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Debra Livingston
2007 - Present
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Debra Ann Livingston is the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. She joined the court in 2007 after being nominated by President George W. Bush (R) and became chief judge in 2020.[1]
Education
Livingston received her bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1980, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984, graduating magna cum laude from both institutions.[1]
Professional career
- 1994-2006: Faculty, Columbia Law School
- 2005-2006: Vice dean, Columbia Law School
- 1992-1992: Associate professor, University of Michigan Law School
- 1991-1992: Private practice, New York
- 1986-1991: Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York
- 1985-1986: Private practice, New York
- 1984-1985: Law clerk, Hon. J. Edward Lumbard, United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit[1]
Selected publications
Livingston is a co-author of Comprehensive Criminal Procedure, a casebook now in its third edition which is published by Wolters Kluwer.[2]
Judicial career
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Debra Ann Livingston |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 315 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: June 28, 2006
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| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: April 11, 2007
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: May 3, 2007
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| Confirmed: May 9, 2007
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| Vote: 91-0
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 Returned: December 9, 2006
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Livingston was first nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit by President George W. Bush (R) on June 28, 2006, to a seat vacated by Judge John Walker as Walker assumed senior status. Under provisions of Rule XXXI, paragraph 6, of the standing rules of the U.S. Senate, Livingston's nomination was returned to the president on December 9, 2006. President Bush resubmitted the nomination on January 9, 2007. The American Bar Association rated Livingston Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[3] Hearings on Livingston's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on April 11, 2007, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on May 3, 2007. Livingston was confirmed by a 91-0 vote of the U.S. Senate on May 9, 2007, and she received her commission on May 17, 2007. She became chief judge of the court in 2020.[1][4][5]
Noteworthy cases
SCOTUS vacates 2nd Circuit over N.Y. business law (2017)
On March 29, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman. The case came on appeal from a judgment of a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Judge Debra Livingston delivered the opinion of the panel. Section 518 of New York's general business law permitted merchants to offer a discount to those customers paying in cash, but the law prohibited merchants from charging a surcharge on those who choose to pay with a credit card. In 2013, ten businesses filed a lawsuit in a federal district court alleging that Section 518 violated the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment and was void for vagueness under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In October of 2013, the district court issued an opinion in which they granted the businesses' motion for a preliminary injunction and denied New York's motion to dismiss. Judge Livingston, writing for the panel, held that the plaintiffs' First Amendment challenge was baseless as the law regulated conduct, not speech. Further, because the law was not impermissibly vague in all of the law's applications, the panel rejected the plaintiffs' due process challenges.
In an opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the circuit panel's decision, holding that the law was an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The chief justice wrote,[6]
| “ |
The Court of Appeals concluded that §518 posed no First Amendment problem because the law regulated conduct,not speech. ... But §518 is not like a typical price regulation. ... The law tells merchants nothing about the amount they are allowed to collect from a cash or credit card payer. Sellers are free to charge $10 for cash and $9.70, $10, $10.30, or any other amount for credit. What the law does regulate is how sellers may communicate their prices. A merchant who wants to charge $10 for cash and $10.30 for credit may not convey that price any way he pleases. He is not free to say '$10,with a 3% credit card surcharge' or '$10, plus $0.30 for credit' because both of those displays identify a single sticker price—$10—that is less than the amount credit card users will be charged. Instead, if the merchant wishes to post a single sticker price, he must display $10.30 as his sticker price. Accordingly, while we agree with the Court of Appeals that §518 regulates a relationship between a sticker price and the price charged to credit card users, we cannot accept its conclusion that §518 is nothing more than a mine-run price regulation. In regulating the communication of prices rather than prices themselves, §518 regulates speech.[7] |
” |
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Judge Livingston's biography from the Second Circuit's website
- Judge Livingston's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Renew American, "Debra Livingston: a "Giuliani" Republican, I presume," June 28, 2006
- White House Archives, "Judge Debra A. Livingston"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 '"Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ Aspen Law School, "Companion websites," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 110th Congress," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1745 - Debra Ann Livingston - The Judiciary," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 11 - Debra Ann Livingston - The Judiciary," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, decided March 29, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit 2007-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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