Michael Robert Hogan

Michael Robert Hogan (born September 24, 1946)[1][2] is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He served as Chief Judge from 1995 to 2002. He was based at the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon. While he was Chief Judge, he was an influential force on the design of the new courthouse.[3] He took senior status with the court on September 24, 2011[4] and retired on November 1, 2012.

Michael Robert Hogan
Hogan in 2006
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
In office September 24, 2011 – November 1, 2012
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
In office 1995–2002
Preceded by	James A. Redden
Succeeded by	Ancer L. Haggerty
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
In office September 16, 1991 – September 24, 2011
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Seat established by 104 Stat. 5089
Succeeded by	Michael J. McShane
Personal details
Born	Michael Robert Hogan September 24, 1946 Oregon City, Oregon
Education	University of Oregon (BA) Georgetown University Law Center (JD)

Education and career

Born in Oregon City, Oregon, Hogan received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from the University of Oregon in 1968 and received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1971.[1][5] Hogan was a law clerk for Judge Robert C. Belloni after getting his law degree. He then went into private practice in Portland before becoming a bankruptcy judge with the District Court in 1973. Later he continued with the district as a United States Magistrate.

Federal judicial service

On June 27, 1991, Hogan was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon created by 104 Stat. 5089. Hogan was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 12, 1991, and received commission on September 16, 1991. He served as Chief Judge from 1995 to 2002, took senior status on September 24, 2011, and retired on November 1, 2012.[6]

In June 1994, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge manager notified Dwight Hammond that his permit to graze his cattle and grow hay on the refuge was revoked. Two months later, Hammond and his son Steven obstructed the completion of a refuge boundary fence intended to keep their cattle out of the refuge's protected marsh and wetland, prompting their arrest by federal agents. The fence was needed to stop the Hammonds' cattle from moving onto the refuge after the ranchers had repeatedly violated the terms of their special grazing permit, which limited those times when they could move their cattle across refuge property.[7][8] Officials also reported that Dwight had made death threats against refuge managers in 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1994; and that Steven Hammond also made incendiary remarks against them.[9][10][7]

In 1999 Steven started a fire, intending to burn off juniper trees and sagebrush, but the fire escaped onto BLM land. The agency reminded him of the required burn permit and that if the fires continued, there would be legal consequences.[11] Both Dwight and Steven Hammond later set more fires, one in 2001 and one in 2006, that would lead to eventual convictions of arson on federal land:[12][13] The 2001 Hardie-Hammond fire began after hunters in the area witnessed the Hammonds illegally slaughtering a herd of deer.[14] Less than two hours later, a fire erupted, forcing the hunters to leave the area but also intending to conceal evidence of the deer herd slaughter.[15] Steven's nephew Dusty Hammond testified his uncle told him to "light the whole countryside on fire," and that in doing so. he was "almost burned up in the fire," having to flee for his life.[11][16] The Hammonds claimed they started the fire to stop invasive plants from growing onto their grazing fields.[17] The 2006 Krumbo Butte fire started out as a wildfire, but several illegal backburns were set by the Hammonds with an intent of protecting their winter feed. The backfires were set under the cover of night, without warning the firefighters they knew were camped on the slopes above.[15][18] The fires threatened to trap four BLM firefighters. One of those later confronted Dwight Hammond at the fire scene after he had moved his crews to avoid the danger.[15][16] Two days later, Steven Hammond threatened to frame a BLM employee with arson if he didn't terminate the investigation.[17] In 2012, the Hammonds were tried in federal district court on multiple charges. During a break in jury deliberations, partial verdicts were rendered, convicting them on two counts of arson on federal land.[15] Striking a plea bargain, in order to have the four remaining charges dismissed and for sentences on the two convictions to run concurrently, the Hammonds waived their rights to appeal their convictions. They knew the trial would proceed to sentencing at which the prosecution intended to seek imposition of the statute's mandatory five-year minimum sentences,[15][19] under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA).[18][20][21][22] Judge Hogan independently decided that sentences of that length "would shock the conscience" and would violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. On his last day on the bench before retiring, October 31, 2012, Hogan instead sentenced Dwight Hammond to three months' imprisonment and Steven Hammond to a year and a day's imprisonment and then retired on November 1, 2012.[23][24] Both men served those sentences.

