Emily C. Marks
{{Short description|American judge (born 1973)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Emily C. Marks
| image = File:EmilyCoodyMarksOfficial (cropped).jpg
| office = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
| term_start = January 31, 2019
| term_end =
| predecessor = William Keith Watkins
| successor =
| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
| appointer1 = Donald Trump
| term_start1 = August 3, 2018
| term_end1 =
| predecessor1 = Myron H. Thompson
| successor1 =
| birth_name = Emily Michele Coody
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|03|06}}
| birth_place = Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Spring Hill College (BA)
University of Alabama (JD)
| party =
}}
Emily Michele Coody Marks (born March 6, 1973) is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Biography
Marks was born on March 6, 1973, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawyercentral.com/emily-c-marks-interactive-profile--20-710383.html|title=Lawyer Central profile|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908015926/https://www.lawyercentral.com/emily-c-marks-interactive-profile--20-710383.html|url-status=dead}} She earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Spring Hill College, and her Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law, where she served as chair of the John A. Campbell Moot Court Board and as a senior editor of the University of Alabama Law & Psychology Review.
Marks was a partner in the Montgomery, Alabama, office of Ball, Ball, Matthews & Novak, P.A., where she practiced from 1998, when she joined the firm as an associate, to 2018, when she became a judge. She specialized in labor and employment law, civil rights law, and appellate practice, and routinely lectured on these topics before employers and other members of the bar.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-seventh-wave-judicial-candidates/|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventh Wave of Judicial Candidates – The White House|website=trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov}}
Federal judicial service
On September 7, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Marks to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, to the seat vacated by Judge Myron Herbert Thompson, who assumed senior status on August 22, 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/eight-nominations-sent-senate-today/|title=Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate Today – The White House|website=trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov}} On October 17, 2017, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/10/17/2017/nominations|title=Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|website=www.judiciary.senate.gov|date=October 17, 2017 }} On November 9, 2017, her nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/11-9-17%20Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting.pdf|title=Results of Executive Business Meeting – November 9, 2017, Senate Judiciary Committee}}
On January 3, 2018, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2018/1/3/daily-digest|title=Congress.gov | Library of Congress|website=www.congress.gov}} On January 5, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to renominate Marks to a federal judgeship.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-renomination-21-judicial-nominees/|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Renomination of 21 Judicial Nominees – The White House|website=trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov}} On January 8, 2018, her renomination was sent to the Senate.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/nominations-sent-senate-today-2/|title=Nominations Sent to the Senate Today – The White House|website=trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov}} On January 18, 2018, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–4 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting%2001-18-181.pdf|title=Results of Executive Business Meeting – January 18, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee}} On August 1, 2018, her nomination was confirmed by voice vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1417|title=PN1417 — Emily Coody Marks — The Judiciary|date=January 8, 2018|website=United States Senate|access-date=August 1, 2018|language=en}} She received her judicial commission on August 3, 2018. She became Chief Judge on January 31, 2019, after William Keith Watkins assumed senior status.{{FJC Bio|nid=5018796|inline=yes}}
In September 2021, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into 131 federal judges who were alleged to have broken the law by presiding over cases in which they had a financial interest. In August 2018, Marks purchased stock in Wells Fargo Bank two weeks after she was assigned a case in which plaintiff-homeowners sued Wells Fargo for wrongful foreclosure on their home. She did not disclose her stock purchases. Marks subsequently dismissed the lawsuit against Wells Fargo on a pre-trial motion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/131-federal-judges-broke-the-law-by-hearing-cases-where-they-had-a-financial-interest-11632834421|title=131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest|first=James V. Grimaldi, Coulter Jones and Joe|last=Palazzolo|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=September 28, 2021|via=www.wsj.com}}
In October 2022, Marks invoked qualified immunity to deny the family of a cancer patient the right to sue the policeman who killed him. The patient had acted aggressive and erratic after brain surgery. The family called the police for help. A neighbor, also a policeman, intervened and fired six shots, hitting the unarmed victim five times.{{Cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/2022/10/alabama-policeman-cant-be-sued-for-shooting-and-killing-neighbor-judge-rules.html|title=Alabama policeman can't be sued for shooting and killing neighbor, judge rules|first=Ashley |last=Remkus|date=October 6, 2022|via=www.al.com/}}
Memberships
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{FJC Bio|nid=5018796}}
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{{s-bef|before=William Keith Watkins}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama}}|years=2019–present}}
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{{United States 11th Circuit district judges}}
{{MALDistrictChiefJudges}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Emily C.}}
Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
Category:People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Category:Spring Hill College alumni
Category:United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump
Category:University of Alabama School of Law alumni
Category:20th-century American women lawyers