Jeffrey Carl Mateer is an American lawyer. From 2016 to 2020, he served as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas. In September 2017, he was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

to become a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for 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 to ...

; however, the nomination was withdrawn in December 2017. Mateer previously served as general counsel of the

First Liberty Institute First Liberty Institute is a nonprofit Christian conservative legal organizationHenry FarrellThese are the conservative legal groups behind the Masterpiece Cakeshop case ''Washington Post'' (December 5, 2017). based in Plano, Texas. Prominent ...

, a religious liberty advocacy group headquartered in Plano. He returned to the Institute, following his resignation from the Attorney General's Office.

Biography

Mateer earned his

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 year ...

with honors from Dickinson College and his Juris Doctor with honors from the

Dedman School of Law Southern Methodist University, SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its pare ...

. He spent nearly 20 years litigating in private practice, where he handled a range of trial and appellate matters. He then became general counsel and executive vice president of the

. In two 2015 speeches, he described the issue of transgender children as a deception and "part of Satan's plan". He also spoke in opposition to state bans on

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...

at a conference hosted by Kevin Swanson, a pastor who preaches that the Biblical punishment for homosexuality is death. Mateer said that the legalization of same-sex marriage could lead to the legalization of

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

and bestiality. From 2016 to 2020, Mateer served as the First Assistant Attorney General of Texas under Attorney General

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a t ...

, supervising the state's active litigation matters. Upon resigning, he filed a complaint against AG Paxton alleging wrongdoing along with other top attorneys in the litigation division. Following his public service, Mateer returned to the First Liberty Institute.

Failed nomination to District Court

On September 7, 2017, President

nominated Mateer to serve as a United States District Judge of the

, to the seat vacated by Judge Richard A. Schell, who assumed

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

on March 10, 2015. Mateer was recommended to the White House by Senators

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

and

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

. After Mateer's remarks about transgender children being part of "Satan's plan" and his support for

were publicized in late September 2017,

, the senior Republican Senator from Texas and then-

Senate Majority Whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

, expressed skepticism about Mateer's suitability to sit on the federal bench. Cornyn and members of a committee that screens Texas judicial candidates said that Mateer had not disclosed the statements. Cruz said that he still supported Mateer's nomination. In December 2017, Mateer's nomination for the federal judiciary was withdrawn. On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. On January 8, 2018, the White House renominated 21 of 26 federal judicial nominees who had been returned by the U.S. Senate. Mateer was not among the 21 individuals who were renominated.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mateer, Jeffrey Carl Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Dedman School of Law alumni Dickinson College alumni Texas lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)

Biography

Failed nomination to District Court

See also

References

External links