Robert Katzmann

Robert Katzmann

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

---

Education

Bachelor's

Columbia College, 1973

Graduate

Harvard University, 1978

Law

Yale Law School, 1980

Personal

Birthplace

New York, N.Y.

Robert A. Katzmann was a federal judge with the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. He joined the court in 1999 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton (D). At the time of his appointment, he was a professor at Georgetown University. He was elevated to the role of chief judge on September 1, 2013, and served in that position until 2020. He assumed senior status on January 21, 2021. Katzmann's judicial service ended on June 9, 2021, upon his death.

Early life and education

Katzmann was born in New York, New York, in 1953. He graduated from Columbia College with his bachelor's degree in 1973, and from Harvard University with both his master's degree in 1976, and his Ph.D. in 1978. He earned his J.D. from Yale University in 1980.

Professional career

• 1999-2021: Judge, Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
  • 2021-2021: Senior judge
  • 1999-2021: Judge
• 1992-1999: Professor, Georgetown University
• 1998: Acting program director, Brookings Institution
• 1992: Chair in law and politics, University of Oregon
• 1990-1992: Visiting professor, UCLA (Washington, D.C. program)
• 1986-1987: Special assistant to director, Federal Judicial Center
• 1986-present: President, Governance Institute
• 1987-1992: Adjunct professor, Georgetown University Public Policy Program
• 1984-1989: Adjunct professor, Georgetown University Law Center
• 1981-1999: Fellow, Brookings Institution
• 1980-1981: Law clerk, Hon. Hugh Bownes, United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit

Judicial career

2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Robert A. Katzmann
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 128 days after nomination.
ANominated: March 8, 1999
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: June 16, 1999
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: July 1, 1999
AConfirmed: July 14, 1999
AVote: Voice vote

Katzmann was nominated by President Bill Clinton (D) on March 8, 1999, to a seat vacated by Jon Newman as Newman assumed senior status. The American Bar Association rated Katzmann Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Katzmann's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on June 16, 1999, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on July 1, 1999. Katzmann was confirmed by a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on July 14, 1999, and he received his commission on July 16, 1999. He served as chief judge of the court from 2013 to 2020.

Noteworthy cases

ADA's speech disruptive enough to uphold his firing (2013)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (Sacha v. Sedita, 12-4507-cv)

On November 23, 2013, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit, consisting of Chief Judge Robert Katzmann, Judge Rosemary Pooler, and Senior Judge Pierre Leval, upheld the dismissal of Mark Sacha’s lawsuit against Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III. In the underlying case, Sedita fired Sacha from his position as Assistant District Attorney following Sacha's public contention that Sedita failed to prosecute G. Steven Pigeon on allegations of election law violations (specifically, the alleged laundering of a $10,000 campaign contribution). Sacha claimed he was fired in retaliation for his criticism of Sedita and filed suit in December 2009, alleging that his First Amendment rights had been violated. Sedita filed a motion for summary judgment, and Chief Judge William Skretny of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York granted it in October 2012, citing the fact that his statements to the press were made in his capacity as an ADA, not as a private citizen, and thus his free speech rights had not been violated. That decision is available here. Sacha appealed Skretny's ruling to the Second Circuit, where the three-judge panel affirmed Skretny's ruling, but on alternate grounds, noting that "Sacha’s speech was sufficiently disruptive to justify terminating his employment as an assistant district attorney." Sacha vowed to file a further appeal, claiming that the Second Circuit's three-judge panel had a conflict of interest in hearing the case.

VT Prison Labor Case (2012)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

On Friday, August 3, the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit overturned the lower court decision and held that a suit could continue which alleged that the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, Vermont violated the 13^th amendment by requiring an individual to work in the laundry room for $0.25 an hour. The suit was filed by Finbar McGarry who alleged that during his time pending trial in the facility, he was forced to work 14-hour shifts, three days a week, and was punished with solitary confinement if he refused. He filed the suit a month before his release, requesting $11 million in damages. U.S. District Judge Garvan Murtha threw out the case claiming that McGarry did not prove that the forced work was akin to African American slavery, which the act was originally designed to protect against. The three-judge panel of the appeals court composed of Robert Katzmann, Richard Wesley, and the writing judge, Barrington Parker, disagreed, writing in the opinion, "The Amendment was intended to prohibit all forms of involuntary labor, not solely to abolish chattel slavery." In addition, the court held that McGarry's pretrial status required that the state treat him differently as he was not yet convicted and the charges were later dropped. The case was remanded back to Judge Murtha for further evaluation.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• News: Second Circuit gives go ahead for 13th Amendment Vermont prison lawsuit, August 14, 2012

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Judge Katzmann's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• Judge Katzmann's biography from the Second Circuit's website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Jon Newman	Second Circuit 1999–2021 Seat #11	Succeeded by: Eunice Lee