Consuelo María Callahan (born June 9, 1950) is a

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. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

Background

Consuelo María Callahan was born June 9, 1950 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. She was raised in Fremont, California and attended public schools in Fremont and in Los Altos, California. In 1972, she graduated from Stanford University with

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 ...

degree, ''cum laude'', in English. She graduated from

McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific and is located on t ...

at the University of the Pacific, with a Juris Doctor in 1975. In 2004, she received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from the University of Virginia School of Law. Consuelo Callahan began her law career as the Deputy City Attorney for Stockton, California, and then became Deputy District Attorney in

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San ...

, California. She focused her practice on child abuse and sexual assault cases. In 1986, she became a commissioner of the Stockton Municipal Court. In 1992, she became the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the

Superior Court. In 1996,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...

appointed her to serve on the Third District

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Ninth Circuit nomination and confirmation

On February 12, 2003, Callahan was nominated 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 ...

to serve on the

. Her Senate confirmation hearing was on May 7, 2003. On May 22, 2003, she was confirmed by a 99–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on May 28, 2003.

Possible Supreme Court nomination

On September 20, 2005, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' named Callahan as a George W. Bush Supreme Court candidate for

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

justice, to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. She was supported by some Democrats and the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...

as being more moderate than many of Bush's other appointees. On October 9, 2005 ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' columnist

Robert Novak Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...

reported Callahan was one of two finalists for the O'Connor seat, the other being

White House Counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...

Harriet Miers Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945) is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party since 1988, she previously served as White House Staff Secretary f ...

, whom Bush nominated. On October 27, 2005, Miers withdrew her name from consideration and again, Callahan was mentioned as a possible nominee. Bush ultimately nominated Samuel Alito to O'Connor's seat.

Awards and honors

On July 14, 2014, Judge Callahan was presented the Ninth Circuit Professionalism Award from the American Inns of Court. The award presentation occurred at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Monterey, California and was presented by Dean

Deanell Reece Tacha Deanell Reece Tacha (born January 26, 1946) is a retired United States Circuit Judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She was the Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law from 2011 to 2016. Education ...

of the

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law (formerly Pepperdine University School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juris D ...

; Dean Tacha was a retired judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distr ...

and current president of the American Inns of Court Foundation.

References

External links