Background
Batts, Deborah A. was born on April 13, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of James A., Junior and Ruth Violet (Silas) Batts.
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Deborah A. Batts
Deborah A. Batts, American Judge. Trustee Spence School, 1987-1995. Member Second Circuit Federal Bar Council, Association Bar. City New York, Lesbian and Gay Law Association Greater New York, Metropolitan Black Bar Association.
Education
Bachelor, Radcliffe College, 1969;
Juris Doctor, Harvard University, 1972.
Career
In June 1994, Deborah Batts was sworn in as a Federal District Judge for Manhattan, becoming the nation"s first openly LGBT, African-American federal judge. She took senior status on her 65th birthday, April 13, 2012. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Batts received an Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College in 1969, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1972.
She subsequently clerked from Judge Lawrence Pierce on the Federal Court on which she now serves as a Judge.
She was an Assistant United States. Attorney from 1979 to 1984. In 1984 she became an Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University.
She was a Special associate counsel to the Department of Investigation for New York City from 1990 to 1991. On January 27, 1994, following the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President Bill Clinton appointed Batts to a seat on the Southern District left open in 1989 when Judge Richard Owen took senior status.
Batts was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 1994, and received her commission on May 9, 1994.
She continues to serve as an adjunct at Fordham. 1999 - criminal trial of Cheng Yong Wang and Xingqi Fu, charged in scheme to arrange transplant of organs taken from executed Chinese prisoners. 2001-2004 - criminal trial of Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, charged with stabbing jail guard while awaiting separate trial in 1998 United States embassy bombings conspiracy.
2006 - civil suit against former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman alleging that she misled people near World Trade Center site about risks of toxic air pollution after September 11, 2001 attacks.
2008 - commercial litigation between Exxon Mobil and PdVSA with regards to Venezuela"s expropriation of Exxon assets in the Orinoco Basin of Venezuela. 2009 - litigation regarding the publication of an unauthorized "sequel" to "Catcher in the Rye".
Batts ordered an injunction to stop the book to going to press 2011 - Overruled by the 2nd Circuit in the case of Skaftorous v United States where her decision that United States District Courts have the authority to decide issues of foreign (in this case, Greek) law was rejected.
According to the 2nd Circuit opinion, "lieutenant is not the business of our courts to assume responsibility for supervising the integrity of the judicial system of another sovereign nation." In addition, "United States Courts are strongly discouraged from reviewing whether the demanding country has complied with its own laws." 667 F.3d 144 (2d Cir 2011).
Achievements
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Deborah A. Batts has been listed as a reputable Judge by Marquis Who's Who.
Membership
Trustee Spence School, 1987-1995. Member Second Circuit Federal Bar Council, Association Bar. City New York, Lesbian and Gay Law Association Greater New York, Metropolitan Black Bar Association.
Connections
2 children.
- Father:
- James A. Batts
- Mother:
- Ruth Violet (Silas) Batts
