Phyllis Jean Hamilton (born 1952) is a Senior

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 Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del ...

Education and career

Born in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Hamilton received 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 from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1974 and a

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 ...

from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1976. She was a deputy public defender in the California Office of the Public Defender from 1976 to 1980, and briefly served as a manager of EEO Programs for Farinon Electric Corporation in 1980. She became an administrative judge for the San Francisco Regional Office of the United States

Merit Systems Protection Board The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate protection for federa ...

from 1980 to 1985, and was a court commissioner for the Municipal Court, Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville Judicial District from 1985 to 1991. From 1991 to 2000, Hamilton was a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduc ...

of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Federal judicial service

On February 9, 2000, Hamilton was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to a new seat on the

created by 104 Stat. 5089. 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 May 24, 2000, and received her commission on May 25, 2000. She served as Chief Judge from December 17, 2014 until February 1, 2021 when she 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 ...

References

Sources

*
Confirmation hearings on federal appointments : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, first session, on confirmation of appointees to the federal judiciary. pt.2 (1999)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Phyllis Jean 1952 births Living people African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Stanford University alumni Santa Clara University alumni Santa Clara University School of Law alumni United States magistrate judges People from Jacksonville, Illinois 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges Public defenders

Education and career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

Sources