Robert Durham
Robert D. "Skip" Durham was an associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by then-Gov. Barbara Roberts, a Democrat, on January 4, 1994 and retired on January 1, 2013.[1][2][3] He was succeeded by Judge Richard C. Baldwin of the Multnomah County Circuit Court.[4]
Education
Justice Durham received his B.A. degree from Whittier College in 1969, his J.D. degree from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1972. He also earned a L.L.M. in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1998.[5][6]
Career
Durham began his legal career in 1972 as a law clerk on the Supreme Court. He then worked as a lawyer from 1974 to 1991, focusing on labor, civil rights and appellate law. In 1991, he joined the Court of Appeals, where he judged until his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1994. He also worked as faculty for the National Judicial College in 1992.[5][6]
Awards and associations
- 1994-1998 Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure Committee
- 1996-1997 President, Appellate Judges Association
- 1992 Faculty, National Judicial College
- 1989-1990 Chair, Governor's Commission on Administrative Hearings[5]
Elections
1994, 2000 and 2006
Durham was retained by voters.[7][8]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Durham received a campaign finance score of -1.03, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -1.00 that justices received in Oregon.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[9]
See also
External links
- Oregon Judicial Department, The Honorable Robert D. Durham
- Project Vote Smart, Associate Justice Robert D. Durham (OR)
- First Amendment Center, "WINE and license plates don't mix, Oregon justices rule," July 8, 2003
Footnotes
- ↑ Oregon Blue Book list of Oregon Supreme Court justices
- ↑ Gazettetimes.com, "Durham to retire from Oregon Supreme Court," November 1, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ Oregon Blue Book: Supreme Court Justices
- ↑ Statesman Journal, "Oregon Supreme Court's Judge Durham to retire after 19 years," November 23, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Official biography of Justice Durham
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Justice Durham on Project Vote Smart
- ↑ 2000 election results
- ↑ 2006 election results
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
