Roslyn Elaine Olson Silver (born February 28, 1946) is a senior United States district judge of 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 esta ...

. She served as a Chief Judge for the district from 2011 to 2013.

Early life and education

She was born Roslyn Elaine Olson in Phoenix,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in 1946. She 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 the

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

in 1968 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

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (ASU Law) is the law school at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. Created in 1965 as the Arizona State Unive ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1971.

Career

Silver was 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 Justice

Lorna Lockwood Lorna Elizabeth Lockwood (March 24, 1903 – September 23, 1977) was an American lawyer and judge who served as justice (and at times chief justice) of the Arizona Supreme Court. Born in what was then Arizona Territory, Lockwood was the daughte ...

of the

Supreme Court of Arizona The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice ...

from 1971 to 1972. She was in private practice in Phoenix from 1972 to 1974. Silver then served as an adviser and litigator for the Education Division of the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

Native American Rights Fund The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is a non-profit organization, based in Boulder, Colorado, that uses existing laws and treaties to ensure that U.S. state governments and the U.S. federal government live up to their legal obligations. NARF ...

from 1974 to 1976. She was an in house labor counsel for the Greyhound Corporation from 1976 to 1978. Silver returned to private practice in Phoenix in 1978 before becoming a trial attorney for the

Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body fu ...

in 1979. She was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the District of Arizona from 1980 to 1984. Silver became an assistant Arizona attorney general in 1984 and served until she returned to the United States Attorney's office in 1986. In 1989, she was promoted to Chief of the criminal division.

Federal judicial service

Silver 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, ...

on September 14, 1994, to a seat on the

vacated by Earl H. Carroll. 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 October 7, 1994, and received her commission on October 11, 1994. She took senior status on September 3, 2013. Silver became Chief Judge in January 2011 after the shooting death of previous Chief Judge

John Roll John McCarthy Roll (February 8, 1947 – January 8, 2011) was a United States district judge who served on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona from 1991 until his murder in 2011, and as chief judge of that court from ...

during the 2011 assassination attempt of Congresswoman

Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun violence prevention advocate. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when ...

, serving until she took senior status. She was appointed to the court under the name of Roslyn O. Moore-Silver.

Awards and recognition

In 2013 Judge Silver was recognized, for outstanding service to Veterans’ Program, Arizona Army National Guard, Arizona Coalition for Military Families, and Arizona Veterans Magazine, and for outstanding achievement, Federal Bar Association, Phoenix ChapterUnited States Courts for the Ninth Circuit 2013 Annual Report

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Roslyn O. 1946 births Living people Assistant United States attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Lawyers from Phoenix, Arizona Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of California, Santa Barbara alumni 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges