Morgan Christen

Christen was born in Chehalis, Washington. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies. She then attended the Golden Gate University School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 1986.

Christen was a judge on the Alaska Superior Court from 2002 to 2009. In 2009, she was one of two candidates recommended by the seven-member Alaska Judicial Council to replace Justice Warren Matthews on the Alaska Supreme Court.[3] Christen was opposed by anti-abortion advocacy groups due to her service as a Planned Parenthood board member in the mid-1990s.[2][3] Nonetheless, on March 4, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin selected Christen to fill the vacancy on the Alaska Supreme Court.[3]

Christen as part of an all-women appellate panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments March 8, 2018 at the William K. Nakamura U.S. Courthouse in Seattle; other panel members included fellow Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Chief District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal of the District Court for the District of Wyoming, sitting by designation.

In July 2010, Christen confirmed that the Obama White House was considering her to fill the vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit created when Judge Andrew Kleinfeld assumed senior status.

On May 18, 2011, Obama nominated Christen to the seat on the Ninth Circuit vacated by Andrew Kleinfeld who assumed senior status on June 12, 2010.[4] On September 8, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported her nomination to the Senate floor by voice vote. The Senate confirmed Christen in a 95–3 vote on December 15, 2011.[5] She received her commission on January 11, 2012.[6]

On July 9, 2019, Christen ruled that Riley Briones Jr. could not be given a life without parole sentence because he was only 17 when he committed his crime, and the sentence violated Miller v. Alabama.[7]

On November 19, 2019, Christen concurred when the court granted relief to Vega-Anguiano. She noted that Vega-Anguiano could not have known that he needed to bring the errors of the reinstatement order (of his removal) to the agency's attention since his 1998 removal lacked a valid legal basis, and the reinstatement order was improper. The majority opinion was written by William A. Fletcher.[8]

• List of first women lawyers and judges in Alaska

• Morgan Christen at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Morgan Christen at Ballotpedia