Scott Matheson Jr.
Scott Matheson | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | |
| Assumed office December 27, 2010 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Michael McConnell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Scott Milne Matheson III July 1953 (age 71) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Stanford University Magdalen College, Oxford Yale University |
Scott Milne Matheson Jr. (born July 1953) was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah from 1993 to 1997 and is a current federal Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.[1] He is the son of former Governor of Utah Scott M. Matheson and the elder brother of Utah's former 4th District Congressman, Jim Matheson.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Utah, Matheson earned an A.B. from Stanford University in 1975, an M.A. in modern history from Magdalen College, Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar[2] and a law degree from Yale Law School in 1980.[2]
Professional career
Matheson worked as an associate attorney at Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC, from 1981 until 1985.[2] He joined the faculty of the University of Utah in 1985, and served as dean of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah from 1998 until 2006.[2] Matheson also is a former Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.
From 1988 until 1989, Matheson served as deputy county attorney for Salt Lake County, Utah.[2]
From 1989 until 1990, Matheson taught First Amendment law at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[2]
From 1993 until 1997, Matheson took a leave from the University of Utah to serve as a United States Attorney.[2]
Matheson was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor in 2004, losing to Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. with 41.3% of the vote.
Matheson is the author of the book Presidential Constitutionalism in Perilous Times (2009).[3]
Federal judicial service
On March 3, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Matheson to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to replace Michael McConnell, who resigned in August 2009 to return to academia.[2] Sources such as Fox News Channel and Conservative magazine The Weekly Standard alleged that Obama hoped to influence Matheson's brother to vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, "Rep. Jim Matheson called the claim simply absurd, as did the White House, Sen. Orrin Hatch and pretty much everyone who knows the Mathesons."[4] Hatch, an establishment conservative Republican from Utah, agreed to support Matheson and to help shepherd the nomination through the Senate.[4] On December 22, 2010, the U.S. Senate voted on and approved the nomination. He received his judicial commission on December 27, 2010.
References
- ^ "Quinney College Professor, Former U.S. Attorney Scott Matheson Jr. to Lead Mine Disaster Investigation". Salt Lake Tribune. 1 Sep 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-24. [dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h President Obama Nominates Scott M. Matheson Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, whitehouse.gov (March 3, 2010).
- ^ ."Presidential Constitutionalism in Perilous Times". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
- ^ a b Burr, Thomas; Canham, Matt (March 5, 2010), "Matheson quid pro quo rumor runs wild", The Salt Lake Tribune, retrieved 2010-03-06
External links
- Matheson, Scott Milne Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- 1953 births
- Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- American academics
- American Latter Day Saints
- American Rhodes Scholars
- Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Living people
- Stanford University alumni
- United States Attorneys for the District of Utah
- United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama
- University of Utah faculty
- Utah Democrats
- Yale Law School alumni