Judge Amy Baggio – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Longtime public defender turned judge Amy Baggio is President Biden’s third nominee for the federal trial court in Oregon.

Background

Baggio received a B.A. cum laude from Wake Forest University in 1995 and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2001. After spending a year at the Portland Metropolitan Public Defender, Baggio joined the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon, starting as a research and writing attorney and then shifting to be a Assistant Federal Public Defender in 2005.

In 2013, Baggio left to start her own law practice. In 2019, Governor Kate Brown appointed Baggio to the Multnomah County Circuit Court.

History of the Seat

Baggio has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. This seat will open on August 21, 2024, when Judge Marco Hernandez moves to senior status. Baggio was among six candidates recommended to the White House by Oregon Senators in June 2023.

Legal Experience

Starting her career as a public defender at the state level, Baggio spent ten years at the Federal Public Defender’s Office. Among the cases she handled there, Baggio argued before the Ninth Circuit unsuccessfully that the crime of receiving child pornograpy includes an intent to distribute. See United States v. Olander, 572 F.3d 764 (9th Cir. 2009). Baggio also represented detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. See Gul v. Obama, 652 F.3d 12 (D.C. 2011). In addition, Baggio joined an amicus brief on behalf of the detainees in constitutional challenges to their detention. See Boumedine v. Bush, 476 F.3d 981 (D.C. Cir. 2007).

Between 2013 and 2019, Baggio served as a solo practitioner in Portland. During this time, Baggio represented co-defendants in the prosecution of Ammon Bundy after the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. See United States v. Bundy, 195 F. Supp. 3d 1170 (D. Ore. 2016).

Jurisprudence

Baggio has served as a Circuit Court Judge since 2019. In this role, she serves as a primary trial judge, supervising criminal and civil cases. In a notable decision later affirmed by the Oregon Court of Appeals, Baggio denied a motion to suppress, finding that exigent circumstances prompted by ongoing animal neglect justified officers.entering the defendant’s residence to seize her cat. See State v. Hsieh, 499 P.3d 142 (Or. App. 2021). In another notable decision, Baggio granted a writ of habeas corpus releasing a prisoner due to inadequate measures used to treat Covid-19 in the facility, which the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed. See Lawson v. Cain, 524 P.3d 529 (Or. App. 2023).

Political Activity

Baggio has a limited donation history, consisting of a single donation to President Obama’s campaign in 2008.

Overall Assessment

Like many of Biden’s nominees, Baggio has extensive experience in indigent defense, ranging from the representation of detainees to those of right-wing militants in Oregon. Baggio’s history is likely to cause significant opposition through the confirmation process, although Baggio is still favored to be confirmed before the vacancy is expected to open.

200 Comments

  1. Zack's avatar

    Kevin Cramer’s son caused a tragic crash in which a deputy died and will be facing charges for it so it’s likely he will be out of D.C. for a bit.
    This is where I would try to get my hard to confirm nominees in line while he’s gone.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. tsb1991's avatar

    Federico’s vote is underway. Usually the last votes on any given day are the quickest since the Senators tend to vote and then skip town. He’s getting a lot more Republican support than I anticipated. I believe his SJC vote was only 13-8 (Graham and Grassley in support), but Cornyn and Tillis, both SJC members who opposed him in committee, voted in favor of cloture. Also got other Republicans, such as Rubio and Thune.

    For cloture motions filed today, all we got as a cybersecurity nominee and NDAA-related stuff. Maybe we’ll get some surprise voice votes before the Senate wraps up today?

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Mitch's avatar

    I don’t know if this has been mentioned on this site. But the husband of Federal Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner has been arrested and charged with human trafficking. Here’s an article:

    https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/stacey-abrams-brother-in-law-arrested-in-tampa-for-human-trafficking-attacking-teen-police/

    Judge Abrams Gardner hasn’t been charged with anything, but I don’t think she’ll be nominated for a higher court anytime soon.

    Like

  5. Ben's avatar

    Federico confirmation set for Monday night, and it sounds like they’ve negotiated skipping cloture on Martin O’Malley to head the SSA. Good to see, though it’s worrying how rare it is that a position can be confirmed these days without needing cloture/a virtual filibuster.

