George J. Hazel

In April 2019, Hazel ruled against Maryland plaintiffs in a case challenging the Commerce Department's intent to include a question about citizenship on census forms. With two other judges, he had found that the Trump administration had violated administrative law with its intent to add the question to 2020 United States Census. However in formulating that decision, Hazel did not find sufficient evidence to support claims that the government had intentionally moved to include the question specifically in order to discriminate against immigrants and non-white minorities by its inclusion, nor did he agree that evidence before the court proved that it was an element of a conspiracy violate the constitutional rights of noncitizens. The panel's decision was appealed, but plaintiffs had subsequently uncovered more direct evidence of the existence of such a strategy found on a computer belonging to and in the files of Thomas Hofeller, a recently deceased Republican consultant. Given that, they asked Hazel to reconsider his earlier ruling. On June 18, Hazel acknowledged that the request to reopen the issue had merit, saying their evidence "raises a substantial issue" in the case, that inclusion would favor Republicans and whites over minorities. This case is concurrent to Department of Commerce v. New York.

On September 25, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Hazel to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to the seat vacated by Judge Alexander Williams, Jr., who took senior status on May 8, 2013. On January 16, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee. On April 29, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Hazel's nomination. On Thursday May 1, 2014, the Senate voted 55–42 to invoke cloture on Hazel's nomination. Later that same day, the Senate voted 95–0 to confirm Hazel to the seat. He received his judicial commission on May 2, 2014. Upon his swearing in, Hazel was told he was the youngest United States district judge.

Born in New York City, Hazel received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude, in 1996, from Morehouse College, a historically black men's college in Atlanta, Georgia. He received a Juris Doctor in 1999 from Georgetown University Law Center. He began his legal career as an associate at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, in Washington, D.C., from 1999 to 2004. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, from 2005 to 2008 and in the District of Maryland, from 2008 to 2010. From 2011 until his confirmation as a federal judge in 2014, he served as Chief Deputy State's Attorney for Baltimore, Maryland.

George Jarrod Hazel (born March 19, 1975) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and former Chief Deputy State's Attorney for Baltimore, Maryland.