Erica MacDonald

Erica H. MacDonald
United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota
Assumed office
June 11, 2018
President Donald Trump
Preceded by Andrew M. Luger
Judge of the First Judicial District of Minnesota
In office
January 15, 2010 – June 5, 2018
Appointed by Tim Pawlenty
Personal details
Born DeSoto, Texas
Education University of Notre Dame, (B.A.)
DePaul University College of Law, (J.D.)

Erica Hinkle MacDonald is an American lawyer who currently serves as the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota. She previously served as a Judge of the District Court for the First Judicial District of the State of Minnesota from 2010 to 2018. Prior to that, she prosecuted violent crimes with the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota.

Early life and education

MacDonald was born and raised in the Dallas, Texas area, the youngest of three sisters raised by a single mother.[1] She began working at age 15 in order to help support her family financially.[1] MacDonald earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame. After earning her undergraduate degree, she spent five years working in management for a St. Louis department store firm in order to save money for law school.[1] MacDonald went on to earn her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 1997.[2]

MacDonald began her legal career as a judicial law clerk to United States District Judge James Henry Alesia, of the Northern District of Illinois. After her clerkship, she worked as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago; as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois; and as a law clerk to Judge Harriet Lansing of the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2000. She also served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Minnesota.[2]

At the U.S. Attorney's office, MacDonald prosecuted cases involving violent crimes, narcotics, firearms, human trafficking, and child pornography.[3] She worked to prosecute crimes against women and children on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, where she helped to establish a family advocacy center. She prosecuted Minnesota's first human trafficking cases, "winning some of the longest federal sentences ever delivered in Minnesota."[1]

From 2006 to 2009, MacDonald co-chaired the Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force.[3]

State judicial service

She was appointed as a Judge of the District Court for the First Judicial District on November 24, 2009, by Governor Tim Pawlenty. She was elected to a six-year term in 2012.[4] MacDonald served in this role until June 5, 2018, when she resigned in order to become a U.S. Attorney.[5]

United States Attorney

On April 10, 2018, President Trump announced his intent to nominate MacDonald to serve as a United States Attorney of Minnesota.[2] On April 12, 2018, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[6] On May 24, 2018, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote.[7] Her nomination was later confirmed by the Senate by voice vote that same day.[8] She was sworn in on June 11, 2018.[9] MacDonald joined advisory subcommittees on American Indian and national security affairs.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Montemayor, Stephen (June 30, 2018). "Families not far from mind of new Minnesota U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald". Star Tribune. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "President Donald J. Trump Announces Twelfth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Twelfth Wave of United States Attorneys, and Sixth Wave of United States Marshals" White House, April 10, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. 1 2 Ibrahim, Mukhtar (April 10, 2018). "Trump taps Dakota Co. judge as next U.S. attorney for Minnesota". MPR News. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "Judge Erica H. MacDonald". Minnesota Judicial Branch.
  5. ↑ "Judge Erica H. MacDonald". Minnesota Judicial Branch. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Twenty-Nine Nominations Sent to the Senate Today", The White House, April 12, 2018
  7. ↑ Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 24, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  8. ↑ PN1838 — Erica H. MacDonald — Department of Justice, congress.gov
  9. ↑ "Erica H. MacDonald, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota". June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the White House.

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