Gov. Brown appoints Chris Garrett to Oregon Supreme Court
Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday that she will appoint Chris Garrett, a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals, to the Oregon Supreme Court. The appointment is Brown’s fifth judicial appointment to the state’s highest court.
“Judge Garrett is a talented, thoughtful, and even-keeled jurist who is passionate about Oregon’s courts and the rule of law,” Brown said. “He brings to our high court the experience of a respected civil litigator, an effective state legislator, and a productive appellate judge. His brilliant mind and collegial style will be tremendous assets to the court and the people of Oregon.”
Garrett will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Rives Kistler. The appointment is effective Jan. 1.
Garrett was appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals by Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2014, after serving as a state representative from Lake Oswego and southwest Portland from 2009 to 2013. From 2002 through 2013, Judge Garrett was a civil litigator at Perkins Coie LLP in Portland. He began his career at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York from 2000 to 2001, and then clerked for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Garrett graduated from Reed College and the University of Chicago Law School.
As a member of the Court of Appeals, Judge Garrett authored the court’s opinion in Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which upheld the enforcement of Oregon’s law that protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination against bakery-owners who refused to provide a wedding cake to a same-sex couple.
As a member of the Legislature, then-Representative Garrett brokered a bipartisan redistricting plan and championed the Justice Reinvestment Act (HB 3194), which funds criminal justice alternatives to incarceration.
In addition to his law practice and judicial service, arrett has served his community and the legal profession as well. He teaches as an adjunct professor at Willamette University College of Law, and assists the Classroom Law Project as a volunteer judge.
Garrett was a member of the board of directors of Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger, served on the Governor’s Public Safety Commission, and recently co-chaired the Oregon State Bar’s Legal Futures Task Force.
