Background
Sullivan was born in Washington, District of Columbia
Sullivan was born in Washington, District of Columbia
In 1947 and graduated from McKinley High School in 1964.
In 1968, he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Howard University and, in 1971, a Juris Doctor Degree from the Howard University School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Sullivan was the recipient of a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship and was assigned to the Neighborhood Legal Services Program in Washington, District of Columbia, where he worked for one year. The following year, he served as a law clerk to Superior Court Judge James A. Washington, Junior., a former professor and Acting Dean of Howard University School of Law.
In 1973, Judge Sullivan joined the law firm of Houston & Gardner.
Sullivan was appointed by President Reagan to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on October 3, 1984. On June 16, 1994, Judge Sullivan was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as United States District Judge for the District of Columbia.
Sullivan presided over a number of habeas corpus petitions submitted on behalf of Guantanamo captives. Sullivan presided over Senator Ted Stevens" trial where his indictment was dismissed when a Justice Department probe found evidence of gross prosecutorial misconduct.
Sullivan is presiding over a case, Judicial Watch v.
Internal Revenue Service, where there is an ongoing investigation into the 2013 Internal Revenue Service controversy, specifically attempting to determine where the "lost" emails of former Internal Revenue Service employee Lois Lerner went, and what damage to her computer hard drive occurred, and what steps have been taken to recover the information contained in the emails and on the hard drive. Sullivan is also presiding over the case involving the matter of Hillary Clinton"s private email use while Secretary of State.
He also taught as an adjunct professor at the Howard University School of Law and has served as a member of the visiting faculty at Harvard Law School"s Trial Advocacy Workshop.