Marsha J. Pechman (born February 6, 1951) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 Western District of Washington United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Education and career

Born in Salem,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, Pechman received 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 ...

degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1973 and 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 ...

from

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

in 1976. She was a legal intern, King County Prosecutor's Office in 1976. She was a deputy prosecutor, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office from 1976 to 1979. She was an instructor/staff attorney of

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The school is fully accredited by the American Bar Asso ...

from 1979 to 1981. She was in private practice in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

from 1981 to 1988. She was an adjunct professor at University of Puget Sound from 1983 to 1987. She was a judge on the

King County Superior Court The Superior Court of Washington for King County (more commonly, the King County Superior Court) is the largest trial court in Washington state. It is based at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, in downtown Seattle, Washington. It ...

from 1988 to 1999.

Federal judicial service

On March 24, 1999, Pechman was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to a seat on the

vacated by William Lee Dwyer. She was confirmed by 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 ...

on September 8, 1999, and received her commission on September 9, 1999. On September 1, 2011, she became Chief Judge, succeeding Judge Robert S. Lasnik. She assumed senior status on February 6, 2016.

Notable case

Pechman is most well known for presiding over the 2008 trial between the City of Seattle and the owners of the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

. Pechman sat on the Karnoski v. Trump case for over three years without issuing a decision. Joe Biden eventually repealed the Trump trans soldier ban. She wrote the district court opinion in Trueblood v. Washington State DSHS.

Personal

Pechman has two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pechman, Marsha J. 1951 births Living people Boston University School of Law alumni Cornell University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Politicians from Salem, Oregon Superior court judges in the United States United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Lawyers from Salem, Oregon Lawyers from Seattle Washington (state) state court judges 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges