Susan Rose Paradise Baxter (born September 20, 1956) is 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 ...

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She was formerly a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the same court.

Early life and education

Susan Paradise Baxter was born September 20, 1956, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She received her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1978, her Master of Education from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in 1980, 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 the Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1983.

Professional career

She began her practice in

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, ...

, as an associate at the firm of Cole, Raywid and Braverman, now

Davis Wright Tremaine Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an American business and litigation law firm. Founded in 1944, the firm is a limited liability partnership and employs over 500 lawyers. Davis Wright Tremaine is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has offices ...

, where she became a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

in 1989. Her practice consisted of

commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

, antitrust litigation and

contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

. In 1992, she served as the Court Solicitor for the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, representing the judges on the court.

Federal judicial service

She became a

for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on January 20, 1995. Later in 1996, she was elected the Director-At-Large of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association."President Obama Nominates Seven to Serve on the United States District Courts" White House, July 30, 2015
/ref> She became the chief magistrate judge in June 2005 and served until 2009. Her tenure as a magistrate judge ended on September 10, 2018, when she became a district judge.

Expired district court nomination under Obama

On July 30, 2015, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated Baxter to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by

Sean J. McLaughlin Sean J. McLaughlin (born January 4, 1955) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, McLaughlin received an Artium Bacca ...

, who resigned on August 16, 2013. She received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 9, 2015 and her nomination generated no controversy. On January 28, 2016, her nomination was reported out of committee by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. Her nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

Renomination to district court under Trump

On December 20, 2017, her renomination by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

was announced and sent to 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 ...

as part of a bipartisan package of nominees which included

Marilyn Horan Marilyn Jean Horan (born September 13, 1954) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Biography Horan received a Bachelor of Arts, ''magna cum laude'', from the Pennsylv ...

and Chad Kenney. She was renominated to the same seat. On February 15, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported her nomination by

. On August 28, 2018, her nomination was confirmed by

. She received her judicial commission on September 10, 2018.

Notable cases

In ''Pennsylvania General Energy Company, LLC v. Grant Township'' in 2015, she found against Grant Township, Pennsylvania and in favor of Pennsylvania General Energy, LLC (PGE) in its claim that the Township's prohibition on injection wells violated the corporation's constitutional rights. The Township was represented by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in the case, which was profiled in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in May 2017.

Personal life

She is married to Donald L. Baxter Jr. and has two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Susan Paradise 1956 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Democrats Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Erie, Pennsylvania People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni Temple University College of Education alumni United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump United States magistrate judges 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges