Judge Keith Meisenheimer, Multnomah County Circuit Court

Judge Keith Meisenheimer was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to replace Judge Thomas Moultrie. He came to the bench in 1999 with a long professional history of public service. Much of that service has been devoted to the protection of children who have been victims of abuse.

He grew up in Berkeley, California, with four siblings. He admits to having worked more on his basketball than classes at school, but the potential career with the UC Bears and Golden State was cut short by an auto accident in his early high school years. His alternative recreation as a high school student in 1964 was to debate with members of the free speech movement based on his then held Young Republican views. He graduated from UCLA in 1970 with a baccalaureate in Political Science. Graduation was followed by a move to Lake Tahoe and work as a carpenter. Ultimately, his draft board had other plans, however.

During Judge Meisenheimer’s college years, he elected Conscientious Objector status under the Selective Service Act. In 1971, with his student deferment gone and in lieu of military service, his draft board assigned him to work in a legal services office in Contra Costa County. He was paid $250 a month. His work at the legal services office was both a professional and a personal introduction to the problems of the poor and disadvantaged, and an unforgettable experience.

In 1973, a federal court decision provided that Selective Service Boards could not compel alternative service for conscientious objectors if the person’s draft lottery number would not have been drawn; the decision allowed Judge Meisenheimer to pursue his new professional interest; he entered law school in the fall of 1973.

Judge Meisenheimer chose to attend Lewis & Clark School of Law. While there, he did an internship with the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) during his second year. In his third year, he developed a grant proposal for himself and other students to work at the juvenile court to provide legal assistance to children charged with delinquency. The proposal was funded. However, there was some difficulty recruiting juvenile justice defense attorneys to supervise the law students. The Office of the District Attorney agreed to supervise one, and Judge Meisenheimer accepted the District Attorney’s offer and began his career in prosecution.

His first trial as a third year law student was a delinquency matter. On the bench was then Judge George Van Hoomissen. He remembers that he learned a great deal from Judge Van Hoomissen during the trial, and also earned an occasional growl. He credits Justice Van Hoomissen and Judge Harlow Lenon with teaching him how to be effective as a trial lawyer, and values greatly their guiding him through that year. In future years, both jurists continued to be a strong presence in his professional development.

Following graduation in 1976, Judge Meisenhemier applied for a position in the Office of the District Attorney. He was hired. He spent his first five months in misdemeanours in District Court, and then another two years at the juvenile court. Then he moved to adult felony person crimes, and after eight jury trials was assigned his first murder prosecution. From 1980 to 1987, he supervised the juvenile section of the District Attorney’s Office, and then rotated back with adult felonies.

During this time, Judge Meisenheimer grew convinced that the seeds of adult criminal behavior were planted in the psyche of at-risk children, before they became teenagers and long before they became adults. The imprinting occurs, he believes, in early childhood in families, and fragments of families, which are repeating generational patterns of dysfunctional behavior. Without intervention, the cycle too often repeats itself in the lives of each new generation. Meisenheimer became convinced that there had to be intervention in these patterns if the children were to have any chance to avoid a lifetime in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

Judge Meisenheimer helped to found CARES, a program dedicated to the physical and emotional treatment of children who are the victims of criminal abuse. He has served on the CARES Board, as well as the Salvation Army’s White Shield Program, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Classroom Law Project. He has also served as a youth soccer coach for many years. His commitment to children and providing positive influences in their lives has been a constant part of his professional life.

In 1998, after 22 years as a career prosecuting attorney, Judge Meisenheimer arrived at the personal decision to apply for a circuit court judgeship. He was appointed in November, 1999. It is a tribute to his professionalism as a career prosecutor that he had strong support from the criminal defense bar as well as the circuit court bench for his judicial appointment.

The appointment brought the opportunity for new professional growth and challenges. After so many years of daily contact with judges, he had a healthy respect for the demands of the job. Judge Meisenheimer came to the bench with the confidence that he could be a good judge. And, like his mentor, the Honorable Harlow Lenon, he is determined to make a difference in the lives of the people who appear before him.

Originally authored by Doug Bray and printed in the October 2000 Multnomah Lawyer
Updated for the Internet in 2007