Emilio Miller Garza (born August 1, 1947) is a former

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

and former United States District Judge of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (in case citations, W.D. Tex.) is a federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has juri ...

Education and career

Born in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Garza graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

in 1969, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree there in 1969 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1970. He then joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, in which he was an officer from 1970 to 1973. Garza earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

at the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

in 1976. He was an attorney in private practice with the law firm of Clemens, Spencer, Welmaker & Fink in San Antonio between 1976 and 1986. He was a Judge of the

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

, Texas Two Hundred and Twenty-Fifth District Court from 1987 to 1988

Federal judicial service

On February 2, 1988, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

nominated Garza to the

, to fill the seat vacated by

William S. Sessions William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Inv ...

. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

confirmed Garza's nomination on April 19, 1988, and Garza received his commission the following day. His service terminated on June 7, 1991, due to elevation to the Fifth Circuit. On April 11, 1991, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

nominated Garza to a seat on the

vacated by

Thomas Morrow Reavley Thomas Morrow Reavley (June 21, 1921 – December 1, 2020) was an American jurist, who was a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (and the oldest serving federal judge) at the time of his ...

, and he was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 1991, receiving his commission on May 30, 1991. Judge Garza assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

August 1, 2012 and retired on January 5, 2015.

Supreme Court consideration

Garza was mentioned as a potential nominee to the United States Supreme Court. In fact, he was interviewed in 1991 for the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

. That seat ultimately went to Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...

Notable opinions

*Special concurrence in '' Fisher v. University of Texas'', 631 F.3d 213 (5th Cir. 2011) *Strong dissent in '' Fisher v. University of Texas'', 758 F.3d 633 (5th Cir. 2014) *Dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc in ''Reliable Consultants, Inc. v. Earle'', 538 F.3d 355 (5th Cir. 2008) *Majority opinion in ''Comacho v. Texas Workforce Commission'', 408 F.3d 229 (5th Cir. 2005) *Majority opinion in ''U.S. v. Bird'', 401 F.3d 633 (5th Cir. 2005) *Majority opinion in ''Wallace v. County of Comal'', 400 F.3d 284 (5th Cir. 2005) *Majority opinion in ''Sierra Club v. Peterson'', 228 F.3d 559 (5th Cir. 2000) (en banc) *Majority opinion in ''

Atwater v. City of Lago Vista ''Atwater v. Lago Vista'', 532 U.S. 318 (2001), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court decision which held that a person's Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourth Amendment rights are not violated w ...

'', 195 F.3d 242 (5th Cir. 1999) (en banc) *Majority opinion in ''United States v. Navarro'', 169 F.3d 228 (5th Cir. 1999) *Majority opinion in ''United States v. Castillo'', 179 F.3d 321 (5th Cir. 1999) *Special concurrence in ''Flores v. Johnson'', 210 F.3d 456 (2000) *Special concurrence in ''Causeway Med. Suite v. Ieyoub'', 109 F.3d 1096 (5th Cir. 1997) *Concurring opinion ''Doe v. Hillsboro Independent School District'', 113 F.3d 1412 (5th Cir. 1997)(en banc) In 2010, Judge Garza joined Judges

Edith Brown Clement Edith "Joy" Brown Clement (born April 29, 1948) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Background Clement was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daugh ...

and

Priscilla Owen Priscilla Richman (formerly Priscilla Richman Owen) (born October 4, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a justice ...

in affirming the dismissal of the complaint in Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District. The plaintiff ("H.S.") was a cheerleader who was ordered by her high school to cheer for her alleged rapist, a basketball player named Rakheem Bolton. H.S. refused and was kicked off the team. She sued, claiming a violation of her

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

right to free speech. The

Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed t ...

, Judge

Thad Heartfield Thad Heartfield (born 1940) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont, Texas. Education and career Heartfield graduated from St. Mary's University, Texas with a B ...

, granted the school district's motion to dismiss, and Judges Clement, Garza, and Owen affirmed. H.S. was ordered to pay the school $45,000 in legal fees for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit.

References

Sources

Material on this page is taken or adapted from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy, and from the Fifth Circuit Library System of the United States Court of Appeals, both

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

sources.
Fifth Circuit Library System of the United States Court of Appeals

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garza, Emilio Miller 1947 births Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Living people People from San Antonio United States court of appeals judges appointed by George H. W. Bush United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges University of Notre Dame alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni