Lynn S. Adelman (born October 1, 1939) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lawyer, judge, and former politician. He has served as 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 ...

for the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (in case citations, E.D. Wis.) is a federal trial court of limited jurisdiction. The court is under the auspices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, ...

, since December 1997. Earlier in his career, he served 20 years in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, representing southwest

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

and neighboring municipalities.

Early life and education

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Adelman received an

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

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 1961 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1965.

Career

He was a research assistant at Columbia from 1965 to 1966. He was a trial attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Wisconsin from 1967 to 1968, and then entered private practice in Milwaukee in 1968.

Political career

Adelman ran for Congress unsuccessfully three times, in 1974 in the general election, and in primaries in 1982 and in 1984 in a special election. He was a Democratic member of the

from 1977 to 1997. Adelman was also on the Judiciary Committee, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Committee, and the Highway Safety Committee of the State Senate.

Federal judicial service

Upon the recommendation of

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

s from Wisconsin

Herb Kohl Herbert H. Kohl (born February 7, 1935) is an American businessman and politician. Alongside his brother and father, the Kohl family created the Kohl's department stores chain, of which Kohl went on to be president and CEO. Kohl also served as a ...

and

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

, Adelman was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on September 8, 1997, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Thomas John Curran. He received a hearing by the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

on October 29, 1997. He was confirmed by 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 ...

on November 13, 1997, and received his commission on December 23, 1997.

Notable cases

Frank, et al vs Walker

The

Voter ID law was a law passed by then Wisconsin governor Scott Walker in 2011. This law made voters of Wisconsin show a state-issued photo ID at the polls before they could vote. The reasoning behind this law was that Scott Walker wanted to stop the voter fraud that was allegedly happening within the state of Wisconsin. Adelman ruled, on April 29, 2014, that this law violated the fourteenth amendment and thus the law was unconstitutional. Adelman made this ruling because in the trial he saw no evidence of voter fraud and concluded that the law was unfair to minority voters because "Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to lack an ID".

Johnny Kimble vs Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development, et al.

In this case Johnny Kimble sued former Equal Rights Division Secretary

Sheehan Donoghue Julia Sheehan Donoghue (born December 13, 1943) is a retired American lawyer and Republican politician from Merrill, Wisconsin. She was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for six terms, from 1973 through 1985. She later served more than a ...

for not giving him a pay raise based on his race and gender. The Equal Rights Division job is to investigate discrimination claims and to judge whether the claim of discrimination is true. Johnny Kimble is an ex employee of the Equal Rights Division and ran the office in Milwaukee.

was appointed to this position in 1991 by then governor of Wisconsin

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

. Adelman's ruling on this case was that Johnny Kimble was denied pay raises because of his race and that the Department of Workforce Development was to pay Johnny Kimble what he lost. This ruling was made on February 25, 2010. Adelman said that

made statements that contradicted to what she said and what other witnesses said, she also got defensive and evasive during the questioning, and the evidence on the case did not support her claims. The evidence they found was when the Milwaukee office did well she credited the office, not Johnny, but when the Madison office did well she credited the section chief, who was white. Also, whenever Johnny said they need technical support she ignored him, but when it was a white employee, she promised help.

St. Augustine School v. Evers

In June 2017, Adelman found that

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 200 ...

, then

Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government, and acts as the executive head of the Department of ...

, did not violate the Constitution's

Free Exercise Clause The Free Exercise Clause accompanies the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ''Establishment Clause'' and the ''Free Exercise Clause'' together read: Free exercise is the liberty of persons to re ...

nor its

Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

when he denied bussing to an independent Catholic school because there was a nearby archdiocesan school. In his opinion, Adelman referenced Wikipedia articles on

Traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, Christian liturgy, liturgical forms, Catholic devotions, devotions, and presentations of Catholic Church, Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church befo ...

and

Montessori education The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

. His judgment was affirmed by a divided panel of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Il ...

in October 2018.

United States vs. Sujata Sachdeva

In this trial

Koss Corporation Koss Corporation is an American company that designs and manufactures headphones. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1958, the company invented the first high fidelity stereophones. Koss continues to design and manufacture headphon ...

