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Prof david stras minn supreme court appointee
David Ryan Stras (born 1974) is an American attorney and jurist who is an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He has been nominated by President Trump to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Diana E. Murphy.
Contents
- Prof david stras minn supreme court appointee
- Interview with justice david stras 9 14 2012
- Early life and education
- Career
- Court of appeals nomination
- Personal life
- References
Interview with justice david stras 9 14 2012
Early life and education
Stras was born in 1974 in Wichita, Kansas. He received a B.A. with highest honors and an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas where he became a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. In 1999, he earned a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Criminal Procedure Edition of the Kansas Law Review.
Career
Stras clerked for Judges Melvin Brunetti on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and J. Michael Luttig on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Stras then worked at the D.C. office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood for one year, after which he clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court.
Stras was a professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School from 2004 to 2010, teaching and writing in the areas of federal courts and jurisdiction, constitutional law, criminal law, and law and politics. He also served as co-director of the Institute for Law and Politics. Stras has contributed to research on such topics as judicial pensions and life tenure for judges. He has also studied judicial appointments and the politics of courts. He is a member of the Federalist Society.
Stras was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Tim Pawlenty, with his term beginning on July 1, 2010. He was sworn in on July 12, 2010 in a public ceremony. Stras was elected to a six-year term in 2012. Prior to his appointment, he was a frequent guest on legal topics at Minnesota Public Radio. He is believed to be the first Jewish justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was on President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court justices.
Court of appeals nomination
On May 8, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Stras to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Diana E. Murphy who took senior status on November 29, 2016. His nomination is now pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On September 5, 2017, Minnesota Senator Al Franken announced that he would not return his blue slip for Stras.
Personal life
Stras and his wife, Heather, have two children. His grandmother is a Holocaust survivor from Hungary and his grandfather is a Holocaust survivor from Germany.