Susan Pamela Watters (born June 8, 1958) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Montana. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of Montana.

Early life and education

Watters was born in 1958, in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

. She earned 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 in 1980 from

Eastern Montana College Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School at its ...

. She then received a Juris Doctor in 1988 from the

University of Montana School of Law The Alexander Blewett III School of Law is a law school at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, Missoula. It was established in 1911 and remains Montana's only law school. , the school accepted 83 applicants. The school tied for 10 ...

Career

From 1988 to 1989, she served as a law clerk to two different judges on the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of Montana. From 1989 to 1995, she served as a Deputy County Attorney in

Yellowstone County, Montana Yellowstone County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 164,731. Its county seat is Billings. Yellowstone County is named for the Yellowstone River which roughly bisects the county ...

. From 1995 to 1996 she was a sole practitioner focusing on criminal defense. From 1996 to 1998, she practiced both civil and criminal litigation at the law firm of Hendrickson, Everson, Noennig & Woodward, P.C. in

. From 1998 to 2013, she served as a judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of Montana.

Federal judicial service

On May 23, 2013, 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 ...

nominated Watters to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana, to the seat vacated by Judge Richard F. Cebull, who 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 March 18, 2013. Her nomination was reported by the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

on September 19, 2013. Cloture was invoked on her nomination on December 12, 2013 by a 58–39 vote. She was confirmed later that day by a 77–19 vote. She received her judicial commission on December 18, 2013.

Personal life

Watters was previously known as Susan Pamela Dunn, Susan Pamela Elsberry and Susan Pamela Klein.

References

External links