Deborah

Deborah (Hebrew: דְּבוֹרָה, Modern Dvora, Tiberian Dəḇôrā ; "Bee") was a prophet of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, counselor, warrior, and the wife of Lapidoth according to the Book of Judges chapters 4 and 5. The only female judge mentioned in the Bible, Deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of Jabin king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera; the narrative is recounted in chapter 4.

Judges chapter 5 gives the same story in poetic form. This passage, often called The Song of Deborah, may date to as early as the 12th century BC and is perhaps the earliest sample of Hebrew poetry. It is also significant because it is one of the oldest passages that portrays fighting women, the account being that of Jael, the wife of Heber, a Kenite tent maker. Jael killed Sisera by driving a tent peg through his temple as he slept. Both Deborah and Jael are portrayed as strong independent women. The poem may have been included in the Book of the Wars of the Lord mentioned in Numbers 21:14.

Deborah Batts

Deborah A. Batts (born April 13, 1947) is a United States federal judge, currently serving on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In June 1994, Deborah Batts was sworn in as a Federal District Judge for Manhattan, becoming the nation's first openly LGBT, African-American federal judge. She took senior status on her 65th birthday, April 13, 2012.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Batts received an A.B. from Radcliffe College in 1969, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1972. She subsequently clerked from Judge Lawrence Pierce on the Federal Court on which she now serves as a Judge. She was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1979 to 1984. In 1984 she became an Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University. She was a Special associate counsel to the Department of Investigation for New York City from 1990 to 1991.

On January 27, 1994, following the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President Bill Clinton appointed Batts to a seat on the Southern District left open in 1989 when Judge Richard Owen took senior status. Batts was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 1994, and received her commission on May 9, 1994. She continues to serve as an adjunct at Fordham.