's Chief Financial Advisor Sujata Sachdeva is charged with

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

$34 million from the company. The other person involved on the

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

is Julie Mulvaney who was a senior accountant at

. The

is a manufacturer of

headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

. Sachdeva used almost all of the $34 million she

embezzled Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

, from the

, to go on a wild shopping spree. The shopping spree consisted of shopping at designer, jewelry, department stores, and other high-end retailers. Sachdeva, along with Mulvaney, tried to cover up the

by creating false accounting records. Mulvaney created falsified journal records to cover Sachdeva's spending spree. Sachdeva's attorney's argued that Sachdeva was is mentally ill with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, diagnosed

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

, and a

shopping addiction Shopping addiction is characterized by an eagerness to purchase unnecessary or superfluous things and a lack of impulse control when it comes to shopping. It is a concept similar to compulsive buying disorder (''oniomania''), but usually has a more ...

, when she went on the shopping spree. The sentence the federal prosecutor wanted was 15–20 years in prison, and the lawyers for Sachdeva wanted the sentenced reduce to 6–7 years in prison, because of her mental condition. Adelman sentenced Sachdeva to 11 years in federal prison on November 17, 2010. Adelman gave some leniency to Sachdeva because of her cooperation with the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

United States vs. William White

This case is about William White, White is a

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

who runs the Virginia-based American Nationalist Socialist Workers Party. White posted the address, name, and telephone numbers of a juror in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

who convicted a white supremacist, in 2004, to his website. The prosecutors claimed that White did this in hopes that the juror would be harmed for the conviction of the

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

. Adelman at first dismissed the indictment of White, because he did not threaten or actually caused harm to the man and he obtained the information legally, and that what White did was covered over the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. This judgement by Adelman was overturned and White went on to trial and was convicted by a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. After this sentencing Adelman reversed it for the same reasons he dismissed the case in the first place. Then on February 20, 2013, Adelman did sentence White to three and half years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

for soliciting violence to a juror. When this sentencing happened, White was already in jail for other threats and intimidation practices.

Criticism of the Supreme Court under John Roberts

In February 2020, Adelman wrote an article criticizing the recent record of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

under Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

The article singled out Chief Justice Roberts and accused him of actively participating in "undermining American democracy," through activist decisions on

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and

campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...

by corporate interests. Adelman wrote, "Instead of doing what it can to ensure the maintenance of a robust democratic republic, the Court's decisions ally it with the most anti-democratic currents in American politics, forces that would be pleased if unlimited money could be spent on elections and if minorities could be deterred from voting." The article specifically cited a number of partisan 5-4 decisions, such as '' Shelby County v. Holder'', (which struck down part of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

), ''

Rucho v. Common Cause ''Rucho v. Common Cause'', No. 18-422, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), is a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning partisan gerrymandering. The Court ruled that while partisan gerrymandering may be "incompatible with democratic principl ...

'', (which decided that federal courts could not rule on cases of

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

), ''

Citizens United v. FEC ''Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission'', 558 U.S. 310 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding campaign finance laws and free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It wa ...

'', (which allowed unlimited corporate spending on elections), and ''

Janus v. AFSCME ''Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31'', No. 16-1466, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), abbreviated ''Janus v. AFSCME'', was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on US labor law, concerning the power of la ...

'' (which held that it was unconstitutional for public employee unions to require

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

fees). The article created waves in legal circles because of the unusually blunt criticism of the Court coming from a sitting federal judge. Legal scholar

Jonathan Turley Jonathan Turley is an American attorney, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. A professor at George Washington University Law School, he has testified in United States Congressional proceedi ...

argued that the article makes "a better case of bias against himself than he does Chief Justice John Roberts" and noted previous articles where Adelman had also directly criticized conservatives while serving as a federal judge. The Judicial Counsel for the Seventh Circuit censured Judge Adelman for writing this article.Judicial Council of the Seventh Judicial Circuit June 22, 2020.

Consideration for Seventh Circuit

On January 22, 2010, United States Senators

and

forwarded four names to the

Obama White House Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican n ...

for consideration to fill the vacancy on the

created when Judge Terence T. Evans 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 ...

.Adam Korbitz
Kohl, Feingold forward four names to President Obama for Seventh Circuit
''State Bar of Wisconsin'' (January 25, 2010). Adelman was recommended along with

Victoria F. Nourse Victoria Frances Nourse (born November 9, 1958) is a Ralph V. Whitworth Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center and the executive director of the Center on Congressional Studies at Georgetown Law. A nominee for the United States Co ...

, Richard Sankovitz and Dean Strang, but was not selected for the spot.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1974)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 10, 1974 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1974

Wisconsin Senate (1976, 1980)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1976 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1980

U.S. House of Representatives (1982, 1984)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, September 14, 1982 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1982 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, February 21, 1984 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 1984

Wisconsin Senate (1984)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 1984

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelman, Lynn 1939 births Living people Princeton University alumni Columbia Law School alumni Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Lawyers from Milwaukee Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges