Gladys Kessler
| Gladys Kessler | |
 | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| Title: | Senior Judge |
| Station: | D.C. |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | Bill Clinton |
| Active: | 6/16/1994 - 1/22/2007 |
| Senior: | 1/22/2007 - Present |
| Preceded by: | Michael Boudin |
| Succeeded by: | Amy B. Jackson |
| Past post: | Superior Court of the District of Columbia |
| Past term: | 1977-1994 |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1938 |
| Home State: | New York, NY |
| Bachelors: | Cornell '59 |
| Law School: | Harvard Law '62 |
Contents |
Gladys Kessler is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She joined the court in 1994 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. Kessler assumed senior status on January 22, 2007.
Early life and education
Born in New York, New York, Kessler graduated from Cornell University with her Bachelor's degree in 1959 and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1962.[1]
Legal career
Kessler began her career as an Appellate Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board from 1962 to 1964. Kessler was a Legislative Assistant, first for U.S. Senator Harrison A. Williams from 1964 to 1966, and then from 1966 to 1968, for U.S. Congressman Jonathan Bingham. Kessler served as the Special Assistant to the Director for New York's Board of Education's Office of Staff Relations from 1968 to 1969. Kessler was a private practice attorney in Washington, D.C. from 1969 to 1977. Thereafter, Kessler was appointed to serve as Associate Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1977 to 1994, serving as Presiding Judge of the Family Division from 1981 to 1985.[1]
Federal judicial career
Kessler was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President Bill Clinton on March 22, 1994 to a seat vacated by Michael Boudin. Kessler was Confirmed by the Senate on June 15, 1994 on a majority vote and received commission on June 16, 1994. [2] She assumed senior status on January 22, 2007.[1]
Notable cases
The notable case section on this page needs to be reformatted.
Defense Department contempt
Judge Kessler ruled on December 10, 2009, that the United States Department of Defense was in contempt of court for failing to videotape the testimony of a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay who is challenging his detention.
This comes after the federal government failed to videotape Mohammed Al-Adahi from Cuba via a secure video link to the courtroom in Washington, DC on June 23, 2009. The judge felt that the testimony should be videotaped because: "the public would have an opportunity to observe as much of the testimony as possible," said the judge.[3]
Yemeni prisoner release
On August 21, 2009, Judge Kessler ordered the release of Mohammed al-Adahi of Yemen who had been held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. The judge ordered the release of the Yemeni man due to the lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to prove that the man had any allegiances to Al-Qaeda. Allegations of a connection arose after al-Adahi attended a wedding at Osama Bin Laden's house. [4]
See also
- News: Another federal judge upholds health care law, March 2, 2011
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Judge Gladys Kessler Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ "THOMAS" Gladys Kessler USDC, DC confirmation: PN1223-103
- ↑ "Washington Post" Defense Dept. faulted for not taping detainee, December 11, 2009
- ↑ "Washington Post" Judge Orders Release of Yemeni Prisoner From Guantanamo, August 21, 2009
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Michael Boudin |
District Court for D.C. 1994–2007 |
