Janet Theresa Neff (born April 8, 1945) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 Michigan The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan (in case citations, W.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the western portion of the state of Michigan, including the entire Upper Peninsula and t ...

Early life and education

Neff was born in

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough has a population of 15,930 as of the 2010 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a United States Army o ...

. She graduated from

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

with a

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 ...

degree in 1967 and later from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

with a

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 ...

in 1970.

Career

Following law school graduation, Neff was an assistant city attorney for the city of

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

, from 1971 to 1973. She was in private practice in Michigan from 1973 to 1978 and from 1980 to 1988. She was a Commissioner,

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the state ...

from 1978 to 1980. She 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 ...

of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Michigan in 1980. She was a judge on the

Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...

from 1989 to 2007.

Federal judicial service

Neff was nominated to the

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 March 19, 2007, to a seat vacated by Judge

David McKeague David William McKeague (born November 5, 1946) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Education and career McKeague received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michi ...

. Despite the blocking of her confirmation vote by U.S. Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

from Kansas because she had attended a same-sex commitment ceremony, Neff 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 July 9, 2007, by an 83–4 vote. She received her commission on August 6, 2007. She assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 1, 2021.

Notable cases

Neff generated controversy over her stance over a federal gun control issue caused by Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma over his comments that he "will not abide by or enforce federal law which he determines to be unconstitutional". In 2015, Neff dismissed a lawsuit against

Eaton County, Michigan Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 109,175. The county seat is Charlotte. The county was organized in 1837 and was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War under ...

. The lawsuit was brought by the family of two murder victims, Michael and Terri Greene, who were murdered during a home invasion by an Eaton County jail inmate, Christopher Perrien, who was released by the jail each day to go to a work release job at a company that did not exist. The county failed to verify that the company was real before releasing Perrien on work release status. In 2017, Neff sentenced serial sexual predator and former United States Gymnastics doctor

Larry Nassar Lawrence "Larry" Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former physician and convicted child rapist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used his employment as th ...

to 60 years in federal prison. In September 2019, Neff sentenced child sex trafficker Ricardo Urbina to 40 years in prison. On June 29, 2020, Neff ruled that Michigan's independent re-districting commission is constitutional, in a blow to the state GOP. On December 2, 2020, Neff declined to sanction the Trump campaign over an alleged disinformation tactic. In January 2021, Neff dismissed a lawsuit brought by 10 former Michigan officials who sought to overturn term limits for state offices.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neff, Janet T. 1945 births Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan Michigan Court of Appeals judges People from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush University of Pittsburgh alumni Wayne State University alumni