Rives Kistler

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Rives Kistler
97th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2003
Appointed by Ted Kulongoski
Preceded by Susan M. Leeson
In office
1999 – 2003
Preceded by R. William Riggs
Succeeded by Darleen Ortega

The Honorable Rives Kistler, an American judge, joined the Oregon Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in August 2003, after serving four years as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals. Initially appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski, Kistler was elected to the position in 2004 with 60% of the vote.[1] He is one of only two openly LGBT state Supreme Court justices in the United States, the other being fellow Oregon Supreme Court Justice Virginia Linder, who was elected in November 2006.[2]

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[edit] Education

Rives Kistler earned his undergraduate degree at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, earning a BA.[3] He then earned a masters degree at the University of North Carolina before attending law school.[3] Justice Kistler graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1981. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Charles Clark, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and for Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States.

[edit] Legal career

On completing his clerkships, Justice Kistler went into private practice as a litigation associate for Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, Oregon from 1983 to 1987. He then moved to the Oregon Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General, representing the state in civil and criminal appeals before the state and federal courts from 1987 to 1999.

In addition, Justice Kistler has taught state constitutional law as an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. He is a former member and vice-chair of the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners and a former member of the National Association of Attorneys General Working Groups on criminal law, federalism, and free speech; he served as chair of the working group on free speech.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oregon Secretary of State: 2004 primary election results
  2. ^ USA Today
  3. ^ a b Appellate Courts Supreme Court Rives Kistler Age: 54. The Oregonian, April 28, 2004.
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