Sandra Lea Shank Beckwith, also known as Sandra L. Ammann, (born December 4, 1943) is a Senior United States District Judge, the first woman to sit on the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (in case citations, S.D. Ohio) is one of two United States district courts in Ohio and includes forty-eight of the state's eighty-eight counties–everything from the Columbus are ...

Education and career

Born in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

,. Retrieved November 23, 2013 she is the daughter of Charles Langdale and Lorraine (Sterneberg) Shank. She was married to James Beckwith from 1965 to their

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

in 1978. She married Thomas R. Ammann in 1979. Beckwith received her

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 in 1965 and her Juris Doctor in 1968, both from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

. She was admitted to the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

bar in 1969, the

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

bar in 1976, the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

bar in 1979, and the Supreme Court of the United States bar in 1977. She practiced law in

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

from 1969 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1981 with her father. Beckwith was a judge on the Hamilton County Municipal Court from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1981 to 1986. She was a judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas's domestic relations division from 1987 to 1989 when she was appointed to the Hamilton County Commission. In 1990, she was elected to Commission serving until her resignation in 1992. From 1989 to 1991 she was also an associate with the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

law firm of Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP.

Federal judicial service

Beckwith was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1991, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 104 Stat. 5089. She 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 February 6, 1992, and received commission on February 10, 1992. She served as Chief Judge, from October 4, 2004, to January 1, 2009. She assumed

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 January 1, 2009.

Other service

She has served on commissions on lawyers'

professional responsibility Professional responsibility is a set of duties within the concept of professional ethics for those who exercise a unique set of knowledge and skill as professionals. Professional responsibility applies to those professionals making judgments, a ...

, prison overcrowding, death penalty appeals, and computerization of the courts. Since 1996, she has been a board member of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Red Cross.

References

External links

*
Official biography on the Southern District's site with photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Sandra 1943 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Lawyers from Cincinnati Ohio lawyers Ohio state court judges People from Harrison, Ohio Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush University of Cincinnati alumni University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni