Mary Elizabeth Phillips

Mary Elizabeth Phillips

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri

Tenure

2012 - Present

Years in position

12

Education

Bachelor's

University of Chicago, 1991

Graduate

University of Chicago, 1992

Law

University of Missouri Law, 1996

Personal

Birthplace

Kirksville, Mo.

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Mary Elizabeth Phillips is the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama in June 2011. Phillips became chief judge of the court in 2019.

Education

Phillips received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Chicago in 1991 and 1992, and her J.D. from the University of Missouri in 1996.

Professional career

• 2008-2012: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri

• 2009-2012: U.S. Attorney
• 2008-2009: Litigation consultant
• 2008: Assistant U.S. Attorney

• 2002-2008: Special prosecutor, Missouri 16th Circuit Court (Jackson County)
• 2001-2008: Attorney in private practice, Leawood, Kansas
• 1997-2001: Assistant prosecutor, Jackson County, Missouri
• 1993-1994: Legislative assistant, U.S. Rep. Patsy Ann Danner, Missouri

Judicial career

Western District of Missouri

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Mary Elizabeth Phillips
Court: Western District of Missouri
Progress
Confirmed 273 days after nomination.
ANominated: 6/7/2011
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: September 20, 2011
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: 10/13/2011
AConfirmed: 3/6/2012

Phillips was nominated by President Barack Obama to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on June 7, 2011. She was nominated to the spot left vacant by the retirement of Judge Ortrie Smith. Obama said of the nomination, "Throughout their careers these individuals have shown a dedication to justice. I am proud to nominate them to serve the American people from the district court bench."

Phillips was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 20, 2011. You can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here.

On March 6, 2012, Phillips was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She became chief judge of the court in 2019.

Noteworthy cases

Death-row prisoner's stay of execution denied, then granted (2014)

See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (U.S. v. Bucklew)

On May 19, 2014, Judge Phillips refused to issue a stay in the execution of Russell Bucklew, over his lawyers’ arguments that the death-row inmate’s rare birth defect would cause him to suffer cruel and unusual punishment if he were to be lethally injected.

Bucklew, who was convicted on rape and murder charges, suffered from a congenital medical condition that caused a tumor to grow on his face and head. His attorneys alleged that the tumor caused Bucklew to "experience bleeding, intense pain, and difficulty breathing." They further alleged that because of Bucklew’s medical condition, the lethal injection drugs would likely cause him to hemorrhage, choke, or suffocate to death.

Judge Phillips refused to grant a stay, noting that Bucklew failed to offer feasible suggestions for how he could be put to death:

“

His complaint does not include any reference to a feasible and more humane alternative method of execution. Rather, the complaint appears to allege that there is currently no constitutional method of executing Bucklew.

”

Bucklew’s attorneys appealed to a panel of the Eighth Circuit, which granted a stay of execution in a 2-1 vote on May 21, 2014, the day Bucklew was scheduled to be put to death. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office appealed the ruling, and later that day, the full Eighth Circuit reversed its earlier stay. Bucklew’s legal team then appealed to the Supreme Court as a last resort, and Justice Samuel Alito issued an emergency order to stay Bucklew’s execution. There were just five hours left on Bucklew’s death warrant when the Supreme Court issued its stay.

The Supreme Court’s stay of Bucklew’s execution would remain in effect until an appeal could be fully heard by Judge Phillips.

Death row inmate's appeal over execution drugs denied (2014)

See also: United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (U.S. v. Taylor)

On February 24, 2014, Judge Phillips denied a stay of execution for Michael Taylor, a convicted rapist and murderer.

Taylor's lawyers argued that Missouri's execution protocols put their client at a high risk of experiencing Eighth Amendment violations in the form of cruel and unusual punishment. Using past execution drug failures as examples, and pentobarbital's failures in particular, members of Taylor's defense team alleged their client would experience "severe, unnecessary, lingering and ultimately inhumane pain." Taylor's lawyers also argued that Missouri officials violated prisoners' rights by executing them prior to all legal appeals reaching their conclusion.

Judge Phillips twice denied Taylor's petitions, noting his constitutional arguments would likely be unsuccessful:

“

Taylor has not set forth any binding legal authority to suggest that, even if there was a change to the protocol, death row inmates have a due process right to review an execution protocol or be notified of a change to it.

”

Taylor was subsequently executed on February 26, 2014.

See also

• United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri

External links

• White House Office of the Press Secretary, "President Obama Nominates Four to the United States District Court," June 7, 2011
• Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Mary Elizabeth Phillips"

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri 2012-Present	Succeeded by -

Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama
Nominated	Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama

Missouri courts

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Federal courts:

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri

State courts:

Missouri Supreme Court • Missouri Court of Appeals • Missouri Circuit Courts • Missouri Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Missouri • Missouri judicial elections • Judicial selection in Missouri