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Diane Humetewa

Diane Joyce Humetewa (/ˌhuːməˈteɪwə/ HOO-mə-TAY-wə;[1] born December 5, 1964)[2][3] is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Humetewa is the first Native American woman and the first enrolled tribal member to serve as a U.S. federal judge.[4][5] She previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona from 2007 to 2009. Humetewa is also a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Diane Humetewa
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 16, 2014
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byMary H. Murguia
United States Attorney for the District of Arizona
In office
December 17, 2007 – August 2, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byPaul K. Charlton
Succeeded byDennis K. Burke
Personal details
Born
Diane Joyce Humetewa

(1964-12-05) December 5, 1964 (age 60)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Hopi Nation
Political partyRepublican[citation needed]
SpouseMiguel Juarez
EducationPhoenix College (AA)
Arizona State University (BS, JD)

Humetewa has served as counsel to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and to the Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the United States Sentencing Guideline Commission, Native American Advisory Committee, and as an Appellate Court Judge for the Hopi Tribe, of which she is an enrolled member.[6]

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Humetewa was born in 1964 in Phoenix, Arizona. She is Native American and is an enrolled member of the Hopi tribe.[7] She earned an associate degree from Phoenix College in 1985, then graduated from Arizona State University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science. From 1987 to 1990, Humetewa worked as a victim advocate for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Arizona federal judicial district. She then attended Arizona State's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, graduating in 1993 with a Juris Doctor.[8]

From 1993 to 1996, Humetewa was a deputy counsel for the U.S. Senate's Committee on Indian Affairs. Beginning in 1996, she served as the Tribal Liaison in the office of the United States Attorney for Arizona. From 2001 to 2007, she served there as Senior Litigation Counsel.[7] In January 2007 Humetewa was recommended as a United States attorney by both of Arizona's senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, nominated by President George W. Bush in November, and was confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona on December 17, 2007. The investiture for Humetewa was held on February 6, 2008, at the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in Phoenix.[9] She is the first Native American woman to serve as a United States Attorney.[10][11][12]

Humetewa was the permanent successor to Paul K. Charlton, whose dismissal on December 7, 2006, was a prominent aspect of the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy in the Bush administration in early 2007. Daniel G. Knauss served as interim United States Attorney for one year after Charlton's dismissal. During that period, Knauss and Humetewa continued to pursue the criminal investigation of Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ), begun by Charlton in September 2006. Renzi was indicted by the United States Attorney's office on February 22, 2008.[12]

A graduate of the Indian Legal Program at the ASU college of law, Humetewa is considered a national expert on Native American legal issues; she has instructed law enforcement and prosecutors on this topic. From 2002 to 2007, she served as a judge pro tem on the Hopi Tribal Appellate Court, and as an ad hoc member of the Native American Subcommittee of the United States Sentencing Commission.[9] Humetewa resigned effective August 2, 2009, when President Barack Obama nominated Dennis K. Burke as the next United States attorney for the District of Arizona.[13][14] She was appointed in 2011 as ASU's Special Advisor to the university president for American Indian Affairs and Special Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at ASU.[7][12]

Federal judicial service

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On September 19, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Humetewa to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, to the seat vacated by Judge Mary H. Murguia, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on January 4, 2011.[15][16] Humetewa was one of four Arizona judicial nominees announced by Obama that day who were chosen in consultation with Republican senators John McCain and Jeff Flake.[17] On February 27, 2014, her nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary committee.[18] On May 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on the nomination. On May 14, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 64–34 vote.[19] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 96–0 vote, with three Democrats and 1 Republican not voting.[20] She received her judicial commission on May 16, 2014.[12]

2016 United States Supreme Court vacancy

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Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, Humetewa was mentioned as a possible consensus nominee for a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court, considered able to make it through the Republican-controlled Senate.[21]

Personal life

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Humetewa is an enrolled member of the Hopi Nation.[22] As of October 2021, she is the fourth Native-American federal judge actively serving on the bench.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Senate Confirms First-Ever Native American Woman As Federal Judge". Huffington Post. May 15, 2014.
  2. ^ Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings
  3. ^ "NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL", No. CR-02-958-PHX-SRB [re United States v. San Diego]
  4. ^ Jennifer Bendery (May 15, 2014). "Senate Confirms First-Ever Native American Woman As Federal Judge". www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b "American Indian Judges on the Federal Courts". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  6. ^ "Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law". apps.law.asu.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  7. ^ a b c Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (2007-12-17). "Alumni spotlight: Diane Humetewa". Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  8. ^ "Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire – Diane Humetewa".
  9. ^ a b "Diane J. Humetewa sworn in as United States Attorney" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. 2007-12-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  10. ^ Lynne Harlan (2007-11-23). "Native people gain a new role model". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2008-02-22. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Do the right thing, Dems: Confirm Humetewa, now". East Valley Tribune. 2007-11-19. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  12. ^ a b c d Diane Humetewa at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  13. ^ "U.S. Attorney announces resignation" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. 2009-07-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-10. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  14. ^ "President Obama Nominates Eight to Serve on United States District Courts", White House, 19 September 2013
  15. ^ McCain, United States Senator John. "United States Senator John McCain". www.mccain.senate.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  16. ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. 19 September 2013 – via National Archives.
  17. ^ Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne; Nowicki, Dan (September 19, 2013). "Obama nominates 4 Arizonans to fill U.S. District Court vacancies". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  18. ^ "Executive Business Meeting". United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  19. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Diane J. Humetewa, of Arizona, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona)". Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  20. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Diane J. Humetewa, of Arizona, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona)". United States Senate. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  21. ^ Theobald, William V. (February 18, 2016). "Advocate: Arizona judge perfect Supreme Court nominee". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  22. ^ Stern, Ray. "Diane Humetewa, Hopi Indian From Arizona, Makes History as New Federal Judge". Retrieved 2015-08-13.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
2014–present 		Incumbent
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