Passing of Judge Michael Robert Hogan 1946-2025
By Adair Law The day after Thanksgiving, we learned that a long-burning light in the District of Oregon has dimmed. Judge Michael Hogan passed away on November 28 after a long illness. Michael Hogan was born in Oregon City in 1946. In his 2014 oral history, he told of his father, Robert, coming to Oregon in 1937 to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps. “He had grown up orphaned in Georgia and got on the train with four dollars, half a ham, and his first pair of shoes on.” He was posted to a camp on the south fork of the Coquille River. He eventually met and married Maxine…
Senate Confirms Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai Article III Appointment
By David Fauria The US Senate voted to confirm Judge Mustafa Taher Kasubhai to a lifetime appointment as a District Judge in the US District Court for the District of Oregon on November 19, 2024. President Joe Biden nominated Judge Kasubhai for the seat in September 2023 in anticipation of Judge Ann Aiken assuming senior status at the end of that year. Judge Kasubhai had his nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in early October 2023. Judge Kasubhai’s nomination remained pending when the First Session of the 118th Congress adjourned in January 2024 and was returned to President Biden, who renominated Judge Kasubhai that same month. He was…
White House Appoints U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight to Serve the District of Oregon
By Hon. Stacie F. Beckerman, U.S. Magistrate Judge On September 8, 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed the White House’s appointment of Natalie Wight as the District of Oregon’s new U.S. Attorney. Chief U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez administered the oath of office to Wight at the U.S. Courthouse surrounded by her colleagues. Wight replaced U.S. Attorney Scott Asphaug, who served in an acting and interim role after former U.S. Attorney Billy Williams resigned in 2021. Wight has served as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice since 2003. She has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in the District of Oregon since 2012, working in both the Criminal…
Judge Teresa Pearson Joins the Bankruptcy Bench
On October 4, 2021, Teresa Pearson was sworn in as the newest bankruptcy judge for the District of Oregon. Judge Pearson succeeds Judge Trish M. Brown. Judge Brown swore in her successor in a short ceremony in Courtroom 2 at the Bankruptcy Court in Portland. The event was broadcast on Zoom for chambers and court employees working remotely. Judge Trish M. Brown retired on October 2 and is now on recall. Judge Pearson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and received a Juris Doctor, with honors, from Duke University School of Law. She became a partner at Miller, Nash, Graham & Dunn LLP (formerly…
Pandemic Reflections: Looking Beyond Our Courtrooms
By Hon. Stacie F. Beckerman, U.S. Magistrate Judge In December 2019, I informed a pregnant defendant (“G”) at her arraignment that I was detaining her pending trial. She fainted. The deputy U.S. Marshal called 911, and G was rushed to the hospital. She was treated and released, and at the continued hearing, I stood my ground. However, a few months later, her baby was born suffering from complications, and I released G from custody to nurse her daughter to health while housed in a structured program. Soon G had demonstrated that she was not going to run, and I allowed her to return home to her family, but with…