Preceded by Robin J. Cauthron Role Judge Name Vicki Miles-LaGrange | Preceded by Lee Roy West Appointed by Bill Clinton | |
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Alma mater University of Ghana
Vassar College
Howard University School of Law Education Howard University School of Law, Vassar College, Howard University, University of Ghana | ||
Vicki Miles LaGrange Full Remarks
Vicki Miles-LaGrange (born 1953) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. She was the first African-American woman to be sworn in as United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. She was also the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate.
Contents
- Vicki Miles LaGrange Full Remarks
- Early life and education
- Career in government
- Federal judicial service
- Personal affiliations
- References
Early life and education
A native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Miles-LaGrange, received a certificate from the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, West Africa in 1973, and graduated cum laude from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. She then received her Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. in 1977. There, she was an editor of The Howard Law Journal.
Career in government
Miles-LaGrange served as a law clerk to Woodrow Seals of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas from 1977 to 1979. She was a Graduate fellow in the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1980, and a special assistant to the African Development Group, Washington, D.C. from 1980 to 1981. She was at the same time a Lecturer in the Women's Studies Program at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1981. She was a trial attorney of Office of Enforcement Operations, United States Department of Justice from 1982 to 1983. She returned to Oklahoma to serve as an assistant district attorney for Oklahoma County from 1983 to 1986, where she prosecuted sex crimes. She then entered the private practice of law in Oklahoma City from 1986 to 1993, and was during that period an Oklahoma State Senator from 1987 to 1993, making her the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma State Senate along with Maxine Horner. She was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 1993 to 1994.
Federal judicial service
Miles-LaGrange was nominated by President Bill Clinton on September 22, 1994, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma vacated by Lee Roy West. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1994, and received her commission on November 28, 1994. She served as chief judge from 2008 to 2015. Miles-LaGrange's preliminary ruling enjoining amendment of the Oklahoma Constitution to prohibit the state's courts from either "considering or using" international law or Islamic Sharia law has attracted considerable attention and has prompted one Oklahoma state legislator to urge Congress to impeach her.
Personal affiliations
She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and formerly served as the regional director for the Midwestern Region. She is also a member of The Links, Incorporated. In 2003, Miles-LaGrange was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.