Carlos Murguia (born 1957) is a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

Early life and education

Murguia is one of seven children of Alfred and Amalia Murguia, who

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1950.Manny Lopez
Raising the Bar
''

Kansas City Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'' (February 11, 2001). He was born in 1957 in Kansas City,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. Murguia was raised in the Kansas City community of Argentine. Murguia received 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 o ...

degree from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1979, where he majored in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. He then earned a Juris Doctor from the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had e ...

in 1982.

Career

Murguia was in private practice in Kansas City from 1982 to 1987. He was a part-time hearing officer and

small claims Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may ...

judge of the District Court of

Wyandotte County Wyandotte County (; county code WY) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which ...

, Kansas from 1984 to 1990. He was a coordinator of the Immigration Amnesty Program at El Centro, Inc. from 1985 to 1990. He was a full-time hearing officer of the Wyandotte County District Court in 1990, and District Court Judge of Division 8 on the Court from 1990 to 1999.

Federal judicial service

Murguia was nominated by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on March 24, 1999, to the seat on the

vacated by Sam A. Crow. 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 September 8, 1999, and received his commission on September 22, 1999. Murguia is the first

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to serve as a federal judge in

Misconduct

On September 30, 2019, the Judicial Council of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals identified and unanimously adopted a complaint of judicial misconduct under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act against Judge Murguia. The Council adopted the Special Committee's conclusions that Judge Murguia committed judicial misconduct by (1) sexually harassing judiciary employees; (2) engaging in an extramarital sexual relationship with an individual who had been convicted of felonies in state court and was then on probation; and (3) demonstrating habitual tardiness for court engagements.

Resignation

Acknowledging his transgressions referenced above, on February 18, 2020, Murguia submitted his letter of resignation to President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, which took effect April 1, 2020.

Personal

When Murguia's younger sister, Mary H. Murguia, joined the

United States District Court for the District of Arizona The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (in case citations, D. Ariz.) is the U.S. district court that covers the state of Arizona. It is under the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The District was est ...

, they became the first brother and sister to serve on the United States federal bench. Mary Murguia has since been elevated to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

. Another sister, Janet Murguía, is a noted civil rights leader who currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the

National Council of La Raza UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizen ...

. Murguia was married to Ann Brandau-Murguia, former

Commissioner.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murguia, Carlos 1957 births Living people People from Kansas City, Kansas University of Kansas alumni Hispanic and Latino American judges Kansas state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Hispanic and Latino American lawyers