Orinda Dale Evans (born April 23, 1943) is an inactive Senior

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 Northern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions. Appeals from cases ...

Early life and education

Born in Savannah,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Evans received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Duke University in 1965 and a Juris Doctor from

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...

in 1968.

Career

She was in private practice in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia from 1968 to 1979. She served as counsel to the Atlanta Crime Commission from 1970 to 1971, and was an adjunct professor of law at Emory from 1974 to 1977.

Federal judicial service

On June 5, 1979, Evans was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Albert John Henderson Albert John Henderson (December 12, 1920 – May 11, 1999) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and earlier was a United State ...

. She was confirmed by 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 July 23, 1979, and received her commission on July 24, 1979. She served as Chief Judge from 1999 to 2006, when Judge Jack Tarpley Camp Jr. became Chief Judge. Evans 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 December 31, 2008. She assumed inactive senior status on September 30, 2020.

Notable cases

On February 14, 2008, Evans sentenced tax protester Sherry Jackson to four consecutive prison terms of 12 months each. On May 11, 2012, Evans decided the '' Cambridge University Press v. Becker'' case, ultimately determining that

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

was the prevailing party and awarding attorneys' fees to GSU from the plaintiffs (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, and SAGE Publications).

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Orinda Dale 1943 births Living people People from Savannah, Georgia Duke University alumni Emory University School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges Emory University faculty 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges