Sue Lewis Robinson (born 1952) is a former

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 ...

who was part of the

United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, four district judges and ...

Education and career

Born Sue Lewis in

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/ Elijah), is a ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, Robinson 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 yea ...

degree from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 m ...

in 1974 and 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 l ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

in 1978. She was in private practice in Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

from 1978 to 1983. She was 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 go ...

of the District of Delaware from 1983 to 1988.

Federal judicial service

Robinson was a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and condu ...

of the District of Delaware from 1988 to 1991. On October 1, 1991, Robinson was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Jane Richards Roth. Robinson 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 ...

on November 15, 1991, and received her commission on November 18, 1991. She served as Chief Judge from 2000 to 2007. 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 February 3, 2017. She resigned from the federal bench on July 14, 2017.

Deshaun Watson arbitration

Robinson acted as an arbiter in the punishment of

Deshaun Watson Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson, where he led the team to a national championship in ...

by the NFL. Robinson weighed evidence and evaluated the NFL's previous rulings on sexual assault cases and first-time offenders according to the NFL's own policy to decide on an appropriate suspension. Robinson concluded that the NFL proved its case that Watson leveraged his position as an NFL player to perform sexual acts without consent. Robinson handed down the minimum six-game suspension for Watson on August 1, 2022. Two days later on August 3, the NFL filed an appeal of the suspension. The appeal was dismissed by the mutual consent of the parties following a settlement that increased the suspension to an eleven-game term.

References

Sources

FJC Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Sue Lewis 1952 births Living people Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges United States magistrate judges University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni University of Delaware alumni 20th-century American women judges