Gene Ellen Kreyche Pratter (February 25, 1949 – May 17, 2024) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Education and career

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Pratter received her

Artium Baccalaureus 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 ...

degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1971, 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 ...

from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1975. Her entire career in private practice was spent at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Duane Morris Duane Morris LLP is a law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher, & Roberts, the firm has offices in the United States, London, Singapore, Vietnam, Oman, Myanmar, Shanghai, and Taiwan. In ad ...

, including as general counsel from 1999 to 2004.

District court service

Pratter was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on November 3, 2003, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by William H. Yohn Jr. She was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on June 15, 2004, and received her commission on June 16, 2004. She was highly respected as a judge among her colleagues.

Third Circuit nomination under Bush

On November 15, 2007, she was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge

Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen (October 23, 1941 – July 25, 2016) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He assumed senior status on October 23, 2006, on his 65th birthday, serving in that s ...

, who assumed senior status in 2006. In February 2008, the liberal group

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (The Leadership Conference), formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an Umbrella organization, umbrella group of United States, American civil rights interest groups. Org ...

sent a letter to the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, then chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT. The group claimed that Pratter had as a district court judge, "exhibited a willingness to prematurely dismiss the claims of civil rights plaintiffs and to inhibit advocacy by their counsel, thus denying these plaintiffs access to a full and fair legal process." As a result, Leahy refused to process her nomination for the rest of the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

. In an act of reconciliation with the Senate Democrats, Bush withdrew her nomination in July 2008 in favor of

Paul S. Diamond Paul Steven Diamond (born January 2, 1953) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and a former federal judicial nominee to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals ...

Community Service

Judge Pratter was a trustee of the

Baldwin School The Baldwin School (simply referred to as Baldwin School or Baldwin) is a private school for girls in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1888 by Florence Baldwin. The school occupies a 19th-century resort hotel designed by ...

, a kindergarten through 12th grade all girls school located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Over decades, she interacted with students of all ages in explaining the legal system to them, including a longstanding tradition of bringing Baldwin's 5th grade class to the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse in Philadelphia to participate in naturalization ceremonies conducted by Judge Pratter. This was consistent with the importance she placed on citizen participation in understanding the legal system.

Death

Pratter died on May 17, 2024, at the age of 75.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratter, Gene E. K. 1949 births 2024 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Stanford University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges