Christy Criswell Wiegand (born 1975)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Christy Wiegand
/ref> is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Education

Wiegand earned her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1997, and her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

, ''cum laude'', from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

in 2000, where she served as an Articles Editor of the ''

Cornell Law Review The ''Cornell Law Review'' is the flagship legal journal of Cornell Law School. Originally published in 1915 as the ''Cornell Law Quarterly'', the journal features scholarship in all fields of law. Notably, past issues of the ''Cornell Law Revi ...

''."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominee" White House, February 5, 2020

Legal career

Upon graduating from law school, Wiegand became an associate at

Arnold & Porter Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is an American multinational law firm. A white-shoe firm, Arnold & Porter is among the largest law firms in the world, by both revenue and by its number of lawyers. History Arnold & Porter was founded in 1946 ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where her practice focused on

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

matters. She later served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Judge

D. Brooks Smith David Brookman Smith (born December 4, 1951), known professionally as D. Brooks Smith, is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was previously Chief Judge of both the United States C ...

of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Wiegand then became an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Wiegand previously served as the Deputy Chief of the Office's Civil Division, and thereafter served in the Criminal Division's Major Crimes Unit, where she prosecuted a variety of crimes, including large-scale

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

child exploitation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

, illegal firearms, and

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

Federal judicial service

On February 5, 2020, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Wiegand to serve as a

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. On February 12, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Wiegand to the seat vacated by Judge

Peter J. Phipps Peter Joseph Phipps (born April 8, 1973) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Biography Phipps earned both a Bachelor of Science in physics and a Bachelor of Arts in history from the U ...

, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on July 22, 2019. On June 17, 2020, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On July 23, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–5 vote. On September 9, 2020, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

invoked cloture on her nomination by an 80–16 vote. Her nomination was confirmed later that day by an 82–14 vote. She received her judicial commission on September 11, 2020.

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women lawyers Arnold & Porter people Assistant United States Attorneys Cornell Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Lawyers from Pittsburgh Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Princeton University alumni United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump 21st-century American women judges {{US-federal-judge-stub