Deanell Reece Tacha

Deanell Reece Tacha (born January 26, 1946) is a retired United States federal judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Since 2011, she has been the Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law.

Born in Goodland, Kansas, Tacha received a B.A. from the University of Kansas in 1968 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1971. She was a White House Fellow, special assistant to the Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor from 1971-1972. She was in private practice in Washington, D.C. and Concordia, Kansas from 1973-1974. She then served as Director of the Douglas County Legal Aid Clinic in Lawrence, Kansas until 1977. She was also on the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law from 1974-1985.

On October 31, 1985, Tacha was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit created by 98 Stat. 333. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 16, 1985, and received her commission the same day. She served as Chief Judge of the Circuit from 2001 until 2008, and was succeeded by Robert Harlan Henry. She also served as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1994-1998.

In 2008, Tacha received the 26th Annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award from the American Judicature Society.^[1]

Tacha took senior status on January 27, 2011.^[2] On February 10, 2011, Tacha was named Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law. She retired from the bench on June 1, 2011, to begin her position as Dean of Pepperdine's law school.^[3]

See also

• George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

References

• Deanell Reece Tacha at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.