Judith Ellen Retchin (born May 24, 1952) is a senior judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Early life and career

Retchin grew up in

West Babylon West Babylon is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 43,213 at the 2010 census. Geography West Babylon is located at (40.713399, -73.357106). West Babylon is bord ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1970, she graduated from West Babylon Senior High School. In 1974, she received her B.A. from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. In 1978, she received her J.D. from

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

's Columbus School of Law. She worked as a trial attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board and joined the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in 1980. She was in private practice from 1974 to 1977. From 1976 to 1978 she was a legal assistant for the Airports Operators' Council International.

Prosecutor

In 1983, she was 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 District of Columbia. Retchin was the prosecutor in the drug trial of D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

Judge

President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

appointed Retchin to the bench of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She served as an associate judge from July 1992 to December 2010, when she became a senior judge. She presided over a case challenging the District's handgun ban in 2002.

Jonathan Magbie case

In 2004, Retchin presided over the trial of Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic man who had been arrested for possession of marijuana. Retchin sentenced Magbie, a first-time offender, to ten days in jail despite the prosecution, as part of a plea bargain with the defense, agreeing not to oppose probation. Magbie, who required a ventilator to breathe at night (something the jail did not have), subsequently died four days into his sentence after being transferred to a hospital. The case provoked a series of op-ed pieces in the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' by columnist

Colbert I. King Colbert Isaiah King (born September 20, 1939) is an American columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and the deputy editor of the ''Posts editorial page. In 2003, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Early life King was born to Amelia ...

. A report by the Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure concluded that Retchin had erred but cleared her of judicial misconduct. Magbie's mother called Retchin a killer and demanded her removal from the bench.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Retchin, Judith E. 1952 births Living people George Washington University alumni Columbus School of Law alumni People from West Babylon, New York Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges