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Kristine Baker
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Incumbent
Assumed office December 18, 2023
Preceded by	D. Price Marshall Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Incumbent
Assumed office May 8, 2012
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	James Maxwell Moody
Personal details
Born	Kristine Anne Gerhard (1971-03-30) March 30, 1971 (age 53) Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Education	Saint Louis University (BA) University of Arkansas (JD)

Kristine Anne Gerhard Baker (born March 30, 1971) is an American lawyer. She is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Biography

Baker was born Kristine Anne Gerhard on March 30, 1971, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1993 from Saint Louis University. She received her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1996 from the University of Arkansas School of Law. She served as a law clerk for then Chief Judge Susan Webber Wright of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas from 1996 to 1998. She then worked at the law firm of William & Anderson from 1998 to 2000. She joined the law firm of Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow, located in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2000, and became a partner in 2002. In practice, her legal specialties were commercial litigation, employment law, and First Amendment litigation.

Federal judicial service

On November 2, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Baker to be a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. She replaced District Judge James Maxwell Moody who took senior status on October 1, 2008. She received her hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 26, 2012, and her nomination was reported to the floor on February 16, 2012, by voice vote, with Senator Mike Lee recording the only no vote. On May 7, 2012, her nomination was confirmed by voice vote. She received her commission on May 8, 2012. She became chief judge on December 18, 2023.

Notable case

On April 15, 2017, Baker blocked executions by the State of Arkansas, citing concerns over the use of midazolam, a drug used for sedation. Arkansas had planned to execute eight prisoners in the two weeks before the expiration date on one of the state's lethal injection drugs.

References

1. "Ms. Baker's biography at martindale.com". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
2. ^ "President Obama Nominates Kristine Gerhard Baker to United States District Court". whitehouse.gov. November 2, 2011 – via National Archives.
3. ^ Kristine Baker at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
4. "Chief United States District Judge, Eastern District of Arkansas" (Press release). United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. December 18, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
5. Blinder, Alan (April 16, 2017). "Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Executions". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved April 18, 2017.

External links

• Kristine Baker at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Kristine Baker at Ballotpedia

• 1971 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American judges
• 21st-century American women judges
• Arkansas lawyers
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
• People from Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Saint Louis University alumni
• United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
• University of Arkansas School of Law alumni