John,

This Black History Month, we celebrate the contributions of two remarkable attorneys who are trailblazers in Oregon’s legal community.

In 1960, Judge Mercedes Deiz became the first Black woman admitted to the Oregon State Bar. She became the first Black woman elected as a County Circuit Court Judge anywhere in Oregon in 1972. Her service is especially notable given Oregon’s history of exclusion laws, which remained in the Oregon Constitution until 1926, and the state’s record of prejudice.

Judge Adrienne Nelson was first appointed to, and later elected, to serve on the Multnomah County Circuit Court in 2006. She was appointed to serve as a Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court in 2017, later elected to the role, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court. In 2022, President Biden nominated Judge Nelson to serve on the U.S. District Court for Oregon; she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February 2023, becoming the first Black woman to serve Oregonians in this capacity.

An interesting fact about Judge Nelson that relates to OR-5: in 2021, a new high school in Happy Valley was named after Judge Adrienne Nelson to honor her service. There were a few vocal opponents of this naming, but none more outspoken about their opposition than then-Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Judges Deiz and Nelson are cornerstones of Oregon’s legal community, of which Cass and I are proud members, and they have made Oregon a greater and safer place for all our families.

We honor their service,

Jamie