Laurie Smith Camp is a district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nebraska. Court offices are in Omaha, Lincoln, and North Platte....

. She joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

.

Early life and education

Born in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

, Smith Camp graduated from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 with her Bachelor's degree in 1974 and later from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law where she earned her Juris Doctor

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...

 degree in 1977.

Legal career

Smith Camp started her legal career as an Associate General Counsel with the First National Bank & Trust Company from 1977 to 1978. She later was a private practice from 1978 to 1980. Later in 1980, she was employed as the General Counsel for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services

Nebraska Department of Correctional Services

The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is the state corrections agency for the State of Nebraska. NDCS currently has 11 institutions confining over 4,000 inmates. All male inmates coming into the system enter through the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center where they are evaluated and...

 where she served until 1991. In 1991, Smith Camp became the Chief of the civil rights section for the Nebraska Department of Justice until 1995. She was a Chief Deputy Attorney General for criminal matters with the Nebraska Department of Justice from 1995 until her nomination to the federal bench in 2001.

Federal Judicial Career

In 2001, Smith Camp was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska by President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001 to a seat vacated by William G. Cambridge

William G. Cambridge

William G. Cambridge was a United States federal judge.Born in Atlantic, Iowa, Cambridge received a B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1953, and a J.D. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law in 1955. He was in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957...

. Camp was confirmed by the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

on October 23, 2001 on a Senate vote and received her commission the next day.