Succeeded by: Amy B. Jackson |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 |
Adams • Ambrose • Barnes • Brinkema • Bucklew • Chasanow • Coffman • Daughtrey • Ferguson • Ginsburg • Hagen • Jackson • Lancaster • Leval • Lindsay • Messitte • Michael • Piersol • Saris • Schwartz • Seybert • Shanahan • Shaw • Stearns • Trager • Vazquez • Wilken • Wilson | ||
| 1994 |
Baer • Barkett • Batts • Beaty • Benavides • Bennett • Berrigan • Biery • Block • Borman • Breyer • Briones • Bryson • Bucklo • Burgess • Burrage • Cabranes • Calabresi • Carr • Casellas • Castillo • Chatigny • Chin • Cindrich • Coar • Collins • Cooper • Cote • Currie • Davis • Dominguez • Downes • Duval • Friedman • Furgeson • Garcia • Gertner • Gettleman • Gillmor • Gilmore • Gleeson • Haggerty • Hamilton • Hannah • Hawkins • Henry • Holmes • Hood • Hull • Hurley • Jack • Jones • Jones • Kaplan • Katz • Kern • Kessler • Koeltl • Lisi • Manning • McKee • McLaughlin • Melancon • Miles-LaGrange • Moore • Motz • Murphy • O'Malley • O'Meara • Oliver • Paez • B. Parker • F. Parker • R. Parker • Perry • Ponsor • Pooler • Porteous • Rendell • Riley • Robertson • Rogers • Ross • Russell • Sands • Sarokin • Scheindlin • Silver • Squatrito • Stewart • Sullivan • Tatel • Thompson • Timlin • Urbina • Vanaskie • Vance • Walls • Wells • Williams | ||
| 1995 |
Arterton • Atlas • Black • Blake • Briscoe • Tena Campbell • Todd Campbell • Chesney • Cole • Collier • Daniel • Davis • Dennis • Dlott • Donald • Duffy • Economus • Evans • Fallon • Folsom • Gaughan • Goodwin • Heartfield • Hunt • Illston • Jones • King • Kornmann • Lawson • Lenard • Lucero • Lynch • McKinley • Moody • Moore • Moskowitz • Murphy • Murtha • Nugent • O'Toole • Orlofsky • Pogue • Sessions • C. Smith • O. Smith • Stein • Thornburg • Tunheim • Wallach • Wardlaw • Webber • Whaley • Winmill • Wood | ||
| 1996 |
Broadwater • Clevert • Fenner • Gershon • Gottschall • Greenaway • Hinkle • Jones • Kahn • Laughrey • Lemmon • Marten • Miller • Molloy • Montgomery • Pregerson • Rakoff • Sargus • Tashima • Thomas • Zapata | ||
| 1997 |
Adelman • Bataillon • Breyer • Caputo • Casey • Chambers • Clay • Damrell • Droney • Friedman • Gajarsa • Garland • Gilman • Gold • Gwin • Hall • Hayden • Hull • Ishii • Jenkins • Kauffman • Kennedy • Kimball • Kollar-Kotelly • Lazzara • Marbley • Marcus • Middlebrooks • Miller • Moon • Pratt • Rendell • Sippel • Siragusa • Snyder • Thrash | ||
| 1998 |
Aiken • Barbier • Barzilay • Berman • Buttram • Carter • Collins • Dawson • Dimitrouleas • Fletcher • Fogel • Frank • Graber • Hellerstein • Herndon • James • Johnson • Kane • Kelly • G. King • R. King • Lasnik • Lee • Lemelle • Lindsay • Lipez • Manella • Matz • McCuskey • McKeown • McMahon • Mickle • Mollway • Mordue • Moreno • Morrow • Munley • Murphy • Pallmeyer • Pauley • Polster • Pooler • Rawlinson • Ridgway • R. Roberts • V. Roberts • Sack • Scott • Seitz • Seymour • Shea • Silverman • Sleet • Sotomayor • Steeh • Story • Straub • Tagle • Tarnow • Trauger • Traxler • Tyson • Wardlaw • Whelan • Young | ||
| 1999 |
Alsup • Barry • Brown • Buchwald • Cooper • Eaton • Ellison • Feess • Fisher • Gould • Guzman • Haynes • Hibbler • Hochberg • Hurd • Huvelle • Jordan • Katzmann • Kennelly • Linn • Lorenz • Lynn • Marrero • Murguia • Pannell • Pechman • Pepper • Phillips • Schreier • Stewart • Underhill • Ward • Williams • Wilson | ||
| 2000 |
Ambro • Antoon • Battani • Berzon • Bolton • Brady • Bye • Cavanaugh • Daniels • Darrah • Dawson • Dyk • Fuentes • Garaufis • Garcia-Gregory • Gregory • Hamilton • Huck • Hunt • Lawson • Lefkow • Lynch • Martin • McLaughlin • Moody • Murguia • Paez • Pisano • Presnell • Rawlinson • Reagan • Schiller • Singal • Steele • Surrick • Swain • Tallman • Teilborg • Tucker • Whittemore | ||
