Edward C Prado

Background

Prado was born in San Antonio, Texas on June 7, 1947. H received an Associate of Arts degree from San Antonio College. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1969 and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1972 from University of Texas School of Law.

Prado served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. Thereafter, in 1976 he served in the Federal Public Defender’s Office in the Western District of Texas as an Assistant Public Defender. In 1980, Judge Prado was appointed to serve as a Texas state District Judge in Bexar County. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Prado to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.

In 1984, Reagan appointed Prado to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He remained on that court until he was elevated to his current position.

Fifth Circuit nomination and confirmation

Prado was nominated on February 6, 2003 by President George W. Bush to fill a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit created by Judge Robert Manley Parker, who retired outright from the federal bench on November 1, 2002 to return to private law practice. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 1, 2003, just under three months after his nomination. Prado was the second judge nominated to the Fifth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the Senate.

Community involvement

Judge Prado has been a leader in numerous bar associations and law-related organizations. He has been a member of the Texas and San Antonio Bar Associations since 1972, including service as a President, and later Director and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Antonio Bar Foundation. Judge Prado serves on the Texas State Bar Crime Victims Committee, and was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve as the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Act Review Committee, from 1991-1993.

Judge Prado also has been actively involved in community and charitable affairs as a member in community organizations such as: St. Mark’s Catholic Church, the Witte Museum Community Advisory Committee, the Philosophical Society of Texas, the Rotary Club of San Antonio and Leadership San Antonio. Judge Prado has reached out to children in the San Antonio community by conducting events in his courtroom as an introduction to the law.

He has received many honors and awards, including the following: St. Thomas More Award, St. Mary's University School of Law (2000); Outstanding Alumnus, San Antonio College (1989); LULAC State Award for Excellence (1981); Edgewood I.S.D. Hall of Fame (1981); Achievement Award, U.S. Attorney General (1980); Outstanding Young Lawyer of San Antonio (1980); and Outstanding Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas (1978).

Possible Supreme Court nomination

In 2005, upon the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Prado was the unexpected subject of a "Draft Prado" movement to make him a nominee for the Supreme Court. The group behind the campaign was attempting to lobby the President to nominate Prado instead of a nominee who might be considered more conservative.