Judge Karin Immergut
Judicial Career and Notable Rulings
Karin Johanna Immergut has served as a United States District Judge for the District of Oregon since 2019 and as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court since 2024. Her tenure has been marked by rulings that have drawn national attention for their constitutional, civil rights, and public policy implications.
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Olivia Moultrie v. National Women’s Soccer League (2021): Judge Immergut issued a landmark preliminary injunction allowing 15-year-old soccer prodigy Olivia Moultrie to sign a professional contract. The ruling held that the NWSL’s minimum age rule violated antitrust principles by unfairly restricting young female athletes’ opportunities, noting that Major League Soccer imposed no comparable restriction.
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McCrae v. Johnston (2023): Immergut overturned a jury verdict awarding damages to protester Elaeqia McCrae, granting qualified immunity to a Salem police officer who shot her with rubber bullets during a 2020 demonstration. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed her decision in 2024, holding that the officer was not entitled to immunity.
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Oregon Firearms Federation v. Kotek (2023): She upheld Oregon’s voter-approved Measure 114, which bans large-capacity magazines and requires permits for gun purchases, ruling that the law aligns with “the nation’s history and tradition of regulating uniquely dangerous features of firearms.”
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State of Oregon v. Trump (2025): In an emergency order, Immergut temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the Oregon National Guard to Portland, finding the justification “untethered to facts.” When the Defense Department attempted to override her injunction by federalizing out-of-state troops, she blocked those actions as well. The ruling prompted a public rebuke from Trump, who mistakenly referred to her as “him.”
“This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law.”
Earlier Legal and Prosecutorial Work
Immergut’s early legal career was deeply rooted in public service and complex litigation. After earning her law degree, she worked at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., before serving six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California, where she prosecuted major narcotics and money-laundering cases and later became deputy chief of the Narcotics Section.
She later practiced with Gravel & Shea in Vermont and then spent five years as a Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon, focusing on white-collar crime. In 1998, while detailed to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton, she personally questioned Monica Lewinsky during an August deposition.
From 2003 to 2009, Immergut served as United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, appointed by President George W. Bush. In that role, she led a staff of over one hundred attorneys and agents, overseeing prosecutions in areas ranging from corporate fraud to cybercrime. She also sat on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys.
Federal Appointment and Judicial Service
President Donald J. Trump nominated Immergut to the U.S. District Court for Oregon in 2018, and the Senate confirmed her in 2019 by voice vote. She succeeded Judge Anna J. Brown. Her nomination followed a prior consideration for the same seat in 2008, when she was initially favored but not selected after media attention on her work in the Clinton investigation.
In 2024, she was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, where she now oversees national security warrant applications.
Education and Early Life
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960 to an Austrian father and Swedish mother—both scientists—Immergut graduated from Amherst College in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1987, where she served as managing editor of the Boalt Hall Journal of Industrial Relations (now the Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law).
Professional Reputation
Judge Immergut is widely regarded as a disciplined and analytical jurist with extensive experience in federal prosecutions, national security, and constitutional litigation. Her judicial opinions often emphasize historical context, statutory precision, and public accountability—traits that have placed her at the center of significant debates over executive power, gender equity in sports, police accountability, and firearms regulation.
