Rebecca Pallmeyer
From Judgepedia
| Rebecca Pallmeyer | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | |
| Title: | Judge |
| Position: | Seat #1 |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | Bill Clinton |
| Active: | 10/22/1998 - Current |
| Preceded by: | William Hart |
| Past post: | Magistrate Judge |
| Past term: | 1991 - 1998 |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1954 |
| Home State: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Bachelors: | U. of Valparaiso, B.A., 1976 |
| Law School: | U. of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1979 |
Contents |
Rebecca R. Pallmeyer is an Article III Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She joined the Court in 1998 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton.
Early life and education
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Pallmeyer received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Valparaiso in 1976 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1979. [1]
Professional career
Pallmeyer was a law clerk for the Hon. Rosalie E. Wahl in the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1979 to 1980, before entering private practice in Chicago, Illinois until 1985. Pallmeyer was an Administrative Law Judge for the Illinois Human Rights Commission from 1986 to 1991. [1]
Judicial career
Northern District of Illinois
Pallmeyer was a federal magistrate judge for the Northern District of Illinois from 1991 to 1998. [1]
On the recommendation of Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, Pallmeyer was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by President Bill Clinton on July 31, 1998, to a seat vacated by William Hart. Pallmeyer was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 21, 1998, and received her commission on October 22, 1998. [2]
Notable cases
CTA video game ads
On January 8, 2010 Judge Pallmeyer ruled to prevent the Chicago Transit Authority from barring advertisements of video games on trains and buses. She found that the CTA's ban on "M" and "AO" rated video games violated the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and was not narrowly tailored. Pallmeyer has said that the ruling is part of a long history of what she claimed is "the CTA barring free speech on its trains and buses". [3]
George Ryan Case
Rebecca Pallmeyer was known for her role in the case involving former Illinois Governor George Ryan. Attorneys for the embattled, former Governor criticized Pallmeyer in a 37-page petition to the US Supreme Court claiming Ryan's chances of getting a fair trial were wrecked when Pallmeyer replaced two jurors with alternates after deliberations were well under way. The two jurors were removed for failing to mention of their police records on a pretrial questionnaire.
Ryan's lawyers also argued the deliberations were tainted after one of the jurors, a substitute kindergarten teacher, brought legal materials she found on the Internet into the jury room in defiance of instructions. [4]
Aaron Patterson Case
Pallmeyer earned national buzz over the case of Aaron Patterson who was freed by former Illinois Governor George Ryan after being pardoned from death row. Aaron Patterson had been charged on federal drug trafficking and gun charges.
Pallmeyer received a lot of criticism from community organizers over the treatment of Aaron Patterson in her courtroom. This criticism came from a July 20, 2007 incident when Pallmeyer ejected Patterson from her courtroom over an outburst during his own sentencing hearing. [5]
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Judge Pallmeyer Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ "THOMAS" Rebecca Pallmeyer USDC, NDIL confirmation: PN509-105
- ↑ "ABC News" Chicago Transit Barred From Banning Video Game Ads, January 8, 2010
- ↑ Chicago CBS "U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Ryan's Appeal", May 27, 2008
- ↑ ABC7Chicago "Patterson ejected from courtroom", July 20, 2007
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: William Hart | Northern District of Illinois 1998–Current Seat #1 | Succeeded by: NA |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
