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William J. Martinez

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William J. Martinez
Current Court Information:
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Title:   Judge
Service:
Appointed by:   Barack Obama
Active:   12/21/2010 - Current
Preceded by:   Edward Nottingham
Personal History
Born:   1954
Home State:   Mexico City, Mexico
Bachelors:   U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, B.Sc. & B.A., 1977
Law School:   U. of Chicago Law, J.D., 1980

Contents

William J. "Bill" Martinez is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. He was nominated to this position by President Obama on February 24, 2010 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate the following December 21st. He received his commission that same day.[1] Previously, he worked as a partner with the law firm McNamara, Roseman, Martínez and Kazmierski in Denver, Colorado.[2]

Early life and education

Martinez earned his B.S. and B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1977. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with his Juris Doctor in 1980. [3][1]

Personal life

Professional career

  • Attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, 1980 - 1987
  • Associate with Pendleton and Sabian in Denver, 1988 - 1992
  • Regional Attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Denver office), 1992 - 1996
  • Private practice, 1997 - 2001
  • Partner with McNamara, Roseman, Martínez and Kazmierski, 2001 - present [3][1]

Judicial career

District of Colorado

Martinez was nominated for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado by President Obama on February 24, 2010. He was recommended to the President by Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet. [4] Obama called Martinez one "of our nation’s best and brightest". [3] Martinez received a rating of "Unanimously Qualified" from the American Bar Association. [5]

Martinez had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 10, 2010. Ranking Republican Jeff Sessions questioned Martinez on his work with the ACLU of Colorado and asked for his stance on capitol punishment. Martinez responded "that the U.S. Supreme Cout (sic) has ruled that capital punishment doesn’t violate the Eighth Amendment, except in narrow circumstances that have been carved out in recent years. So I think what is material and important is what my view would be as a sitting federal district judge, something that would be quite different from my views as a personal citizen or an advocate or litigant and member of the ACLU." [6] You can find Martinez's Public Questionnaire Available Here and his Questions for the Record Available Here.

The Committee approved Martinez on April 15, 2010 with a 12-7 vote along party lines, with the Democrats favoring.[7] Martinez's nomination was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on December 21, 2010.[2] He received his commission on December 21, 2010.[1]

Awards and associations

  • Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers [3]

Notable cases

Judicial philosophy

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center biography
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chicago Tribune, "New Colorado federal judge has Chicago roots," January 11, 2011
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 White House Press Release "President Obama Nominates Three for District Court Bench", February 24, 2010
  4. ↑ Denver Business Journal "Martinez nominated for federal court bench", February 25, 2010
  5. ↑ Judicial Nomination Materials
  6. ↑ Law Week Colorado "Judicial Nominee Martinez Gets Light Grilling From Senate Judiciary Committee", March 17, 2010
  7. ↑ The Denver post "Senate panel approves nomination of Denver lawyer to federal post," April 16, 2010
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