Draft:Ryan Timothy O'Connor
This article, Draft:Ryan Timothy O'Connor, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Preload talk Inform author |
This article, Draft:Ryan Timothy O'Connor, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Preload talk Inform author |
- File:Symbol opinion vote.svg Comment: Please read MOS:PEACOCK. Thank you. HwyNerd Mike (t | c) 19:29, 1 December 2025 (UTC)
Ryan T. O'Connor | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals | |
| Assumed office February 2025 | |
| Appointed by | Tina Kotek |
| Preceded by | Josephine Mooney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ryan Timothy O'Connor c. 1978 (age 47–48) Olympia, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Portland University of Notre Dame (J.D.) |
| Occupation | Attorney, jurist |
Ryan Timothy O'Connor (born c. 1978) is an American attorney and judge who serves on the Oregon Court of Appeals. His successful argument before the Oregon Supreme Court in Watkins v. Ackley, applied the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on non-unanimous jury verdicts retroactively to hundreds of Oregon cases.
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]O'Connor was born circa 1978 in Olympia, Washington. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Portland and his Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Career
[edit | edit source]O'Connor began his legal career working in the Office of Public Defense Services in Oregon. He later became a partner at O'Connor Weber LLC, an appellate advocacy law firm in Oregon, and served as Co-Executive Director of Equal Justice Law.[1]
O'Connor served as lead counsel in Watkins v. Ackley, representing Jacob Watkins, who had been convicted of four felonies by a 10-2 jury verdict in 2010.[2] Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, which struck down non-unanimous jury verdicts as unconstitutional, O'Connor and his team argued that the ruling should apply retroactively to Oregon convictions. In December 2022, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of O'Connor's client, determining that the ban on non-unanimous jury verdicts applied to all Oregon convictions, including those finalized before the Ramos decision.[2] The decision affected an estimated 300 people incarcerated in Oregon based on non-unanimous jury verdicts.[2]
Oregon Court of Appeals
[edit | edit source]On February 19, 2025, Governor Tina Kotek announced O'Connor's appointment to the Oregon Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Josephine Mooney.[1][3] The appointment was effective immediately.[1]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Pending AfC submissions
- Pending AfC submissions in article space
- AfC submissions by date/10 December 2025
- AfC submissions by date/11 October 2025
- Living people
- 1970s births
- Oregon Court of Appeals judges
- 21st-century American judges
- Lawyers from Portland, Oregon
- Oregon lawyers
- American civil rights lawyers
- University of Portland alumni
- University of Notre Dame Law School alumni
- People from Olympia, Washington