Adrienne C. Nelson is confirmed as federal district court judge 

(MARCH 3, 2023) On February 15, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Adrienne C. Nelson to serve as a federal district court judge. She is the first African-American woman to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

“I approach each case with an open mind and treat everyone fairly, impartially, because to the litigants their case is the most important case in the world,” Nelson told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing last October. “I try to communicate all decisions clearly, so that they can be understood. And if I’m so fortunate to be confirmed, I would continue to do that." 

Nelson has had an impressive career. She was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court on January 2, 2018, making her the first African American to sit on the state’s highest court and on any appellate state court. Her election to a six-year term in November 2018 made her the first African American woman elected statewide in Oregon. In 2006, she was appointed as a trial judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon, making her the second African American female judge in the state of Oregon.  

Prior to her work as a judge, she was a public defender with Multnomah Defenders, Inc., then as an associate with the Bennett, Hartman, Morris and Kaplan, LLP law firm and as the Senior Attorney/Coordinator of the Portland State University Student Legal and Mediation Services.  Judge Nelson earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Criminal Justice Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas.  

Nelson lives in Clackamas County, where a high school was named after her in 2021.