Kathleen Cardone (born December 25, 1953) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Cardone graduated from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

with her

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 in 1976 and later from the

St. Mary's University School of Law St. Mary's University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas. Academics The School of Law has an enrollment of about 770 students, pursu ...

where she earned her

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 ...

in 1979.

Legal career

Cardone started her legal career as a briefing attorney for Magistrate Judge Philip A. Schraub, a

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (in case citations, S.D. Tex.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over the southeastern part of Texas. The court's headquarters is in Houston, Texas and has six ad ...

. She held that role from 1979 to 1980. She was in private practice in

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 ...

from 1980 to 1990. She was a judge on the Municipal Court for the City of

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

from 1983 to 1990. She was an Associate judge for the Family Law Court of Texas from 1990 to 1995. She was a judge on the 383rd Judicial District Court of Texas from 1995 to 1996. Cardone worked as an Attorney/mediator for Texas Arbitration Mediation Services from 1997 to 1999. She was an Instructor (part-time) at

El Paso Community College El Paso Community College (EPCC) is a community college district headquartered in El Paso, Texas, United States. EPCC operates five campuses in the Greater El Paso area, as well as courses offered at nearby Fort Bliss. As defined by the Texas Le ...

from 1997 to 2003. She was a judge on the 388th Judicial District Court of Texas from 1999 to 2000. She was a Mediator, Texas Arbitration Mediation Services from 2001 to 2003. She was a Visiting judge, State of Texas from 2001 to 2003.

Federal judicial career

In 2003, Cardone was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on May 1, 2003, to a new seat created by 116 Stat. 1758. Cardone was confirmed by 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 ...

on July 28, 2003. She received her commission the next day.

Notable cases

In August 2021, Cardone issued a temporary injunction in the case ''U.S. vs Texas and Greg Abbott'' against an executive order by

Texas Governor The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

to have Texas state troopers stop vehicles suspected of carrying illegal immigrants, who might be infected with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

.U.S. vs Texas and Greg Abbott
Case No. EP-21-CV-173-KC, U.S. Dist Ct for Western Texas, August 3, 3021.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardone, Kathleen 1953 births Living people American women lawyers Binghamton University alumni Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas People from Medina, New York St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Texas state court judges United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Hispanic and Latino American lawyers