Ann Williams | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | |
In office June 5, 2017 –January 16, 2018 | |
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | |
In office November 15,1999 –June 5,2017 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Walter J. Cummings Jr. |
Succeeded by | Amy St. Eve |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | |
In office April 4,1985 –November 15,1999 | |
Appointed by | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Succeeded by | Joan Lefkow |
Personal details | |
Born | Detroit,Michigan,U.S. | August 16,1949
Political party | Independent |
Education | Wayne State University (BS) University of Michigan (MA) University of Notre Dame (JD) |
Ann Claire Williams (born August 16,1949) is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is currently of counsel at Jones Day. [1]
Williams was born in Detroit,Michigan,to Dorothy and Joshua Williams,who were both public school teachers. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University in elementary education and a Master of Arts in guidance and counseling from the University of Michigan. Williams taught in Detroit Public Schools students before attending law school. She received her Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School. [2]
After law school,Williams worked as a law clerk for Judge Robert A. Sprecher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was one of the first two female African-American law clerks to work at that court. She then worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago for nine years,trying major felony cases and appearing before the Seventh Circuit. She was the first woman of color to serve as supervisor in that office and was promoted to deputy chief and chief of the criminal division. She became the first chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force in 1983,responsible for organizing federal investigation and prosecution activities for a five-state region. In 1979,Williams began serving as an adjunct professor and lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law and at John Marshall Law School. [2] Later,as a judge,she continued teaching trial advocacy at Chicago area law schools and Harvard Law School. She has taught in more than 150 trial advocacy and deposition programs with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) in the United States and Europe.[ citation needed ]
Williams was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 until 1999. An Independent,President Ronald Reagan nominated her on March 13,1985,to a newly created seat on the court,and she was confirmed by the Senate on April 3,1985. [3] She received her commission on April 4,1985. Her confirmation made her the first woman judge of color appointed to serve on a district court in the three-state Seventh Circuit. Her service terminated on November 17,1999,due to elevation to the court of appeals. [2]
Still an Independent,on August 5,1999,President Bill Clinton nominated Williams to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit caused by the death of Judge Walter J. Cummings Jr.. [4] Williams was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on November 10,1999,making her the first judge of color on the Seventh Circuit and the third woman of color to serve on any United States Court of Appeals. She received her commission on November 15,1999. [2] She assumed senior status on June 5,2017,and retired on January 16,2018. [2]
In 2007,Williams dissented when the circuit held that failing to report to jail is itself a violent felony. [5] Williams was mentioned by some media outlets as a possible choice for nomination to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice David Souter in 2009 [6] and to replace Justice John Paul Stevens in 2010. [7]
Williams was awarded the 2008 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award by the American Bar Association. [8] In 2010,Williams became a recipient of the 28th Annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award. It is awarded by the American Judicature Society to U.S. federal judges "whose careers have been exemplary,measured by their significant contributions to the administration of justice,the advancement of the rule of law,and the improvement of society as a whole." [9]
In an article in the Chicago Tribune on December 11,1999,Williams declined to say whether she is a Republican or a Democrat,instead calling herself politically independent:"I've written on thousands of cases across the board,and I think it would be hard to type me," she said. "I don't think there is a type. I am not in Congress. We don't legislate in the courts." [10] However,she also stated that she won't forget her roots or let her judicial robe "get in the way of my humanity". [10]
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:
Diane Schwerm Sykes is an American jurist and lawyer who serves as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1999 to 2004.
Deborah Louise Cook is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit,based in Akron,Ohio. She served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1995 to 2003.
Consuelo María Callahan is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
University of Illinois Chicago School of Law is the law school of the University of Illinois Chicago,a public research university in Chicago,Illinois. Founded in 1899,it became affiliated with the university in 2019. The school offers programs for both part-time and full-time students,with both day and night classes available,and offers January enrollment.
Steven Michael Colloton is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit since 2003. He became chief judge in March 2024.
Diane Pamela Wood is an American attorney who serves as the director of the American Law Institute and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. She previously served as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Amy Joan St. Eve is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Nancy Louise Moritz is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and former justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Beth Robinson is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any federal court of appeals. Robinson served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2011 to 2021.
Cheryl Ann Krause is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Pamela Ann Harris is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench,she was an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School,and visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.
Wendy Leigh Williams Berger is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She previously served as a Florida state District Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal.
Julius Ness "Jay" Richardson is an American judge and lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina.
Rachel Peter Kovner is an American lawyer from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Allison Blair Jones Rushing is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since March 2019.
Tiffany Patrice Cunningham is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Candace Rae Jackson-Akiwumi is an American attorney who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since July 2021. She was previously a staff attorney at the federal defender program in the Northern District of Illinois from 2010 to 2020 and a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in Washington,D.C.,from 2020 to 2021.
Myrna Pérez is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She was previously the director of voting rights at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Doris Lenea Pryor is an American lawyer who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 2022. She served as a United States magistrate judge for the Southern District of Indiana from 2018 to 2022.