Malcolm Francis Marsh (born September 24, 1928) is an American attorney and jurist from the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. A native of Oregon, he served as an active judge for eleven years, and was in private legal practice in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

before that.

Early life

Marsh was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, on September 24, 1928, the son of lawyer Francis Marsh. His father's twin brother was Eugene E. Marsh, onetime Speaker of the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

and President of the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

.Zusman, Kelly. Oregon Legal Heritage
“A Son of Oregon: A tribute to the Hon. Malcolm F. Marsh”
''Oregon State Bar Bulletin'', October 2004. Both brothers served as president of the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

. The family moved to McMinnville southwest of Portland in 1935. In 1946, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and served as a corporal in Japan until discharge in 1947.

Career

After returning to Oregon, he enrolled at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1951. Marsh then attended the University of Oregon School of Law, and graduated in 1954 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. In 1953, he married the former Shari Long, and they had three children. After graduating from law school, Marsh entered private practice in McMinnville, working for his father. Later in 1954 he moved to

where he partnered with Ned Clark and specialized as a trial attorney in products liability. He was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1979. In 1983, he was named Salem's First Citizen.

Federal judicial service

While in Salem he became friends with later United States Senator

Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropr ...

in the 1950s, and remained in private practice in the city until 1987. The friendship with Hatfield helped lead to President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

nominating Marsh for a judgeship on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in 1987 after

Edward Leavy Edward Leavy (born August 14, 1929) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a former judge for the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. Prior to these pos ...

moved to the Ninth Circuit. Nominated on February 2, 1987, he 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 March 20, 1987, and received his commission on March 24, 1987, for the Portland-based court. On April 16, 1998, Marsh took

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 ...

Notable cases

Marsh oversaw the legal proceedings by the federal government against the State of Oregon over the

Fairview Training Center The Fairview Training Center was a state-run facility for people with developmental disability, developmental disabilities in Salem, Oregon, United States. Fairview was established in 1907 as the State Institution for the Feeble-Minded. The hospit ...

in Salem in the late 1980s. In 1989 and 1990 he presided over two lawsuits by the NBA against the

Oregon Lottery The Oregon Lottery is run by the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). History The Oregon Lottery was authorized by Oregon Ballot Measure 5 which was passed by voters in the 1984 ...

over the lottery's Sports Action games. He also was the judge in several legal proceedings in the late 1980s and early 1990s over logging on federal lands. In February 1992, the Oregon Republican Party sued the

Oregon Secretary of State The secretary of state of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in line of succession to the governor. The duties of the office are auditor of public accounts, ch ...

to force all

Oregon Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

seats to be contested in the 1992 election following redistricting from the 1990 Census.Hortsch, Dan. "GOP loses bid to force state senate elections", ''The Oregonian'', February 14, 1992, p. C6. Marsh heard the case and ruled for the state, saying the state did not need to hold all the elections in one year and could retain the staggered system. Later in 1992, he presided over the lawsuit against the

Vernonia School District The Vernonia School District is a public school district that serves students in the communities of Vernonia and Mist in the U.S. state of Oregon. Vernonia Elementary School, Vernonia Middle School, and Vernonia High School are contained in separ ...

for the district's random drug testing policy."Chronology," ''The Oregonian'', March 27, 1995. In the case, Marsh ruled the testing policy was constitutional, but was overturned by the United States Circuit Court for the Ninth Circuit, which in turn was overturned on appeal by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Over several years Marsh presided over several cases concerning

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

. This included later oversight of the Sohappy v. Smith case concerning tribal rights to salmon runs in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. He also heard the first challenges to the dams on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

under the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

after some salmon runs were listed as endangered. Marsh presided over the 1995 trial of several former followers of the

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian godman, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. He was viewed as a controv ...

after their failed assassination plot against U.S. Attorney for Oregon Charles H. Turner.Reed, Christopher. "Cult women get five years' jail", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', December 2, 1995, p. 1. Turner had investigated the Rajneeshees and their activities including their bioterror attack. At trial two Rajneeshees were found guilty in the plot and Marsh sentenced them to five years in prison. He later sentenced another conspirator to five years of probation for their role in the plot. Marsh was the main person from the judiciary involved with the design of the new

Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse The Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. It is named in honor of former U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield. It is used by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. The federal govern ...

. He worked with the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

to design the 16-story, and nearly $130 million building to ensure adequate space for 30 years. In 1997, he oversaw the move of the court to the new Hatfield Courthouse.Leeson, Fred. "It's her job to be on the move: Your Business", ''The Oregonian'', December 28, 1997, Business p. F2.

References

External links

*
Cases filed in the Oregon District Court before Malcolm F. Marsh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Malcolm Francis 1928 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Lawyers from Portland, Oregon Lawyers from Salem, Oregon People from McMinnville, Oregon Politicians from Salem, Oregon United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon School of Law alumni