Wednesday: Judgepedia's "Federal Courts, Empty Benches" Update →Sharon Blackburn
| Sharon Blackburn | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama | |
| Title: | Chief Judge |
| Position: | Seat #8T |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | George H.W. Bush |
| Active: | 5/30/1991 - Present |
| Chief: | 2006 - Present |
| Preceded by: | 104 Stat. 5089 |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1950 |
| Home State: | Pensacola, FL |
| Bachelors: | U. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, B.A., 1973 |
| Law School: | Samford U. Law, J.D., 1977 |
Contents |
Early life and education
Born in Pensacola, Florida, Blackburn graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with her Bachelor's degree in 1973 and later from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law with her Juris Doctor degree in 1977. [1]
Professional career
Blackburn was a law clerk for former Alabama Supreme Court Justice, J. O. Sentell, in 1977 and then clerked for the Honorable Robert Varner in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama until 1978. In 1979, Blackburn was a Staff Attorney for Birmingham Legal Services. Blackburn was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney's Office from 1979 to 1991; serving in the Civil division from 1979 to 1985, and then in the Criminal Prosecutions division until 1991. [1]
Judicial career
Northern District of Alabama
Blackburn was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by President George H.W. Bush on April 11, 1991 to a new judgeship created by 104 Stat. 5089, which was approved by Congress. Blackburn was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 1991 on a Senate vote and received commission on May 30, 1991.[2] Blackburn has been Chief Judge of the Court since 2006.[1]
Notable cases
The notable case section on this page needs to be reformatted.
Federal injunction against Alabama immigration law
On September 28, 2011, Judge Blackburn ruled that parts of a state immigration law passed in June can be enforced by the state despite the federal injunction filed against it. The federal injunction was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice arguing that it violated the Constitution in overstepping the federal government's authority to determine immigration policy. The sections approved of by Judge Blackburn, include: the requiring schools to ascertain the immigration status of all enrolling children and their parent, the invalidation of all contracts with illegal immigrants, the requiring of all immigrants to carry registration documents on their person, and allowing police officers to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant during routine traffic stops. Judge Blackburn did, however, support the federal injunction on certain aspects of the law. The parts of it she blocked included the sections that would make it a crime to transport or harbor illegal aliens and a crime for illegal aliens to solicit and perform work. The sections making it possible to file discrimination lawsuits against companies that hire illegal immigrants and forbidding employers from claiming illegal immigrants' wages as tax deductions were also blocked from going into effect.
On Friday, October 7, 2011, the Justice Department filed an appeal with the 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals asking it to overturn Judge Blackburn's decision and, instead, block the law completely.[3][4] The circuit court ruled on the injunction on Friday, October 14, and blocked portions of the law additional to those blocked by Judge Blackburn.[5] The story can be found here.
Comparing the two rulings
| Parts of the law blocked by Blackburn's ruling | Parts of the law blocked by the 11th Circuit decision |
|---|---|
| Making it a crime to transport or harbor illegal aliens. | Requiring state officials to check the immigration status of students in public schools. |
| Making it a crime for illegal aliens to solicit and perform work. | Making it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to carry registration. |
| Making it possible to file discrimination lawsuits against companies that hire illegal immigrants. | |
| Making it illegal for employers to claim illegal immigrants' wages as tax deductions. |
See also
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
- Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court rules on injunction of Alabama immigration law
External link
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Judge Sharon Blackburn Federal Judicial Center Biography
- ↑ "THOMAS" Sharon Blackburn USDC, NDAL confirmation: PN261-102
- ↑ Politico.com "Judge OKs key parts of Alabama immigration law," September 28, 2011
- ↑ International Business Times "Alabama Immigration Law Challenged Again: U.S. Government Seeks Injunction," October 9, 2011
- ↑ CNN "Parts of Alabama immigration law blocked by federal appeals court," October 14, 2011
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: NA-New Seat |
Northern District of Alabama 1991–Current Seat #8T |
Succeeded by: NA |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |
Barksdale • Bonner • Buckwalter • Cyr • Fernandez • Garbis • Harmon • Lee • Lindberg • Lodge • Nelson • Nottingham • Plager • Rosen • Rymer • Smith • Spatt • Thomas • VanBebber • J. Walker • V. Walker • Wiener • Wright | ||
| 1990 |
Alito • Amon • Birch • Boudin • Cleland • Clevenger • Dubina • Hamilton • Henderson • Hood • Hornby • Jones • Kent • Levi • Loken • Lourie • Martin • McBryde • McClure • McKenna • McLaughlin • McNamee • Moreno • Mullen • Nelson • Nickerson • Niemeyer • Norton • Parker • Pickering • Rader • Rainey • Randolph • Shanstrom • Shedd • Shubb • Singleton • Skretny • Souter • Sparr • Stahl • Stamp • Suhrheinrich • Taylor • Vollmer • Ware • Wilson | ||
| 1991 |
Albritton • Andersen • Armstrong • Arnold • Bartle • Bassler • Batchelder • Beckwith • Belot • Benson • Blackburn • Bramlette • Brody • Brody • Burrell • Carnes • Caulfield • Cauthron • Clement • Collier • Conway • Cooper • Dalzell • DeMent • DeMoss • Doherty • Echols • Edmunds • Faber • Freeh • Gaitan • Garza • Graham • Haik • Hamilton • Hansen • Hendren • Herlong • Highsmith • Hogan • Huff • Hurley • Irenas • Johnson • Joyner • Kelly • Kleinfeld • Legg • Leonard • Lewis • Longstaff • Lungstrum • Luttig • Matia • McCalla • McDade • McKeague • McKelvie • Means • Merryday • Moore • Morgan • Nielsen • Nimmons • Osteen Sr. • Padova • Payne • Reinhard • Robinson • Robreno • Roll • Roth • Schlesinger • Scullin • Siler • Solis • Sotomayor • Sparks • Stohr • Thomas • Traxler • Trimble • Ungaro • Van Sickle • Wanger • Werlein • Whyte • Yohn | ||
| 1992 |
Baird • Barbadoro • Black • Boudin • Carnes • Covello • DiClerico • Gilbert • Gonzalez • Gorton • Hansen • Heyburn • Jackson • Jacobs • Keeley • Kendall • Kopf • Kyle • Lewis • McAuliffe • McLaughlin • Melloy • Preska • Quist • Randa • Rosenthal • Rovner • Schall • Sedwick • Simandle • Stahl • Vratil • Williams | ||
