Ann Aiken

Ann Louise Aiken (born December 29, 1951) is an American attorney and jurist in the state of Oregon. A native Oregonian, she has served as a state court judge of the Oregon circuit courts and worked in private legal practice. She is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. She served as chief judge of the court from February 1, 2009 to January 31, 2016.

Early years

Aiken was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1951. In 1974, she graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science degree, and then from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1976 with a Master of Arts degree. She served in that capacity until January 31, 2016. In the decision, Aiken held that those provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

On October 7, 2015, Judge Aiken resentenced Dwight L. Hammond and his son Steven D. Hammond to five years in prison with credit for time served for federal arson, the mandatory minimum for that crime. The Hammonds had illegally set fires on their ranch which burned of federal land. U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan had sentenced the Hammonds to 3 months and 1 year in prison respectively, but Judge Aiken ruled that the minimum sentences must be followed. Armed militiamen led by Ammon Bundy occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near the Hammonds' ranch in protest of the ruling, demanding that the Hammonds be released and that the hundred-year-old wildlife refuge be given over to local control. The defendants in the case were granted a full Presidential pardon by President Donald J. Trump on July 10, 2018.

Judge Aiken made a key decision in the case Juliana v. United States, a suit brought by 21 youths against the U.S. government stating their rights to a clean environment were violated due to actions that the government had taken. While several similar suits at state and federal level had been dismissed, Judge Aiken instead was compelled by the argument that access to a clean environment was a fundamental right, allowing the case to proceed. This decision was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which remanded the case with instructions to dismiss it. Nevertheless, on remand, Judge Aiken allowed Plaintiffs to amend their complaint and allowed the case to continue. Once back before the Court of Appeals on a petition for writ of mandamus, the Ninth Circuit granted the petition and again instructed Judge Aiken "to dismiss the case forthwith." They had five sons together.