Robes, Rule of Law, and Reflection: Film Screening and a Judicial Conversation on Courage and Independence

Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, Moderator is a Senior Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She received the American Inns of Court Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Ethics and Professionalism Award and the William H. Webster Profiles in Leadership Award, among others. Judge McKeown is the author of the book Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas—Public Advocate and Conservation Champion.

Chief District Judge David G. Estudillo is the Chief District Judge for the Western District of Washington.  Chief Judge Estudillo was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on April 29, 2021, confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 2021, and received his commission on October 7, 2021.  He became the Chief District Judge on September 3, 2022 and is a member of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council.  Chief Judge Estudillo served as a Washington State Superior Court Judge for six years in Grant County, and was serving as the President of the Washington State Superior Court Judges Association when he received his commission.  As an attorney, Chief Judge Estudillo practiced immigration law, insurance defense, and general civil litigation for 16 years.

Judge John C. Coughenour was raised in the Midwest and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1966. After a brief stint on the law faculty at the University of Washington, he was a litigation partner at the Seattle firm of Bogle & Gates, before being nominated by President Reagan for the federal bench in 1981.

Judge Coughenour served as Chief Judge of the District from 1998 to 2004. During his time on the bench, he has presided over numerous high-profile trials and delivered several controversial decisions. His notable cases include a bank fraud trial involving the Montana Freemen, an anti-government group that had a three-month standoff with the FBI in 1996; the case of Michael Forwell, the British national sentenced to 15 years in 1996 for attempting to smuggle 72 tons of marijuana into Washington; and the case of Ahmed Ressam, the so-called “Millennium Bomber” who was convicted of attempting to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on January 1, 2000. In 2006, Judge Coughenour assumed senior status, though he continued to maintain a full case load in that capacity until only recently. 

In addition to his work on the court, Judge Coughenour taught trial advocacy at the University of Washington School of Law for over fifty years. His former law clerks created an endowment in his name to provide continued support for the school’s trial advocacy program. He also regularly travels internationally to participate in judicial reform activities with judges and lawyers, and hosts delegations in Seattle regarding the same. 

Judge Coughenour served as Chair of the Ninth Circuit working groups on Jury Instructions and Gender Bias, and he is past President of the Ninth Circuit District Judges’ Association.