Orlando Luis Garcia

Orlando Luis Garcia (born 1952) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and former Texas state legislator.

Born in Jim Wells County, Texas, Garcia received a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1978. He was in private practice in San Antonio, Texas from 1978–1990, and a Texas state representative from 1983-1991. From 1991 to 1992 he was a judge in the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals.

He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1993, to a seat which had been vacated by Emilio M. Garza over two years before. Garcia was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 1994, and received his commission on March 11, 1994. He became Chief Judge on January 1, 2016.

Same-sex marriage

On February 26, 2014 in San Antonio, Garcia overturned the Texas ban on same-sex marriage, ruling that the prohibition is unconstitutional and stigmatizes the relationship of gay couples in the conservative state. He stayed his ruling pending appeal.^[1]

References

Sources

• Orlando Luis Garcia at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.