William Lindsay Osteen Jr. (born August 8, 1960) 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 Middle District of North Carolina.

Education and career

Osteen was born in Greensboro,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He received a

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 ...

degree from

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1983. He received 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 ...

from

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Carol ...

in 1987. He was in private practice of law in Greensboro from 1987 to 2007.

Federal judicial service

Osteen was nominated 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 January 9, 2007 to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He was nominated to the seat vacated by his father, Judge

William Lindsay Osteen Sr. William Lindsay Osteen (July 15, 1930 – August 9, 2009) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Education and career Osteen was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and g ...

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 September 10, 2007, and received his commission on September 19, 2007. He served as chief judge from November 1, 2012 to November 3, 2017.

Notable ruling

He struck down North Carolina's 'life of the mother only' 20-week abortion ban in March 2019. His judgement pushed the date of which abortions could be performed to the date of viability, which is later for many women. However, Osteen reinstated the NC 20-week abortion ban, with exceptions for urgent medical emergencies, after the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

'' which erased the legal foundation for his 2019 ruling that had struck down the 1973 state law. Judge Osteen stated “Neither this court, nor the public, nor counsel, nor providers have the right to ignore the rule of law as determined by the Supreme Court."

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osteen, William Lindsay Jr. 1960 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges University of North Carolina alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni People from Greensboro, North Carolina