Judge Gertner to retire from federal court in Massachusetts

February 4, 2011

Massachusetts: U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner has announced that she will retire from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on September 1, 2011. A former defense lawyer, she joined the District Court in 1994, following an appointment by former President Clinton. She is now 65 years old.

Judge Gertner is known for a ruling where she found the FBI guilty of framing four men for murder. She ordered the government to pay $101.7 million for this offense. She is also known for the extensive written explanations which she writes to accompany criminal sentences. Her judicial viewpoint is that "the job of a judge is to individualize — to apply formal, cold law to individual human beings." Mark Wolf, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, lauded her, saying, “She has a particularly passionate devotion to justice...We will be a grayer place without her.’’ Gertner plans to teach as a professor at Harvard Law School following her retirement.