Background
GARCIA, ORLANDO was born on November 18, 1952 in Alice, Texas, United States.
GARCIA, ORLANDO was born on November 18, 1952 in Alice, Texas, United States.
University of Texas (Bachelor of Arts, 1975. Juris Doctor, 1978). Member, Moot Court. State Representative, since 1983.
Spoken languages: Spanish.
Born in Jim Wells County, Texas, Garcia received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1978. He was in private practice in San Antonio, Texas from 1978–1990, and a Texas state representative from 1983-1991. From 1991 to 1992 he was a judge in the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals.
He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1993, to a seat which had been vacated by Emilio M. Garza over two years before.
Garcia was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 1994, and received his commission on March 11, 1994. He became Chief Judge on January 1, 2016.
On February 26, 2014 in San Antonio, Garcia overturned the Texas ban on same-sex marriage, ruling that the prohibition is unconstitutional and stigmatizes the relationship of gay couples in the conservative state. He stayed his ruling pending appeal.
San Antonio Bar Association. State Bar of Texas.