---
alias:
- Christine Cook Nettesheim
- Christine Miller
- Judge Christine Miller
- Judge Nettesheim
born: 1944
category: Law Enforcement & Legal
created: 2026-09-22
location: Oakland, California
summary: Judge of the Court of Federal Claims who, as hearing officer on the Senate's
  1995 referral of INSLAW's claims, ruled on July 31, 1997, that every version of
  PROMIS was in the public domain and INSLAW was owed nothing, ending the affair in
  the courts.
tags:
- Person
- ChristineMiller
- PROMIS
- INSLAW
- CourtOfFederalClaims
- Judiciary
updated: 2026-09-22
---

Christine Odell Cook Miller (born 1944, Oakland, [California](/places/california/)), who served under the name Christine Cook Nettesheim until September 10, 1994, is a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. She took a degree at [Stanford University](/organizations/stanford-university/) in 1966 and a law degree at the University of Utah in 1969, clerked for Judge David T. Lewis of the Tenth Circuit, was a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the [Department of Justice](/organizations/department-of-justice/) from 1970 to 1972 and at the Federal Trade Commission from 1972 to 1974, practiced in Washington, and served as special counsel to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and assistant general counsel of the U.S. Railway Association. [Ronald Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) nominated her to the Claims Court on November 23, 1982; the Senate confirmed her on December 10. [Bill Clinton](/people/bill-clinton/) gave her a recess appointment to the same seat on December 10, 1997, and the Senate confirmed her again on February 3, 1998. She took senior status on February 4, 2013, and retired on March 1.[^1]

### The INSLAW Referral

In May 1995 the Senate referred [INSLAW](/organizations/inslaw/)'s remaining claims against the government to the Court of Federal Claims for an advisory opinion, after the House Committee on the Judiciary's 1992 report had endorsed Bankruptcy Judge [George Bason](/people/george-francis-bason-jr/)'s finding that the department took [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) by fraud and the special counsel [Nicholas J. Bua](/people/nicholas-j-bua/) had rejected it in 1993. As hearing officer, Miller ruled on July 31, 1997, that all versions of PROMIS were in the public domain and that the government had always been entitled to use the software as it wished, so that INSLAW was owed no compensation. A three-judge review panel of the court upheld the ruling in August 1998. The Justice Department announced the decision in a press release.[^2]

[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. Court of Federal Claims: Miller, Christine Odell Cook," Biographical Directory. https://www.fjc.gov/history/courts/u.s.-court-federal-claims-miller-christine-odell-cook
[^2]: See [[INSLAW]] and [[PROMIS Software Scandal]] and the Department of Justice press release of August 1997 cited there; the opinion of July 31, 1997, was not examined.