Beverly Ann Reid O'Connell (May 12, 1965 – October 8, 2017) was 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. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a United States district court, federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in South ...

Early life and education

O'Connell was born Beverly Ann Reid on May 12, 1965, in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

. She received her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1986 from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

. She received her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, ''magna cum laude'', in 1990 from

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University School of Law (officially the Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juri ...

.President Obama Nominates Seven to the United States District Courts

White House Office of the Press Secretary The White House Office of the Press Secretary, or the Press Office, is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to three principal groups: the president, the White House staff, and the media. The office is headed by the White House ...

(November 14, 2012).

Career

O'Connell worked at the law firm of

Morrison & Foerster Morrison & Foerster LLP (also known as MoFo) is an American multinational law firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, with 17 offices located throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. History In 1883, Alexander Francis Morrison ...

from 1990 to 1995, where she handled a variety of civil litigation matters. She served as 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 gov ...

in the Central District of California from 1995 to 2005. O'Connell was appointed by Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

to the

Los Angeles County Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Courts of California, Superior Court located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Sup ...

in 2005,Megan Diskin
District court judge born in Ventura dies suddenly
''Ventura County Star'' (October 13, 2017). and served on that court until 2013. For five months in 2010 and 2011, she sat by designation on the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District, Division 8. She also served as Assistant Supervising Judge with the North Valley District of the Superior Court.

Federal judicial service

On November 14, 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated O'Connell to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, to the seat vacated by Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank, who assumed senior status due to a certified disability on March 1, 2012. On January 2, 2013, her nomination was returned to the President, due to the

sine die adjournment Adjournment ''sine die'' (from Latin 'without a date') is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a date to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its pres ...

of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, she was renominated to the same office. Her nomination was reported by the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

on February 14, 2013, by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by 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 respondin ...

. On April 15, 2013, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed her nomination, on a 92–0 vote. She received her commission on April 30, 2013. On the federal bench, O'Connell presided over several notable cases. In 2014, O'Connell presided over a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

lawsuit against

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and his record label UMG Recordings for West's song "

Gold Digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold di ...

"; she dismissed most the claims on a motion for judgment on the pleadings. In 2015, she denied a petition for ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

'' by

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ; born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian-Jordanian man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a younger brother of American president John F. Kennedy and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 U ...

, who is imprisoned for life for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy. O'Connell was also a member of the

board of visitors In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual co ...

for her ''alma mater'', Pepperdine University School of Law (later renamed the Rick J. Caruso School of Law).

Death

O'Connell died on October 8, 2017, at the age of 52,Passing of the Honorable Beverly Reid O'Connell
United States District Court for the Central District of California. due to a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Beverly Reid 1965 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Assistant United States attorneys California lawyers California state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California People associated with Morrison & Foerster People from Ventura, California Pepperdine University School of Law alumni Superior court judges in the United States United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of California, Los Angeles alumni