Judge Michael H. Watson
Southern Ohio U.S. District Court
Michael Harrison Watson was born in 1956 in Akron, Ohio. He earned an undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and his Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School.
He served in the United States Air Force for four years and was in the Ohio National Guard.
He spent six years at a bailiff/law clerk for the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for six years, then entered into private practice in Ohio. He was chief legal counsel of the Ohio Department of Commerce for two years, and was a deputy chief legal counsel in the Office of the Governor of Ohio for another two years, becoming chief legal counsel for another two years. He was a judge on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas eight years, and spent one year as a judge to the Tenth District Ohio Court of Appeal.
President George W. Bush nominated Watson to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He was confirmed by the Senate and received his commission in September 2004.
In the News…
A U.S. federal district court overturned an Ohio state ban that prevented transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates. The decision found that the ban, implemented in 2016, was unconstitutional.
District Judge Michael Watson noted in the ruling that before 2016, Ohio had permitted transgender people to make such changes.
The ruling was a culmination of a two-year lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and an LGBT+ advocacy group. The State of Ohio can appeal the decision, but the state’s attorney general has not commented on whether an appeal will happen.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Watson today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Judge Michael H. Watson
Southern Ohio U.S. District Court
Joseph P. Kinneary Courthouse
85 Marconi Boulevard
Columbus, OH 43215
