Wendy Beetlestone
Wendy Beetlestone | |
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | |
| Assumed office November 21, 2014 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Michael Baylson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 4, 1961 Ibadan, Nigeria |
| Education | University of Liverpool (B.A.) University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.) |
Wendy Beetlestone (born April 4, 1961) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Biography[]
Beetlestone attended Rishworth School in Yorkshire, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1984 from Liverpool University. She received a Juris Doctor in 1993 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Robert S. Gawthrop III, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 2002, she worked at the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis LLP, becoming a partner in 2001. From 2002 to 2005, she served as General Counsel of the School District of Philadelphia. From 2005 to 2014, she had been a shareholder at the law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin & Schiller, where she litigated a variety of commercial matters before both Federal and State courts.[1][2]
Federal judicial service[]
On June 16, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Beetlestone to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by Judge Michael Baylson, who took senior status on July 13, 2012.[3] On July 24, 2014, a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary was held on her nomination.[4] On September 18, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.[5] On November 18, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on her nomination. On Wednesday November 19, 2014, cloture was invoked by a vote of 58–38.[6] On Thursday, November 20, 2014, the Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote. She received her judicial commission on November 21, 2014.[2]
Among other notable cases in which she has presided, on December 15, 2017, Beetlestone issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the enforcement of regulations that allowed employers to refuse to cover contraception in their employees’ insurance plans if they have either religious objections to birth control or “sincerely held moral convictions” against it.[7] “It is difficult,” Judge Beetlestone wrote, “to comprehend a rule that does more to undermine the contraceptive mandate or that intrudes more into the lives of women.”[8] Judge Beetlestone issued a second nationwide injunction after President Trump issued revised rules.[9]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Five to Serve on the United States District Courts". whitehouse.gov. 13 June 2014 – via National Archives.
- ^ a b "Beetlestone, Wendy – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
- ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. 16 June 2014 – via National Archives.
- ^ "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov.
- ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 18, 2014 United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary" (PDF).
- ^ "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress – 2nd Session". Vote Summary: Vote Number 286. United States Senate. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Greenhouse, Carol (December 21, 2017). "Why Judges Matter". New York Times.
- ^ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Trump, et al., 17-cv-4965, slip op. (Dec. 15, 2017), available at https://static01.nyt.com/opinion/contributors/Pennsylvaniav.Trump.pdf
- ^ Goldstein, Amy. "Judge blocks Trump effort to roll back birth-control mandate nationwide". Washington Post.
External links[]
- Wendy Beetlestone at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Wendy Beetlestone at Ballotpedia
Authority control  |
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- 1961 births
- Living people
- African-American judges
- Alumni of the University of Liverpool
- American women judges
- American women lawyers
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania lawyers
- United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
- 21st-century American judges
- University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni
- 21st-century women judges
- 21st-century American women