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Mark Pittman
Mark Pittman
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; August 5, 2019
Appointed by	Donald Trump
Preceded by	John H. McBryde
Justice of the Texas Second Court of Appeals
	In office; January 6, 2017 – August 5, 2019
Appointed by	Greg Abbott
Preceded by	Lee Ann Dauphinot
Succeeded by	Mike Wallach
Judge of the 352nd Civil Court for Tarrant County
	In office; January 8, 2015 – January 6, 2017
Appointed by	Rick Perry
Preceded by	Bonnie Sudderth
Succeeded by	Josh Burgess
Personal details
Born	Mark Timothy Pittman; 1975 (age 48–49); Big Spring, Texas, U.S.
Education	Texas A&M University (BA); University of Texas at Austin (JD)

Mark Timothy Pittman (born 1975)^[1] is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and former judge of the Texas Court of Appeals. He was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Early life and education

Pittman was born in Big Spring, Texas.^[2] He received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in political science from Texas A&M University and his Juris Doctor from The University of Texas School of Law.^[3]

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Pittman clerked for Judge Eldon Brooks Mahon of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He then worked as an associate at Kelly, Hart & Hallman LLP in Fort Worth.^[4] From 2004 to 2007, Pittman was a trial attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the United States Department of Justice Civil Division. Pittman then served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Pittman later worked as a Senior Attorney at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Before becoming a judge, Pittman was an enforcement attorney with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Fort Worth.^[3]

Judicial career

State judicial service

Pittman was a judge on the State's 352nd District Court, based in Tarrant County. In 2017, he was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to be a justice of Texas's Second Court of Appeals.^[3]^[5] He served in that capacity until he was appointed a federal judge in 2019.

Federal judicial service

On January 16, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Pittman to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. On January 17, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Pittman to a seat vacated by John H. McBryde, who assumed senior status on October 9, 2018.^[6] On March 5, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[7] On April 4, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.^[8] On July 30, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 54–34 vote.^[9] On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 54–36 vote.^[10] He received his judicial commission on August 5, 2019.^[11] He was sworn into office on August 8, 2019.^[12]

Notable rulings

On November 8, 2021, Pittman ruled that United Airlines could impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its employees while only providing unpaid leave for exempted workers.^[13]

On January 6, 2022, Pittman ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review, redact, and release data submitted by COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer for authorized use of the vaccine at an unprecedented rate. The data came from a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to FDA for documents beyond what was already publicly available on FDA's website as part of the approved vaccine's Action Package. Although the pace of the scheduling order required FDA to hire an additional team of contractors and expend roughly $5 million solely to comply with this FOIA request, Pittman ordered FDA to release documents at a faster pace, including at least 55,000 pages some months and at least 80,000 pages other months.^[14]

On November 10, 2022, Pittman ruled that the Biden administration did not have the authority to forgive student loan debt through executive action through the HEROES Act.^[15]^[16]

In December 2022, Pittman ruled that Texas's law banning people from 18 to 20 years of age from carrying concealed handguns was unconstitutional in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.^[17]

In March 2024, Pittman ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency was wrong to consider historic discrimination based on race in its operations, citing Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.^[18]^[19]

In July 2024, Pittman ruled that Federal laws banning people from privately possessing alcohol stills inside their homes (26 U.S.C. § 5178(a)(1)(B)) or privately operating alcohol stills inside their homes (26 U.S.C. § 5601(6)) were unconstitutional because enacting these laws was not within the scope of Congress’ constitutionally enumerated powers.^[20]

Memberships

He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Tarrant County Bar Association, Texas Bar Foundation, and the American Judges Association. He is vice president and a founding member of the Tarrant County Federalist Society.^[5]