Eunice C. Lee

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Eunice C. Lee
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Assumed office
August 16, 2021
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byRobert Katzmann
Personal details
Born1970 (age 50–51)
Wiesbaden, West Germany (now Germany)
EducationOhio State University (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Eunice Cheryl Lee (born 1970)[1] is an American lawyer from New York who is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Early life and education[]

Lee was born on a United States Air Force base in Wiesbaden, Germany.[2] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University in 1993 and her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1996.[3]

Career[]

Lee began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Susan J. Dlott on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio from 1996 to 1997, and Judge Eric L. Clay on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1997 to 1998. From 1998 to 2019 she worked with the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City; from 2003 to 2019 she also served as director of recruitment and outreach at the Office of the Appellate Defender. She joined the office as a Staff Attorney and was named supervising attorney in 2001. She served as an adjunct assistant professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law from 2003 to 2019, teaching a criminal appellate defense clinic.[3]

Eunice Lee is a member of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA). This union represents Legal Aid and Federal Defenders attorneys. Lee is also a member of Metropolitan Black Bar Association and served on the Committee on Professional Responsibility of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.[4]

Federal judicial service[]

On May 12, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Lee to serve as a United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to the seat vacated by Judge Robert Katzmann, who took senior status on January 21, 2021.[5] A group of 70 former New York federal prosecutors wrote a letter in support of her nomination, calling Lee a “brilliant, accomplished advocate, who is supremely well qualified to serve on the bench.”[6]

On June 9, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] On July 15, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 11–10 vote; Senator Lindsey Graham passed on the vote.[8] She is the second African American woman ever to serve on the Second Circuit and the only judge with experience as a federal defender serving on that circuit.[9] During Clarence Thomas's 1991 Supreme Court hearing, Lee criticized Thomas in a letter to Ohio State University's student newspaper The Lantern, accusing him of discounting the role racism plays in the contemporary difficulties faced by African Americans. During her own confirmation hearing in 2021, she distanced herself from the contents of the letter.[10]

On August 3, 2021, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on Lee's nomination.[11] On August 5, 2021, the Senate voted 50–49 in favor of cloture on Lee's nomination, with Senator Graham absent.[12] On August 7, 2021, her nomination was approved by a 50–47 vote.[13][14] She received her commission on August 16, 2021.

References[]

  1. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Eunice Cheryl Lee
  2. ^ "Who Is Eunice Lee?". National Review. 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "President Biden Announces Third Slate of Judicial Nominees", White House, May 12, 2021 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Eunice Lee Fact Sheet".
  5. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, May 12, 2021
  6. ^ McParland, Tom (7 June 2021). "Former NY Federal Prosecutors Line Up Behind Eunice Lee for 2nd Circuit Judgeship". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for June 9, 2021
  8. ^ "Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Latest Slate of Circuit & District Court Nominations" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: Senate Judiciary Committee. July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  9. ^ McParland, Tom (May 12, 2021). "Meet Eunice Lee, First Federal Defender Tapped to Serve as 2nd Circuit Judge". New York Law Journal. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  10. ^ Rowan, Nicholas (June 11, 2021). "Biden judicial nominee criticized Clarence Thomas for being a 'black conservative'". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "PN569 - Nomination of Eunice C. Lee for The Judiciary, 117th Congress (2021–2022)". Congress.gov. May 12, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  12. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Eunice C. Lee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit)". United States Senate. August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Wester, Jane (7 August 2021). "US Senate Confirms Longtime Public Defender Eunice Lee to 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  14. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Eunice C. Lee, of New York, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit)". United States Senate. August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.

External links[]

Legal offices
Preceded by
Robert Katzmann 		Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
2021–present 		Incumbent
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