Henry E. Hudson

Legal career

Hudson's legal career had its roots in Republican Party politics. He became Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Arlington County, Virginia from 1974 to 1979, and subsequently served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1978 to 1979. He was in private practice with multiple different law firms from 1991 to 1992, 1994 to 1996, and from 1996 to 1998. Early in his career, Hudson stated: "I live to put people in jail." In what Hudson described as a "career-defining case", he prosecuted David Vazquez, an intellectually disabled Arlington resident, for a 1984 rape and murder. Hudson's prosecution was based on a confession given by Vazquez after repeated interrogations, despite the fact that semen found at the crime scene did not match Vazquez. However, inconsistencies in the case led detectives to continue to pursue leads, ultimately linking Timothy Wilson Spencer, a serial killer, to the murder.

Pornography Commission

As Commonwealth Attorney, Hudson led a campaign to rid Arlington County of adult bookstores, massage parlors, and other venues linked to the sale of pornography. As a result of his efforts, he was named by the Reagan Administration to lead the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (the so-called Meese Commission). In 1991, Hudson ran briefly and unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican against James P. Moran.

State court judge

Hudson was a circuit court judge on Virginia's Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court (Fairfax County, Virginia) from 1998 to 2002.

Former Republican U.S. Congressman Thomas M. Davis, who first met Hudson in 1979 when Davis was running for the county board and Hudson was running for prosecutor, called Hudson a "by-the-book guy," adding that "e is not one who coddles criminals."

In December 2010, Hudson said that he was proud to see what Vick has accomplished and he told the Washington Post, "He's an example of how the system can work".

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

In December 2010, Hudson ruled against an element of the Obama administration's health care reform law, saying that the individual mandate provision of the law exceeded Congress' powers under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Hudson's opinion stressed the unprecedented nature of the mandate:

Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market ... At its core, the dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance—or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage—it's about an individual's right to choose to participate.

Hudson was the first judge to rule against the healthcare law passed during the Obama administration. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On August 12, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to renominate Hudson to serve as a Commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission.

Other

Hudson is the author of the 2007 book Quest for Justice: From Deputy Sheriff to Federal Judge ... and the Lessons Learned Along the Way (Loft Press, Fort Valley, Virginia).

Hudson is a shareholder of Campaign Solutions, Inc., a Republican consulting firm. For 2008, Hudson reported income of between $5,000 and $15,000 from the firm. In December 2010 the company released a statement that "Judge Hudson has owned stock in Campaign Solutions going back 13 years to the founding of the company or well before he became a federal judge. Since joining the federal bench, he has fully disclosed his stock ownership in the company. He is a passive investor only, has no knowledge of the day to day operations of the firm, and has never discussed any aspect of the business with any official of the company."