Nina Gershon
Nina Gershon | |
---|---|
Senior Judgeof theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | |
Assumed office October 16, 2008 | |
Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | |
In office August 1, 1996 – October 16, 2008 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Leonard D. Wexler |
Succeeded by | William F. Kuntz II |
Magistrate Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
In office 1976–1996 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Chicago,Illinois,U.S. | October 16, 1940
Education | Cornell University(BA) Yale Law School(LLB) |
Nina Gershon(born October 16, 1940)[1]is aUnited States district judgeof theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.She was appointed by PresidentBill Clintonin 1996 at the recommendation ofSenator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.[2]She assumedsenior statuson October 16, 2008.
Education and career
[edit]Born inChicago,Illinois,Gershon received aBachelor of Artsdegree in English with honors fromCornell Universityin 1962 and aBachelor of LawsfromYale Law Schoolin 1965.[3]In 1965 and 1966, she was aFulbright Scholarat theLondon School of Economics' Hampstead Clinic.[citation needed]She was a Staff attorney of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Mental Health Information Service from 1966 to 1968, and was then assistant corporation counsel with the Appeals Division of the New York City Law Department from 1968 to 1969, and from 1970 to 1972.[3]She was a professor of law and political science at theUniversity of California, San Diegofrom 1969 to 1970.[3]She was an attorney for the New York City Law Department from 1972 to 1976, serving as Chief of the Federal Appeals Division from 1972 to 1975 and Chief of the Consumer Protection Division from 1975 to 1976.[3]
Federal judicial service
[edit]In 1976, Gershon became aUnited States magistrate judgeof theSouthern District of New York,an office she would hold for twenty years. She was also an adjunct professor of law at theCardozo School of Lawfrom 1986 to 1988. On October 18, 1995, Gershon was nominated by PresidentBill Clintonto a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New Yorkvacated byLeonard D. Wexler.She was confirmed by theUnited States Senateon July 30, 1996, and received her commission on August 1, 1996. She assumedsenior statuson October 16, 2008.[3]
Notable cases
[edit]- In the 1970s, working as a lawyer for New York City, Gershon won a court ruling that rejected the building of Grand Central Tower on top ofGrand Central Terminal,which would have ruined the historical site. The ruling was later upheld inPenn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City.[4]
- In 1999, Gershon ruled that New York City mayorRudolph Giulianicould not cut the Brooklyn Museum of Art's funding after it mounted an exhibit entitled"Sensation".Giuliani described the works in the exhibit as "sick" and "disgusting."[5]
- In 2000, Gershon ruled that New York's century-old kosher food laws violated theFirst Amendment.[6]
- In the spring of 2006, Gershon presided over the trial ofShahawar Matin Siraj,aPakistaniimmigrant who was accused of plotting to blow up New York'sHerald Squaresubway station. After a four-week trial, a jury found Siraj guilty of four crimes, including plotting to bomb a public transportation system.[7]On January 8, 2007, Gershon sentenced Siraj to 30 years imprisonment for his role in the plot.[8]
- On December 11, 2009, Judge Gershon issued apreliminary injunctionagainst the United States Government preventing the implementation of a law barring theAssociation of Community Organizations for Reform Now(ACORN) from receiving federal funds. Judge Gerson found that the law, passed as part of anAppropriation bill,was an unconstitutionalBill of attainder.[9]TheSecond Circuit Court of Appealsoverturned this decision on August 13, 2010.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Second Session, on Confirmation of Appointees to the Federal Judiciary, February 28; March 27; May 2; June 25; July 31; September 24, 1996.U.S. Government Printing Office. 1997. p. 520.
- ^142 Cong. Rec. S 9312
- ^abcde"Gershon, Nina - Federal Judicial Center".www.fjc.gov.
- ^New York Times,October 4, 1999, "In Museum Case, Judge Has Eye for Law, if Not Art".
- ^Brooklyn Inst. of Arts & Scis v. City of New York & Rudolph W. Giuliani,64 F. Supp. 2d 184, 205 (E.D.N.Y. 1999)
- ^Fried, Robert D. Mcfadden With Joseph P. (4 August 2000)."Judge Voids Law Certifying Kosher Food".The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
- ^New York Times, May 25, 2006.
- ^"Man jailed over NY bombing plot".BBC News.January 8, 2007.
- ^"ccrjustice.org"(PDF).
- ^"Federal appeals court in NY rules against ACORN".Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon August 17, 2010.Retrieved2010-08-13.
External links
[edit]- Nina Gershonat theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.
- 1940 births
- Living people
- Cornell University alumni
- Yale Law School alumni
- 20th-century American Jews
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
- United States magistrate judges
- Alumni of the London School of Economics
- Lawyers from Chicago
- 20th-century American judges
- 21st-century American judges
- 20th-century American women judges
- 21st-century American women judges
- 21st-century American Jews
- Fulbright alumni