Michael Boudin ( ; born November 29, 1939) is a former
United States circuit judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He served as Chief Judge of that court from 2001 to 2008. Before his service on the First Circuit, he was a United States District Judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...
. He was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 2010.
Early life and education
Boudin was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the son of poet Jean (Roisman) Boudin and the civil liberties attorney
Leonard Boudin
Leonard B. Boudin (July 20, 1912 – November 24, 1989) was an American civil liberties attorney and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock, the author of '' Baby and Child Care'', who ...
, and older brother of
Weather Underground
The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...
member
Kathy Boudin. He received 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 year ...
degree from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
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 Ch ...
from
Harvard Law School in 1964. He was a
law clerk for Judge
Henry J. Friendly of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate ju ...
from 1964 to 1965, and then clerked for Justice
John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish him ...
of the
Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1966.
Legal career
From 1966 to 1987 Boudin practiced regulatory law at
Covington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. In 2021, Vault.com ranked Covington & Burling as ...
, a
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, ...
law firm. He spent 21 years at Covington & Burling, primarily drafting appellate briefs in complex regulatory matters for corporate clients. He worked as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School from 1982 to 1983, and then as a lecturer there from 1983 to 1998. He then served in President Reagan's Justice Department as a deputy assistant
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
of the Antitrust Division from 1987 to 1990.
Federal judicial service
On May 18, 1990, President
George H. W. Bush nominated Boudin to the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...
, to a seat vacated by
John H. Pratt. 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 August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7. Boudin served on the District Court for about 18 months, but resigned on January 31, 1992 to return to Massachusetts. Two months later, on March 20, 1992, President Bush nominated Boudin to an appellate judgeship on the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, headquartered in Boston, to the seat vacated when Judge
Levin H. Campbell took senior status. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 1992, and received his commission on May 26. Boudin served as
Chief Judge
A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...
of the First Circuit from 2001 to 2008. He took
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
on June 1, 2013.
He retired from service on December 15, 2021.
See also
*
*
Louis B. Boudin
Louis B. Boudin (December 15, 1874 – May 29, 1952) was a Russian-born American theoretician (Marxism), Marxist theoretician, writer, politician, and lawyer. He is best remembered as the author of a two volume history of the Supreme Court of the ...
*
Leonard Boudin
Leonard B. Boudin (July 20, 1912 – November 24, 1989) was an American civil liberties attorney and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock, the author of '' Baby and Child Care'', who ...
*
Kathy Boudin
*
Chesa Boudin
References
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boudin, Michael
1939 births
20th-century American judges
20th-century American Jews
Harvard Law School alumni
Harvard Law School faculty
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Living people
United States court of appeals judges appointed by George H. W. Bush
United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush
People associated with Covington & Burling
Boudin family
Members of the American Philosophical Society
21st-century American Jews