District Judge may refer to

• A member of the Judiciary of England and Wales

• A United States federal judge

• The short name for a Judge of the District Court in the Republic of Ireland.
• In the judiciary of Northern Ireland:
  • District Judge, judge that sits to hear pre-trial applications and small claims cases in the County Court, previously known as a Circuit Registrar.
  • District Judge (Magistrates Court), judge that presides over the Magistrates' Courts, formerly known as a Resident Magistrate.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Normally concerned with the civil law. I.e. Families, bankruptcy, property etc.

Nancy Gertner (born May 22, 1946) is a former United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She assumed senior status on May 22, 2011, and retired outright from the federal bench on September 1, 2011.^[1][2]

Early life and education[link]

Gertner was born in New York City and grew up in Flushing, New York, where she was a cheerleader, a member of the staff of her high school's literary magazine, runner-up for homecoming queen, and valedictorian of her class.^[3] Gertner received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College in 1967 and a Master of Arts and a Juris Doctor from Yale University in 1971. While attending Yale, Gertner became friends with Hillary Rodham and met Bill Clinton.

Career[link]

Gertner began her legal career in 1971 as a law clerk for Judge Luther Swygert of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Between 1972 and 1994, she practiced law in and around the Greater Boston area, during which she also taught at Boston University School of Law and was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. During this period, Gertner was notable for being a supporter of liberalism and feminist ideals, wearing bright red dresses in court, carrying her legal briefs in shopping bags and keeping files on lawyers and judges she felt to be sexist.^[3]

On October 27, 1993, on the recommendations of Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Gertner was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton to a seat vacated by A. David Mazzone. Gertner was confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 1994, and received her commission on February 14, 1994.

After announcing her retirement from the bench effective September 1 2011, Gertner was appointed a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School.^[1]

Notable cases[link]

Gertner ruled in U.S. v. Hines, 55 F.Supp. 2d 62 (D.Mass. 1999), a case regarding the admissibility of expert testimony, that (i) a handwriting expert could testify to similarities between handwriting samples but not state an opinion about whether the same person wrote both notes, and (ii) expert witness testimony regarding the reliability of eyewitness testimony, including problems of cross-racial identification, was admissible. The case interpreted new admissibility standards for expert testimony set forth by the Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999).

On July 26, 2007, she ordered the federal government to pay a record $101.7 million for withholding evidence that could have exculpated four men wrongfully convicted of murder.^[4] The men had been falsely accused by mob hitman Joseph "The Animal" Barboza, with the help of corrupt FBI agent H. Paul Rico. The government appealed the award, which was upheld in 2009 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.^[5]

Judge Gertner presided over RIAA v. Tenenbaum, a civil trial in which the Recording Industry Association of America accused Joel Tenenbaum, a Massachusetts college student, of illegally downloading and sharing files, thus violating U.S. copyright law. In July 2009, a jury awarded $675,000 to the music companies, but Judge Gertner later reduced Tenenbaum's fines to $67,500,^[6] stating that arbitrarily high statutory damages violate due process and are thus unconstitutional.

Personal[link]

Gertner is to date the only Massachusetts judge to post to a personal blog. Though this has resulted in some criticism, Gertner maintains that judges are often too silent on issues they should publicly address.^[7]

Gertner published her memoirs, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, in 2011. The book focuses on the period during which she worked as a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer before joining the Federal bench in 1994.^[8]

Gertner is married to John Reinstein, Legal Director for the Massachusetts ACLU.

Awards[link]

• 2008 Thurgood Marshall Award of the American Bar Association, recognizing Gertner's contributions to advancing human rights and civil liberties.^[8]

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Nancy Gertner, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate (Boston: Beacon Press, 2011)
• Nancy Gertner at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links[link]

• Judge Gertner's blog
• Beacon Press web site for In Defense of Women.

John Blanchard is a Canadian television director and producer.

He is best known for his directorial work on the sketch comedy series SCTV, The Kids in the Hall, CODCO, MADtv and the talk show The Martin Short Show for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Talk Show.^[1]

He also directed episodes of the sitcoms Grounded for Life, Wanda at Large, Cavemen, Unhitched,^[2] as well as a number of television films one of his notable films being The Last Polka (1985) starring John Candy and Eugene Levy.^[3] He also directed the direct-to-video Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth.

References[link]

External links[link]

• John Blanchard at the Internet Movie Database

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Edward Chen
President of Lingnan College, then University
In office 1 September 1995 – 31 August 2007
Succeeded by	Chan Yuk-shee
Personal details
Born	(1945-01-14) 14 January 1945 (age 67)
Alma mater	University of Hong Kong Oxford University

Edward Chen Kwan-yiu (Chinese: 陳坤耀), CBE, GBS, JP (born January 14, 1945, Hong Kong) was the President of Lingnan University of Hong Kong. He is now an Honorary Professor and Distinguished Fellow of the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He is a non-executive director of Wharf Holdings.^[1]

Edward Chen graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree at the HKU in 1967. He then pursue further studies overseas at Oxford University, where he earned his M.Phil and D.Phil degrees in economics. He returned to HKU to be an Assistant Lecturer and then Chair Professor from 1970 to 1995. He left HKU to take the role of the President of Lingnan University in 1995 until he retired in 2007.

