Arvo Quoetone Mikkanen is an Assistant United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 for the Western District of Oklahoma and a current federal judicial nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma is the Federal district court for a portion of the state of Oklahoma....

.

Early life and education

Mikkanen received an A.B.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 magna cum laude from Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

 in 1983, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D.

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from Yale Law School

Yale Law School

Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

 in 1986. After graduating law school, Mikkanen served as a law clerk

Law clerk

A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...

 for Judge Lawrence S. Margolis of the United States Claims Court

United States Court of Federal Claims

The United States Court of Federal Claims is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. The court is established pursuant to Congress's authority under Article One of the United States Constitution...

, and followed that with a clerkship for Judge Robert M. Parker

Robert Manley Parker

Robert Manley Parker is a retired U.S. federal appeals court judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.- Early life and education :...

 of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the eastern part of Texas and is a part of the Fifth Circuit. The court's headquarters are in Tyler, Texas and has five subdivision offices in Beaumont, Lufkin, Marshall,...

.

Legal experience

Mikkanen has been a federal prosecutor since 1994 and has prosecuted cases involving violent crimes, physical and sexual assaults, homicides, firearms offenses, immigration offenses, wildlife violations, embezzlement, drug offenses, government corruption, as well a civil cases involving administrative law, foreclosures, and government regulations. He has been counsel of record in over 475 cases in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, having handled numerous civil cases, juvenile delinquency adjudications, and criminal prosecutions, including bench and jury trials, as well as oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mikkanen was an associate attorney and litigator with the Andrews Davis law firm in Oklahoma City from 1988 to 1994 where he engaged in business practice, products liability defense, trademark law, real estate law, insurance defense, and commercial litigation in state and federal courts.

Prior judicial experience

He is a former judge of the Court of Indian Offenses for the Anadarko Area Tribes (1988–1994), a federally administered tribal court which is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, and formerly served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes (1991–1994). He published numerous opinions during his period of service as a judge.

Awards, honors, and teaching activities

Mikkanen received the William S. Churchill prize as the outstanding freshman at Dartmouth College for the Class of 1983 and received the Morrell Goldberg Prize for academic service several years later. He was also the recipient of the Gold United States Congressional Award from the U.S. Congress in 1985. He was the Class Marshal for the Class of 1986 at the Yale Law School and while at Yale received the Beinecke Award in 1986. Mikkanen also received the Oklahoma Bar Association's Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award in 1992, and the Equal Access to Justice - Pro Bono Publico Award from Oklahoma Indian Legal Services in 1992. He was the recipient of the American Bar Association's Spirit of Excellence Award in 2004 and received the Sonja Atetewuthtakewa Award for Distinguished Service in the Protection of Native American Children in 2003. Mikkanen also served as an adjunct professor of law at the Oklahoma City University School of Law from 1988 to 2000. He is a lecturer and frequent instructor in federal criminal investigations, prosecution issues and Indian affairs law.

Background

Mikkanen is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and is also of Comanche and Finnish descent. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and has resided in Norman, Oklahoma for the past 22 years.

Federal judicial nomination

Mikkanen was recommended for a judgeship on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma is the Federal district court for a portion of the state of Oklahoma....

 by Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Governor

Governor of Oklahoma

The governor of the state of Oklahoma is the head of state for the state of Oklahoma, United States. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma...

 Brad Henry

Brad Henry

Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry was the 26th Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002...

. On February 2, 2011, President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 formally nominated Mikkanen to a seat on the Northern District of Oklahoma. His nomination was immediately met with opposition from members of Oklahoma's congressional delegation

United States Congressional Delegations from Oklahoma

These are tables of congressional delegations from Oklahoma to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.-United States Senate:-Passages:-1889 - 1907: One non-voting delegate:-1907 - 1913: Five seats:...

, with Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Senators James Inhofe and Tom Coburn

Tom Coburn

Thomas Allen "Tom" Coburn, M.D. , is an American politician, medical doctor, and Southern Baptist deacon. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the junior U.S. Senator from Oklahoma. In the Senate, he is known as "Dr. No" for his tendency to place holds on and vote against bills...

 and Democratic Representative Dan Boren

Dan Boren

Daniel David "Dan" Boren is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. The district includes most of the eastern part of the state outside of Tulsa...

 expressing disappointment that they were not consulted on the nomination. However, the Obama White House disputes that they did not consult with the Oklahoma congressional delegation. Public opposition to Mikkanen's nomination has centered around procedural grounds rather than substantive issues about Mikkanen himself.

If confirmed, Mikkanen would be only the third Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 ever to serve on the federal bench

United States federal judge

In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....

, after Frank Howell Seay

Frank Howell Seay

-Early life and education:Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Seay received a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1961 and an LL.B. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1963.-Career:...

 and Michael Burrage.