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Patti B. Saris

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Patti B. Saris
Saris in 2015
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 2, 2024
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office
January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2019
Preceded byMark L. Wolf
Succeeded byF. Dennis Saylor IV
Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission
In office
December 22, 2010 – January 3, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byWilliam K. Sessions III
Succeeded byWilliam H. Pryor Jr. (Acting)
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office
November 24, 1993 – December 2, 2024
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded byWalter Jay Skinner
Succeeded byBrian E. Murphy
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office
1986–1989
Personal details
Born (1951-07-20) July 20, 1951 (age 73)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
SpouseArthur I. Segel
EducationRadcliffe College (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Patti Barbara Saris[1] (born July 20, 1951) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She is also the former chair of the United States Sentencing Commission.[2]

Early life and education

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Saris was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She attended Girls' Latin School,[3] and later received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Radcliffe College in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1976.

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Saris was a law clerk for Judge Robert Braucher of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1976 to 1977. She was in private practice with the law firm of Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston from 1977 to 1979, served as Staff counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1979 to 1981, and then returned to private practice with the firm of Berman, Dittmar & Engel, P.C. from 1981 to 1982.

Saris then served as Assistant United States Attorney of the District of Massachusetts from 1982 to 1986. She was Chief of the Civil Division from 1984 to 1986. From 1986 to 1989 she was a United States magistrate judge for the District of Massachusetts. She was an associate justice in the Trial Court of Massachusetts, Superior Court Department from 1989 to 1993.

Federal judicial service

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On the recommendation of Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Saris was nominated as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1993, to a seat vacated by Walter Jay Skinner. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 20, 1993, and received her commission on November 24, 1993. She served as Chief Judge from January 1, 2013, until December 31, 2019.[4] On November 20, 2023, she announced her intention to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor.[5] She assumed senior status on December 2, 2024.[4]

In 2008, Saris sat by designation with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case of Cook v. Gates,[6] which upheld the "Don't ask, Don't tell" (DADT) policy (Title 10, Section 654) against due process and equal protection Fifth Amendment challenges and a free speech challenge under the First Amendment, and which found that no earlier Supreme Court decision held that sexual orientation is a suspect or quasi-suspect classification.[7] Saris concurred with the majority regarding due process and equal protection, while dissenting with the rejection of the First Amendment challenge, because "if the Act were applied to punish statements about one's status as a homosexual, it would constitute a content-based speech restriction subject to strict scrutiny" and that "the availability of an administrative remedy does not defeat a First Amendment claim that the government is systematically applying the Act in such a way that it unconstitutionally burdens protected speech".[8]

United States Sentencing Commission

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In April 2010, President Obama nominated Saris as Commissioner and Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission. She was confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010[9][10] and sworn in by Justice Elena Kagan on February 16, 2011.[11] Her term expired on January 3, 2017.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, on Confirmations of Appointees to the Federal Judiciary, September 23; October 7 and 20; November 9, 16, and 18, 1993. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1995. p. 1001.
  2. ^ "Saris to Chair United States Sentencing Commission" (PDF). United States Sentencing Commission. December 23, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  3. ^ "Patti B. Saris Oral History, Chief Justice, US District Court for Massachusetts; Staffer for Edward Kennedy, Senate Judiciary Committee". www.emkinstitute.org.
  4. ^ a b Patti B. Saris at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  5. ^ "U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris has advised President Biden that she intends to retire from regular active service as a United States District Court Judge upon the appointment of her successor" (PDF). mad.courts.gov (Press release). November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  6. ^ 528 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2008).
  7. ^ "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Stands Despite Effort By Major Firms, AmLaw Daily, June 10, 2008, accessed March 6, 2012
  8. ^ Cook v. Gates, 528 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2008) Archived 2011-08-03 at the Wayback Machine Via Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Accessed July 14, 2011
  9. ^ "PN1714 - Nomination of Patti B. Saris for United States Sentencing Commission, 111th Congress (2009–2010)". www.congress.gov. 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  10. ^ "PN1713 - Nomination of Patti B. Saris for United States Sentencing Commission, 111th Congress (2009–2010)". www.congress.gov. 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  11. ^ "President Obama Nominates Two United States Sentencing Commission". whitehouse.gov. April 28, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010 – via National Archives.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
1993–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission
2010–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
2013–2019 		Succeeded by
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