However, in what was described by one source as a "rare" action,[25] the government (represented by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, led by U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall) successfully appealed the sentence to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appellate court upheld the mandatory-minimum law, writing that "given the seriousness of arson, a five-year sentence is not grossly disproportionate to the offense." The court vacated the original sentence and remanded for re-sentencing. The Hammonds filed petitions for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, which the court denied in March 2015.[17][20] In October 2015, Chief Judge Ann Aiken re-sentenced the pair to five years in prison (with credit for time served), ordering that they return to prison on January 4, 2016.[20][24] Both of the Hammonds reported to Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island in California on January 4, as ordered by the court.[26] A few days earlier, the Hammonds also paid the federal government the remaining balance on a US$400,000 court order for restitution related to the arson fires.[18]

References

1. "Hogan, Michael Robert - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
2. Who's who in American Law. Marquis Who's Who. 24 June 1998. ISBN 9780837935133 – via Google Books.
3. "Wayne Lyman Morse United States Courthouse". Architectural Record.
4. "Briefs". Oregon State Bar Bulletin. November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
5. "Hon. Michael R. Hogan". Learn About the Law (findlaw.com). Archived from the original on 2009-09-14.
6. Jack Moran, "Judge’s ‘senior’ role leads to vacancy: Michael Hogan shifts into semiretirement on the federal district bench Archived 2013-02-01 at Archive.today", The Register-Guard (Friday, Oct. 7, 2011), page A1.
7. Durbin, Kathie (October 3, 1994). "Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge". High Country News. Paonia, CO. ISSN 0191-5657. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
8. St. Clair, Jeffrey (January 31, 2010). "Disquiet on the Western Front: Showdown in the Malheur Marshes". Salem-News.com. Salem, OR. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
9. Therialut, Denis C. (January 6, 2016). "Oregon militants: Death threats from ranchers reported years before standoff". The Oregonian/OregonLive.com. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
10. St. Clair, Jeffrey (January 31, 2010). "Disquiet on the Western Front: Showdown in the Malheur Marshes". Salem News. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
11. "10-30-2012 HOGAN HAMMOND SENTENCING FINAL - Transcript of Judges ruling.pdf" (PDF). October 30, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
12. Denson, Bryan (October 7, 2015). "Controversial Oregon ranchers in court Wednesday, likely headed back to prison in arson case". The Oregonian/OregonLive.com. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
13. Zaitz, Les (December 31, 2015). "Militiamen, ranchers in showdown for soul of Burns". The Oregonian/OregonLive.com. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
14. "Read: U.S. attorney statement on Oregon standoff". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL: Tribune Publishing. January 4, 2016. ISSN 1085-6706. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
15. "HammondGovBrief.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved February 8, 2016. United States' Supplemental Sentencing Memorandum (filed September 21, 2015), United States v. Hammond, Case No. 6:10-cr-60066-AA (D. Ore.).
16. Ditzler, Joseph (July 17, 2012). "Hammond Witness Describes Setting Fire In 2001". Portland, OR: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
17. "hammond-cert2-br_in_opp-osg_aay_v2b.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved February 8, 2016. Brief for the United States in Opposition, Hammond v. United States, Docket No. 13-1512. Petition for certiorari denied on March 23, 2015. See: "Hammond v. United States : SCOTUSblog" and "Bloomberg Law - Document - United States v. Hammond, 742 F.3d 880 (9th Cir. 2014), Court Opinion" for related documents.
18. Zaitz, Les (January 5, 2016). "Oregon ranchers' fight with feds sparks militias' interest". The Oregonian/OregonLive.com. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
19. Manning, Jeff (January 16, 2016). "A harsh toll: How tough mandatory sentences inspired Harney County occupation". The Oregonian/OregonLive.com. Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
20. "The feds' case: What they said of Hammonds' resentencing: Full text of U.S. Department of Justice news release". Bend, OR: KTVZ. January 4, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
21. "Eastern Oregon Ranchers Convicted of Arson Resentenced to Five Years in Prison" (Press release). Eugene, OR: United States District Court for the District of Oregon. October 7, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
22. Wm. Moyer, Justin (January 4, 2016). "The mysterious fires that led to the Bundy clan's Oregon standoff". The Washington Post. Arlington, VA: Nash Holdings LLC. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
23. Federal district judge refuses to apply arson mandatory minimum (on constitutional grounds?), Sentencing Law and Policy, October 31, 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
24. Perkowski, Mateusz (October 7, 2015). "Judge sends Oregon ranchers back to prison". Capital Press. Salem, OR: EO Media Group. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
25. Dickinson, Tim (January 3, 2016). "WTF Is Happening in the Oregon Militia Standoff, Explained". Rolling Stone. New York. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
26. "Hammonds report to CA prison for arson". Portland, OR: KOIN. January 4, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2016.

External links

• Michael Robert Hogan at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (Official website)