role in having tougher sentences for those who are charged with criminal violations of the Sarbanes 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 has served as Chairman since 2004 as President George W. Bush nominated Hinojosa as the Chairman. [2]
Awards and Associations
- 2011 Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award: [4]
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor announced the award, saying:[5]
"For over twenty-seven years, Chief Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa has served with highly noteworthy distinction as a dedicated federal jurist and committed public servant. In addition to serving as a member of an impressive list of Judicial Conference committees and advisory groups during his extensive judicial service, Judge Hinojosa was a member and then Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from 2003 until 2009. He is credited with having stabilized the work of the Commission during the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker that declared the Sentencing Guidelines advisory. Judge Hinojosa also shepherded the Commission's work in recommending and implementing measures to reduce the sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and cocaine powder offenses, an issue that had been under consideration by the Commission for many years. Judge Hinojosa has also handled one of the busiest criminal dockets in the nation and devoted himself to a wide variety of community activities."
Notable cases
Judicial philosophy
See also
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
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Judge Hinojosa's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "US Sentencing Commission" Ricard Hinojosa nominated to US Sentencing Commission, June 25, 2003
- ↑ "US Sentencing Commission" Drug Sentences Reduced Retroactively, December 11, 2007
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Chief Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa Selected to Receive 29th Annual Devitt Award," May 26, 2011
- ↑ PR Newswire, "Chief Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa Selected to Receive 29th Annual Devitt Award", May 26, 2011
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Woodrow Seals |
Southern District of Texas 1983–Current Seat #7 |
Succeeded by: NA |
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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 | ||
