Appointed by George W. Bush Preceded by John Walker | Name Debra Livingston Role Judge | |
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Born April 15, 1959 (age 64)
Waycross, Georgia, U.S. ( 1959-04-15 ) Alma mater Princeton University
Harvard University Education Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Harvard Law School | ||
Debra Ann Livingston (born April 15, 1959) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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Early life and education
Livingston was born in Waycross, Georgia, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1984, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Career
Livingston served as a clerk for the Judge J. Edward Lumbard of the Second Circuit after graduating. From 1986 to 1991, she was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she handled criminal cases, including the prosecution of Ferdinand Marcos, former president of the Philippines. After working as a legal consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Livingston was an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a New York City law firm. From 1994-2003, she served as Commissioner of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Second Circuit nomination and confirmation
Livingston was first nominated to fill former Chief Judge John M. Walker, Jr.'s seat on the Second Circuit on June 28, 2006 by President George W. Bush. That nomination was made during the 109th Congress. However, that Congress adjourned before granting Livingston a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bush renominated Livingston on January 9, 2007 to the 110th Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on April 11, 2007, and approved it on April 25 of that year.
The Senate confirmed her nomination on May 9, 2007, by a vote of 91-0, almost one year after she was first nominated. She was the fifth judge appointed to the Second Circuit by Bush, and the first of Bush's second term.
Academia
From 1992 to 1994, Livingston taught criminal procedure and evidence at the University of Michigan Law School. She joined the faculty of Columbia Law School in 1994, and continued to teach there as a Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law following her nomination to the bench. From 2005-2006, she was also the Vice Dean.
She is one of the authors of Comprehensive Criminal Procedure.