Douglas Preston Woodlock
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Douglas Preston Woodlock (born February 27, 1947) is a
United States federal 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. Cou ...
of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Born in Connecticut, Woodlock graduated from
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
and worked as a journalist before attending Georgetown University Law Center. After graduating, Woodlock was a lawyer in private practice at the law firm of Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, and had stints at the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
and U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Appointed to the federal bench in 1986, Woodlock presided over a number of noteworthy cases and was a key figure in the construction of the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse on the
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
waterfront. He took
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 ...
in 2015.


Education, early life, and journalism career

Woodlock was born in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, on February 27, 1947.
Justices and Judges of the United States Courts
', Vol. 6 (1980), p. 664.
His family moved to the Chicago suburb of
La Grange, Illinois ''(the barn)'' , nickname = , motto = ''Tradition & Pride – Moving Forward'' , anthem = ''My La Grange'' by Jimmy Dunne , image_map = File:Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas La Grange Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 26 ...
, where Woodlock spent the first two years of high school.Andrew Ryan
On bench, Woodlock taps life experiences: Judge shows compassion, toughness
''Boston Globe'' (January 27, 2011).
He spent his last two years of high school at
Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...
in
Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
. Woodlock 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 years ...
degree from
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1969, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and vice chairman of the ''
Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consis ...
''. He began his career in journalism as an intern at the ''
Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...
'', covering the
1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
in Chicago. Woodlock then became a reporter at the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' from 1969 to 1973, where he worked in Chicago and
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, before moving to the ''Sun-Times''s Washington Bureau in 1971–1973, where he covered the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. Woodlock then attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of ''
The Georgetown Law Journal ''The Georgetown Law Journal'' is a student-edited scholarly journal published at Georgetown University Law Center. It is the flagship law review of the Georgetown University Law Center. Overview The ''Georgetown Law Journal'' is headquartere ...
''.
Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments
', S. Hrg. 99-141, part 4, Serial No. J-99-7, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (1986), pp. 19-20, 30.
He earned his J.D. in 1975.Douglas Preston Woodlock
''
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges The ''Biographical Directory of Federal Judges'' is a publication of the Federal Judicial Center providing basic biographical information on all past and present United States federal court Article III judges (those federal judges with life tenure ...
'', Federal Judicial Center.


Legal career

Woodlock worked in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Division of Corporation Finance at the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
from 1973 to 1975 and was a
law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for Judge Frank Jerome Murray of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1976. He was in private practice in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
from 1976 to 1979 as an associate at the law firm of Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, before becoming 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 ...
in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, serving under U.S. Attorneys
Edward F. Harrington Edward Francis Harrington (born September 16, 1933) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Early life Harrington was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. He graduated from Sa ...
and Bill Weld. He was assigned to the Justice Department's New England Task Force from 1982 to 1983. Woodlock returned to Goodwin, Procter & Hoar in 1983, where he was made a partner in 1984, and remained at the firm until his appointment to the federal bench. Woodlock was also chairman of the Board of Appeals for the
Town of Hamilton A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
from 1978 to 1979; an instructor at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
in 1980 and 1981; and chairman of the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services from 1984 to 1986.


Federal judicial service

Woodlock was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
on April 22, 1986, to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated by Judge
Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. (June 20, 1920 – September 16, 1999) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts notable for issuing the 1974 order in ''Morgan v. Hennigan'' which mandated ...
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 June 13, 1986, on a
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 ...
, and received his commission three days later. He 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 ...
on June 1, 2015. Woodlock is known for his interest in architecture and public art. He was a leading figure in the design of the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse, a new federal courthouse on the Boston waterfront,Milton J. Valencia
Federal judge set to reduce court role
''Boston Globe'' (January 14, 2015).
working with Justice
Stephen G. Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
on the project.
Linda Greenhouse Linda Joyce Greenhouse (born January 9, 1947) is an American legal journalist who is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covered ...
noted that both Woodlock and Breyer took "an intense hands-on role" in the development of the courthouse, which was designed by architect Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. In 1996, the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
honored Woodlock with its Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture for his efforts.Nik DeCosta-Klipa
US District Judge Woodlock to Take Senior Status
''Boston Globe'' (January 13, 2015).
Woodlock is a member of the
American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...
and the American Judicature Society. He also served on the Committee on Space and Facilities of the
Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...
.


