Richard Leon
| Richard Leon | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| Title: | Judge |
| Station: | D.C. |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | George W. Bush |
| Active: | 2/2002 - Present |
| Preceded by: | Norma Johnson |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1949 |
| Home State: | South Natick, MA |
| Bachelors: | Holy Cross '71 |
| Law School: | Suffolk Law School '74 |
| Grad. School: | Harvard '81 (Masters) |
Contents |
Early life and education
Leon graduated from Holy Cross with his Bachelor's Degree in 1971 before earning his juris doctorate at Suffolk Law School in 1974. Leon also graduated from Harvard with his Master of Laws Degree in 1981. [2]
Professional career
Judge Leon served as a law clerk for the Superior Court of Massachusetts from 1974-1975 and for Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kelleher in the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1975 to 1976. In 1976, Leon became an attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, serving until 1977 when he joined the United States Attorney office as a special assistant handling civil cases for the Southern District of New York. He then became an assistant professor law at St. John's University School of Law, serving from 1979 to 1983.
In 1983, Leon became a senior trial attorney in the Criminal-Tax Division for the United States Department of Justice. In 1987, he was assigned to be a deputy chief minority counsel for the Select 'Iran-Contra' Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, until 1988 when he became deputy assistant U.S. attorney general for the Environment & Natural Resources Division for the Department of Justice.
Judge Leon resumed private practice in the late 1990s until his appointment to the federal bench in 2002. In addition to his private practice work, Leon became Commissioner of the White House Fellows Commission from 1990 to 1993, also serving as Chief minority counsel of the 'October Surprise' Task Force for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1992 to 1993, along with serving as Special Counsel in the Whitewater investigation for the US House Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs Committee in 1994.
During this time, Leon also served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Law, as Special Counsel to the Ethics Reform Task Force for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1997, and as Commissioner of the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. [2]
Judicial career
District of Columbia
Leon was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush on September 10, 2001 to a seat vacated by Norma Holloway Johnson. Bates was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 14, 2002 and received commission on February 19, 2002. [2]
Awards and associations
Notable cases
A notable case on this page needs to be updated.
E-cigarettes
On January 15, 2010, Judge Leon ruled that e-cigarettes can remain on the market pending further investigation of the Food and Drug Administration. The judge ruled that e-cigarettes, most of which are made in China, are not drug delivery devices. The ruling will be appealed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals[3].
Michigan Casino Lawsuit
On August 19, 2009, Judge Leon dismissed a lawsuit filed by Allegan County, Michigan against the US Department of the Interior. The county sued the government agency over prohibiting the Interior Department from taking 147 acres of land to build a new $200 million casino that would be run by the Gun Lake Tribe.
The judge's dismissal allows the Indian tribe to start constructing on the casino barring any appeals made. [4]
Porteous impeachment proceedings
Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Thomas Porteous, is undergoing impeachment proceedings. Porteous sued the House Judiciary Committee to delay the proceedings planned against him, claiming that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated. The judge said in his lawsuit that the task force in charge of planning his impeachment failed to grant him immunity in giving testimony to the task force. [5] Judge Leon, who heard the temporary restraining order case, refused to delay the opening of congressional hearings. Leon counseled attorneys for Porteous that they may still file for an injunction later in the year, but that their chances for success would be a "very, very long shot". [6]
Release of Guantanamo detainees
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In his role on the DC Circuit, Leon has heard several cases having to do with detention of prisoners in Guantanamo. On November 20, 2008, he ordered five detainees released due to insufficient evidence to justify their continued captivity.[7][8]
On June 27, 2009, Leon ordered the release from Guantanamo of Abdulrahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco, who now uses the surname Janko. Janko was detained in Guantanomo in early 2002. The Bush administration and then the Obama administration have argued that Janko is an enemy combatant who should be subject to indefinite detention because at the time of his capture he was part of either the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
In what the Washington Post describes as a "brief but caustic ruling", Judge Leon disagreed with the government's assessment of Janko and ordered him released.[9]
Stagliano obscenity case
Judge Leon is the presiding judge in a trial involving obscenity charges against John Stagliano, a well known adult film producer.
The judge, on December 22, 2009, threw out a request from Stagliano's legal team claiming that the obscenity statutes were unconstitutional. Attorneys felt that obscenity charges were in violation of Lawrence v. Texas in which the Supreme Court of the United States made state sodomy laws unconstitutional[10].
See also
External links
References
- ↑ "THOMAS" Judge Leon's Confirmation, February 20, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Judge Leon's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ "Richmond Times Dispatch" Electronic cigarettes not a drug device, judge says, January 16, 2010
- ↑ "Forbes" Federal judge rejects casino suit in Mich. county, August 20, 2009
- ↑ Associated Press "Federal judge sues impeachment panel", November 13, 2009
- ↑ Times Picayune "Impeachment hearings open today for Judge Thomas Porteous", November 17, 2009
- ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Judge orders five detainees released"
- ↑ Salon, "Five detainees ordered released "forthwith" after seven years at Guantanamo", November 20, 2008
- ↑ Washington Post, "Another Detainee Debacle", June 28, 2009
- ↑ "XBiznewswire" U.S. Judge Won't Dismiss Stagliano Obscenity Case, December 23, 2009
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