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  6. pj91's avatar

    anyone see the fourth circuit turning into a “troll scotus and dare them to reverse” type of court? Two of the conservatives on the court are like a combined 160 years old and if they leave the court, the dam breaks.

    Liked by 1 person

      • Jamie's avatar

        I think you’d need a few more left-wing judges like Harris and Berner for that to happen. Perhaps Heytens joins them. I doubt Thacker, Benjamin, or Diaz are going down that road. Nor will any replacement for King. Most of the center-left judges on the 4th are still pretty mainstream.
        I suppose in the world that the Dems hold the Senate in 2024, it is possible that some combination of Gregory, Wynn, Niemeyer, Wilkinson, and Agee retire and are replaced with lefty judges, and it would become the new 9th.

        Liked by 1 person

      • pj91's avatar

        @jamie – if wilkinson and niemeyer become too old and take senior status, and biden/newsom replace them with generic liberals – wouldn’t you have a pretty far left circuit court?

        Replacing them would be huge because they are the only feeder (semifeeder and niemeyer’s case) judges on the circuit.

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      • Ethan's avatar

        There was a ruling the other day where a panel of Julius Richardson, G. Steven Agee, and Barbara Milano Keenan (2-1 with Keenan dissenting) struck down Maryland’s law requiring a license to own a handgun. Maryland’s Attorney General plans to appeal to the full 4th circuit.

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      • dequanhargrove's avatar

        And if it wasn’t for Cardin worrying about what part of a small state she lived in, Berner could have already been on the 4th for that appeal. I still feel good about the result, but it sure would have been nice to have her on the bench before the new year already.

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  7. tsb1991's avatar

    I’d probably bet against this happening, but pleasepleaseplease let this happen:

    If the Senate miraculously stays in another week (I mean, Christmas isn’t even the week after next week), you could get Kolar confirmed and then get the ball rolling on Aframe, no?

    Liked by 1 person

    • dequanhargrove's avatar

      Well then staying until Christmas would be great news. But not if they pull one of their usual numbers & gives themselves an extra week off in January as a result. Knowing this senate, that’s more than likely. Them working extra days almost never results in them actually working more days for the next month.

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      • dequanhargrove's avatar

        Getting something bipartisan done on the border would be the equivalent of when the district court judge ruled in injunction to stop the mask mandate. Biden may not like it but I think it would be blessing in disguise. Had the mask mandate still been in effect for the midterms, I’m not so sure the Democrats would have won all of the close races they did.

        I’m pretty liberal but even I think the border is a mess. I by no means am blaming Biden because it’s been a mess. But it would be nice if he could at least get a deal to slow the problem down. I think it would not only be good policy, but equally important it would be good politics. He needs a lot of the latter heading into the election.

        Liked by 2 people

  9. raylodato's avatar

    After Federico, the best bets for confirmation are the red-state nominees, esp if they vitiate cloture and/or get voice votes. Of the 19 on the floor, that means Edwards (WDLA), Long (EDLA), Laroski & Wang (both IT, likely to be paired), Kazen (SDTX), and Hill and J. Russell (both NDOK, also likely to be paired). If Kolar gets included and with Federico up on Monday, that would be 9/19.

    It’s frustrating to be returning 10 nominees who’ve passed through SJC back to the White House for renomination, but maybe they can get an agreement to skip the SJC and go to floor votes.

    The gold standard would be that the Rs get some border agreement and all 19 are confirmed by recess. But it’s not a great idea to bet that Schumer has Harry Reid’s skills (RIP).

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    • dequanhargrove's avatar

      If there was a real threat of Schumer keeping the senate in session for a Friday or Saturday, I absolutely believe Republicans would agree to fast tracking the non red state nominees. But they know good & damn well any threat is an idol one.

      Now the threat to keep them in session for an Ukraine/Israel/border deal is possible. I suspect that is the only change we will see all of the non red state nominees get confirmed before the end of the year. But Schumer should absolutely not let Afrme get left behind in lieu of Kolar.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. raylodato's avatar

    @keystone: It would make sense to knock off the blue state noms next week given Cramer’s absence, but didn’t we all think this would be the week to clear the blue state noms while we had 51 Dems and the VP? I’m not getting my hopes up that Schumer has his act together.

    Liked by 1 person

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