The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties:the counties of New York (Manhattan) and Bronx,and the counties of Westchester,Putnam,Rockland,Orange,Dutchess,and Sullivan. Established by the Judiciary Act of 1789,the office represents the United States government in criminal and civil cases across the country. The SDNY handles a broad array of cases,including but not limited to those involving white collar crime,domestic terrorism,cybercrime,public corruption,organized crime,and civil rights disputes.
Dora Lizette Irizarry is a senior United States District Court Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Loretta A. Preska is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Born in Albany,Preska received law degrees from Fordham University School of Law and New York University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City from 1973 to 1992 at the law firms of Cahill Gordon &Reindel and Hertzog,Calamari &Gleason. President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the district bench in 1992. She served as chief judge of the court for a seven-year term from 2009 to 2016,and took senior status in 2017. President George W. Bush nominated Preska to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008,but the Senate did not act on the nomination.
Laura Anne Taylor Swain is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Valerie Elaine Caproni is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Robert Fuller is an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who has worked in counter-terrorism. He has questioned suspected terrorists,been a handler of informants in the U.S.,and testified in both federal court and Guantanamo military commission trials.
Karen LeCraft Henderson is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 1990 as a U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She previously was a U.S. district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina from 1986 to 1990.
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.
Amul Roger Thapar is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He previously served as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2008 to 2017 and as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2006 to 2008. Thapar was President Donald Trump's first Court of Appeals appointment and Trump's second judicial appointment after Justice Neil Gorsuch. Thapar was discussed as a candidate for the Supreme Court of the United States.
On May 20,2009,US law enforcement arrested four men in connection with a fake plot concocted by a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant to shoot down military airplanes flying out of an Air National Guard base in Newburgh,New York,and blow up two synagogues in the Riverdale community of the Bronx using weapons supplied by the FBI. The group was led by Shahed Hussain,a Pakistani criminal who was working for the FBI to avoid deportation for having defrauded the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Hussain has never been charged in the United States with any terrorism related offenses and was paid nearly US$100,000 by the FBI for his work on this plot.
Cornelia Thayer Livingston Pillard,known professionally as Nina Pillard,is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2013 as a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before becoming a judge,Pillard was a law professor at Georgetown University.
Donald Trump,President of the United States from 2017 to 2021,entered office with a significant number of judicial vacancies,including a Supreme Court vacancy due to the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. During the first eight months of his presidency,he nominated approximately 50 judges,a significantly higher number than any other recent president had made by that point in his presidency. By June 24,2020,200 of his Article III nominees had been confirmed by the United States Senate. According to multiple media outlets,Trump significantly impacted the composition of the Supreme Court and lower courts during his tenure.
Justin Reed Walker is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky from 2019 to 2020.
Eunice Cheryl Lee is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Born in West Germany,she attended Ohio State University and Yale Law School. In 2021,she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the Second Circuit after being nominated by President Joe Biden.
Karen McGlashan Williams is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and a former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Bridget Meehan Brennan is an American lawyer from Ohio who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. She served as acting United States attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 2021 to 2022.
David Augustin Ruiz is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He served as a United States magistrate judge of the same court from 2016 to 2022.
Jessica Gloria Lynn Clarke is an American lawyer from New York who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
President Joe Biden began his presidency with fewer vacancies to fill than his predecessor. He pledged to nominate people with diverse backgrounds and professional experience;further he pledged to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States.
