George Carol Hanks Jr. (born September 25, 1964) is a

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. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (in case citations, S.D. Tex.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over the southeastern part of Texas. The court's headquarters is in Houston, Houston, Texas, and ...

Biography

Hanks was born in 1964, in

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Breaux Bridge (;Jack A. Reynolds. "Breaux Bridge" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 77. ; ) is a city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,51 ...

. He graduated first in his class from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 1986, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. He received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1989 from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree in 2014 from

Duke University Law School The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the T ...

. He began his legal career by serving as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Sim Lake Simeon Timothy Lake III (born July 4, 1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. His notable trials include the trial of Enron Chairman Ken Lay and former Chief Executive ...

of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, from 1989 to 1991. He served as an associate at the law firm of

Fulbright & Jaworski Fulbright & Jaworski was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1919 by Rufus Fulbright. Fulbright & Jaworski represented clients in the energy, financial, and healthcare industries. As trustees of the M.D. Anderson Foundation, Fulbright & Jaworski partn ...

, from 1991 to 1996, and as a shareholder at the law firm of Wickliff & Hall, PC, from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, he was appointed by Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

to be a District Judge for the 157th Civil District Court of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was subsequently elected to the position in 2002. In 2003, he was again appointed by Governor Perry to serve as a justice of the First Court of Appeals of Texas. He was elected to the position in 2004 and reelected in 2006. From September 13, 2010 to April 22, 2015, he served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the Southern District of Texas.

Federal judicial service

On September 18, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Hanks to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, to the seat vacated by Judge Nancy Atlas, who assumed senior status on June 20, 2014. His nomination was part of a bipartisan package of nominees which included Rolando Olvera and Alfred H. Bennett His nomination was praised by both Senators

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...

and

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

. On December 16, 2014 his nomination was returned to the President due to the

sine die Adjournment ''sine die'' (from Latin 'without a date') is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a date to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its pres ...

adjournment of the

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

. On January 7, 2015, President Obama renominated him to the same position. He received a hearing before the Judiciary Committee on January 21, 2015. On February 26, 2015 his nomination was reported out of committee by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. On April 20, 2015 the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed him by a 91–0 vote. He received his judicial commission on April 22, 2015, and was assigned to the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas. He is the first African-American federal judge to preside over the

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

court. Hanks has been mentioned as a possible nominee to the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, George C. Jr. 1964 births Living people African-American judges 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Duke University School of Law alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Louisiana State University alumni People from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Texas lawyers Texas state court judges United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama United States magistrate judges

Biography

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links