Notable civil cases

In 1989, Woodlock presided over a lawsuit brought by Jugoplastika, a Yugoslavian basketball team, against the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
. Jugoplastika brought the suit after the Celtics had drafted basketball player
Dino Radja Dino may refer to: Prefix * dino-, a common prefix in taxonomy, meaning "terrible", "formidable" **Dinosaur People * Dino (given name), a masculine given name and a nickname * Dino (surname), a surname found in Albania and Turkey * Diño, a surn ...
, alleging that Radja still had two years remaining on a 1988 contract with Jugoplastika. Woodlock issued a preliminary injunction barring Radja from playing for the Celtics for two years. In October 1989, the Celtics and the Jugoplastika reached a settlement, under which the Celtics partially bought out Radja's contract with Jugoplastika, so that Radja would play for Jugoplastika during the 1989–90 season, but could play for the Celtics starting in the 1990–91 season. In a 1995 suit under the Alien Tort Claims Act, Woodlock ordered
Hector Gramajo In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
, a former Guatemalan general and defense minister, to pay $47.5 million in damages to nine plaintiffs, for his role in overseeing a campaign of repression and human rights abuses during the Guatemalan Civil War.Tim Weiner
U.S. Judge Orders Ex-Guatemala General to Pay $47.5 Million
''The New York Times'' (April 13, 1995).
The plaintiffs were eight Gutamalean Canjobal indigenous people and American nun Dianna Ortiz, who brought claims for human rights violations that included the razing of Canjobal villages and the torture of Ortiz. In his ruling, Woodlock wrote: "Gramajo was aware of and supported widespread acts of brutality committed under his command resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. The evidence suggests that Gramajo devised and directed the implementation of an indiscriminate campaign of terror against civilians." In 2008, Woodlock presided over a case involving the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA), in which he issued an injunction barring three students at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
from disclosing security vulnerabilities in the MBTA's
CharlieCard The CharlieCard is a contactless smart card used for fare payment for transportation in the Boston area. It is the primary payment method for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and several regional public transport systems in ...
system; the decision was controversial, and resulting press attention resulted in further publicity of the security lapse. Woodlock was the judge who presided over litigation between the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, an anti-poverty group, and the Town of Framingham and its officials. The Opportunity Council filed suit in 2007, alleging that the town government had violated the
Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
and federal fair housing laws by, among other things, delaying the permitting process for the construction of housing for recovering drug addicts and homeless veterans.Eric Noonan
Antipoverty group to get $1m in suit: Said town violated clients' civil rights
''Boston Globe'' (October 27, 2010).
In September 2010, Woodlock issued a lengthy opinion denying the town's motion to dismiss the suit, and the parties reached a settlement the following month, in which the Town paid $1 million and agreed to have officials undergo civil rights training. In 2011, Woodlock dismissed an attempt by the Winklevoss twins and their partner
Divya Narendra Divya Narendra (; born March 18, 1982) is an American businessman. He is the CEO and co-founder of SumZero along with Harvard classmate Aalap Mahadevia. He also co-founded HarvardConnection (later renamed ConnectU) with Harvard University classma ...
to reopen litigation on their claims related to
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
; the Winklevosses had settled their claims in a $65 million settlement in 2008. In 2020, Woodlock issued a preliminary order directing the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
to allow gun stores (but not shooting ranges) to reopen, overruling Governor Charlie Baker's executive order to the extent it excluded gun retailers from a list of essential retailers permitted to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic.Brian Dowling
Mass. Gun Stores To Reopen After Judge Nixes COVID-19 Ban
Law360 (May 7, 2020).
Applying
intermediate scrutiny Intermediate scrutiny, in U.S. constitutional law, is the second level of deciding issues using judicial review. The other levels are typically referred to as rational basis review (least rigorous) and strict scrutiny (most rigorous). In order t ...
to the Second Amendment question, Woodlock found that the commonwealth had failed to establish "a substantial fit between the goals of the emergency declared by the commonwealth and the burdening of the constitutional rights," noting that liquor stores were deemed essential but gun retailers were not. The judge's order did require gun shops who reopened to follow a ten-point plan adopted by the state to limit the spread of the virus, including social distancing requirements, sales by appointment only, wearing of masks by employees and customers, and sanitation requirements.


