Adalberto Jordan
Adalberto Jose Jordan (born December 7, 1961) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, his alma mater, and at Florida International University's College of Law. In February 2016, The New York Times identified Jordan as a potential Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. In early March, Jordan removed himself from consideration.
Contents
- 1 Early life and education
- 2 Professional career
- 3 Federal judicial service
- 3.1 District court service
- 3.2 Eleventh Circuit service
- 4 Notable cases
- 5 Personal life
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Early life and education
Jordan was born in Havana, Cuba and came with his family to Miami, Florida when he was a young boy, in 1968. Jordan graduated from St. Brendan High School in 1980. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics, magna * laude, from the University of Miami, in 1984. While an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Jordan was a walk-on member of the baseball team. Jordan then earned his Juris Doctor summa * laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1987, where he was the Articles & Comments Editor for the University of Miami Law Review, graduating second in his law school cl*. Jordan went on to clerk for Judge Thomas Alonzo Clark of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia from 1987 to 1988, and for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court from 1988 to 1989.
Professional career
In 1989, Jordan returned to Miami to work as an *ociate for Steel, Hector & Davis, a prestigious local law firm that was acquired by Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in 2005. Despite being there a relatively short time, Jordan was named a partner at Steel, Hector & Davis by his fifth year. Shortly after making partner, Jordan made the transition to public-sector lawyering, and became an *istant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 1994. In 1998, he was appointed Chief of the Appellate Division, and served in that position for about one year.
Federal judicial service
District court service
On March 15, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Jordan to the seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida that had been vacated by Judge Lenore Carrero Nesbitt. Jordan was confirmed to the federal bench by the United States Senate on September 8, 1999, by a vote of 93–1, with then-Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire as the lone dissenting vote. Jordan received his commission on September 9, 1999.
Eleventh Circuit service
In May 2011, the South Florida Daily Business Review reported that Jordan was being vetted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in anticipation of President Obama nominating Jordan to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit created when 11th Circuit Judge Susan H. Black took senior status in February 2011. On August 2, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Jordan for the judgeship.
On October 13, 2011 the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination by voice vote. On February 9, 2012, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to invoke cloture on Jordan's nomination, thereby cutting off debate and ending a Republican filibuster of Jordan's nomination. A cloture vote was held for February 13, 2012. Cloture was invoked in an 89–5 vote. On February 15, 2012, the United States Senate confirmed Jordan to the seat on the Eleventh Circuit in a 94–5 vote. Jordan received his judicial commission on February 17, 2012.
Notable cases
In Jones et al. v. DeSantis, a 2020 voting rights case, Jordan wrote a 94 page dissenting opinion. 2018 Florida Amendment 4 permitted former felons to vote, however DeSantis signed a law that required former felons to pay all legal fees before being eligible to vote again, despite some of them not knowing how much they owed. By a 6-4 vote, the 11th circuit upheld that law. Jordan concluded his dissent with "Paying hundreds of dollars in fees and costs is an “onerous” burden to those with limited means, and 70 to 80 percent of Florida felons are indigent. They should not be forced to choose between “putting food on the table, a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs,” — or paying fees that Florida uses to fund government operations—in order to exercise the right to vote granted to them by Amendment 4."
Personal life
Adalberto Jordan is married to Lazara Esther Jordan, née Castillo, a teacher at St. Brendan Catholic High School, of which both are alumni.
See also
- Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
- Barack Obama judicial appointment controversies
- List of Hispanic/Latino American jurists
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 8)
References
External links
- Adalberto Jordan at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Adalberto Jordan at Ballotpedia
- Florida Bar profile