Chen has been active in public service. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and the Executive Council of Hong Kong. He was also a member of the Basic Law Consultative Committee and the chairman of the Hong Kong Consumer Council.^[2]

References[link]

Edward Willis Nottingham, Jr. (born 1948) is a former United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado having served in that office from November 24, 1989 until his resignation on October 21, 2008.

Early life, education, and career[link]

Born in Denver, Colorado,^[1] Nottingham was raised in Eagle County, Colorado.^[2] He received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1969, and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1972.^[2] Prior to his appointment as a judge, Nottingham was a local coordinator for Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. From 1972 to 1973 he was a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.^[2] Before becoming a judge, he spent a decade and a half in private practice in Grand Junction, Colorado, interrupted by a two year stint as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado from 1976 to 1978.^[1][2]

Federal judicial service[link]

Nottingham was nominated to the court by President George H. W. Bush on October 20, 1989,^[3] to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333.^[1] After a brief delay brought on by Senate efforts to block some Bush appointees, Nottingham was confirmed on by the United States Senate on November 21, 1989, and received his commission on November 27, 1989.^[1][4]

During his nineteen-year tenure, Nottingham oversaw a number of high-profile cases, such as a copyright infringement case involving Michael Jackson,^[5] a courageous ruling invalidating a law creating a federal "no-call list" for telemarketers^[6] which was ultimately overturned,^[7] and that of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio for insider trading.^[8] Although Nottingham's talent as a jurist was never in serious dispute, the consistency of his work and his judicial temperament were matters of widespread concern. On the one hand, the Denver Post reported that Nottingham had a reputation for judicial efficiency, and as "one of the best legal minds on the bench," .^[9] He received both notoriety and admiration for dressing down witnesses ^[10] and demanding professionalism from attorneys .^[11]

Inquiry and resignation[link]

Nottingham drew controversy over two incidents in 2007-2008, when it was revealed in his divorce case that the judge "spent $3,000 on strippers in one night"^[12]

AP reported that the Diamond Cabaret manager Justin Frankell said the judge had visited the strip club on other occasions. They reported that 9 News reported that Nottingham said he could not remember the details of spending the $3,000 at the Diamond Cabaret on 9/05/05 because he had been drinking. The transcript also said Nottingham had paid $150 to use an Internet dating site, Ipayfriendfinder.com. His ex wife reported that she learned of the dating service calls when she mistakenly opened a bill, and immediately confronted her husband in his chambers. "When I asked about the dating service, he turned around in his chambers, and he hit his computer and he told me all about the dating service; it was a porn site." ^[13]

On a separate occasion, Nottingham argued with a woman in a wheelchair because she said he illegally parked in a handicapped spot. Nottingham allegedly threatened to call the U.S. Marshals to deal with the handicapped woman.^[14]

The Associated Press reported that Nottingham was "under review by an appeals court over a complaint citing news media reports that he allegedly viewed adult Web sites on his government computer in his chambers".^[12]

Following these reports U.S. Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado called for the impeachment of Judge Nottingham, stating that no one should be above the law. Salazar's position was echoed by John Andrews, a Republican former President of the Colorado Senate.^[15]

The 10th Circuit launched an inquiry of multiple complaints of misconduct. These included an affidavit from a prostitute that Judge Nottingham asked her to lie to investigators about their relationship.^[16] Associated Press reported that 10th Circuit released a document stating that the prostitute had made an allegation that Nottingham asked her to lie to investigators and that 10th Circuit Chief Judge Henry filed a complaint against Nottingham on Oct. 1. Judge Henry's complaint alleged that Nottingham had been a client of prostitution businesses, used his court-owned cell phone to call prostitutes, and lied during the investigation. Associated Press quoted Denver’s KUSA-TV reporting of allegations that Nottingham solicited prostitutes and asked one of them to lie about being a client. The station, again citing anonymous sources, also had reported that Nottingham’s name had turned up on a client list of a prostitution ring being investigated by the IRS.^[17][18]

Two former prostitutes told 9Wants to Know that Nottingham was a client of another escort agency called Bada Bing of Denver in 2003 and 2004. One of the women claims Nottingham drove her to his home in the Hilltop area in March. She says he made them both undress to make sure they weren't wearing wire. Then she says he told her to make up stories and lie to federal investigators about the true nature of their relationship. The woman did lie to an investigator and later filed a complaint with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.^[19] The former prostitute says she had sex with Nottingham for $250 to $300 an hour once a week from February 2003 through November 2004 at the former escort agency Bada Bing of Denver. The former prostitute says Nottingham helped her fabricate a story about how they knew each other so she would not tell investigators that he paid her for sex. The FBI has contacted the former prostitute and is looking into the allegations. Nottingham was previously investigated for allegedly appearing on a list of clients from another prostitution business, Denver Players.^[20]

A search warrant was served to Microsoft for email addresses used for prostitution in connection with the escort service Denver Players or Denver Sugar. 9Wants to Know has reported Federal Judge Edward Nottingham had ties to the escort service which catered to prominent clients including judges, lawyers, businessmen, athletes and politicians. Nottingham's full name and personal cell phone number appeared on a list of clients from a Denver prostitution business.^[21]

Nottingham resigned on October 21, 2008 without resolution of the complaints.^[2][8]

Private Law Practice[link]

After leaving the bench, Nottingham opened a private law practice in Colorado.^[22]

References[link]