Notable criminal cases

Woodlock has presided over a number of noteworthy criminal cases. In 2005, Woodlock accepted a plea agreement between federal prosecutors and Ahmed F. Mehalba, a translator at the detention camp at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, who pleaded guilty to removing a disc containing classified documents from the base. Woodlock sentenced Mehalba to 20 months in prison. In 2010, Woodlock sentenced computer hacker Albert Gonzalez to 20 years and one day in prison,Nancy Weil
Gonzalez sentenced to 20 years for Heartland break-in
''Computerworld'' (March 26, 2010).
after Gonzalez pleaded guilty the previous year to hacking Heartland Payment Systems' corporate computer system as part of a scheme to steal millions of payment card numbers. In 2010, Woodlock accepted the guilty plea of
Dianne Wilkerson Dianne Wilkerson (born May 2, 1955) is a former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk District from 1993 to 2008. In 1993, she became the first African American female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate. ...
, a former member of the Massachusetts Senate who pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and admitted that she had accepted bribes, and the next year, Woodlock sentenced her to three and a half years in prison. Also in 2011, Woodlock sentenced former Boston city councilor
Chuck Turner Charles Turner (June 10, 1940 – December 25, 2019) was an American politician and activist, who served on the Boston City Council representing District 7. Turner was a member of the Green-Rainbow Party Massachusetts affiliate to the national G ...
to three years in prison for accepting a $1,000 bribe, citing Turner's false statements to the FBI and "ludicrously perjurious testimony" as reasons for the sentence. In 2012, Woodlock sentenced Catherine E. Greig, the longtime companion of Boston organized crime figure
James "Whitey" Bulger James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Bos ...
, to eight years in jail. Greig pleaded guilty to harboring Bulger while he was a fugitive from justice. The sentence was affirmed on appeal. In 2014, Woodlock oversaw the criminal proceedings against two friends of Boston Marathon bomber
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar "Jahar" Anzorovich Tsarnaev born July 22, 1993)russian: Джоха́р Анзо́рович Царна́ев, link=no ; ce, Царнаев Анзор-кIант ДжовхӀар o; ( Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz: Жохар Анзор уу ...
, who were convicted of obstruction of justice for destroying evidence and lying to authorities who were investigating the crime. In 2019, Woodlock was the judge assigned to the criminal case against Jeffrey Bizzack, a California businessman who was one of many parents charged in the Varsity Blues admissions bribery scandal. Bizzack pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with a scheme to get his son admitted to the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
as a fake recruited athlete; Woodlock sentenced Bizzack to two months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.Daniel Uria
California man sentenced to two months in prison in college admissions scandal
United Press International (October 21, 2019).


Works

*
Communities and the Courthouses They Deserve. And Vice Versa.
', 24 ''Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities'' (2012). * "Drawing Meaning from the Heart of the Courthouse" in ''Celebrating the Courthouse: A Guide for Architects, Their Clients, and the Public'' (ed. Steven Flanders: New York: W.W. Norton: 2006). * "Judicial Responsibility in Federal Courthouse Design Review: Intentions and Aspirations for Boston" in ''Federal Buildings in Context: The Role of Design Review'' (ed. J. Carter Brown: Yale University Press, 1995).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodlock, Douglas P. 1947 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Georgetown University Law Center alumni Harvard Law School faculty Journalists from Illinois Journalists from Washington, D.C. Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts Lawyers from Boston Lawyers from Hartford, Connecticut People from La Grange, Illinois Phillips Academy alumni United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Yale College alumni