Royce C. Lamberth
| Royce C. Lamberth | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Judge Royce C. Lamberth | |
| Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Thomas F. Hogan |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 16, 1987 |
|
| Appointed by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Barrington D. Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1943 (age 69–70) San Antonio, Texas |
| Alma mater | University of Texas B.A. University of Texas School of Law LL.B. |
| Profession | Judge |
Royce C. Lamberth (born July 16, 1943) is a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, serving as its Chief Judge.[1]
Lamberth was born in 1943 in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas and from the University of Texas School of Law, receiving an LL.B. in 1967. He served as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Army from 1968 to 1974, including one year in Vietnam. After that, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1978, Lamberth became Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a position he held until his appointment to the federal bench.
He was nominated to the federal bench on March 19, 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 13, 1987. He also served as Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1995 to 2002.[2]
Case law
Lamberth is known for presiding over a case, Cobell v. Kempthorne in which a group of American Indians sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for allegedly mismanaging a trust intended for their benefit.[3]
In May 2003, in a case brought by the families of the 241 servicemen who were killed in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Lamberth declared that Beirut, in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War, did not constitute a war zone; and that the U.S. Marines stationed there were not, in fact, soldiers. Given the bench's reasoning, the Islamic Republic of Iran was ordered to pay US$2.65 billion for the actions of Hezbollah, a Shia militia.[4]
Lamberth has presided over Guantanamo captives habeas corpus petitions.[5][6]
In August 2010, Lamberth issued a temporary injunction blocking an executive order by President Barack Obama that expanded stem cell research. He indicated the policy violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos,[7] called the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.[8] Some commentators have surmised that his decision is more a reflection of his politics than a rigorous interpretation of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.[9]
When Judge Lamberth refused in September 2010 to lift the injunction forbidding the research pending the appeal of his ruling, the Obama Justice Department asked the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which will eventually hear the initial appeal of the case (possibly on an expedited basis), to issue an emergency order to override Judge Lamberth's refusal to lift the injunction, which would enable new embryonic stem cell research to continue (work on embryonic stem cell research that was already approved under the law prior to the order's issuance is unaffected; it can be carried on even while the case is going on). The Court of Appeals issued an order on Thursday, September 9, 2010, providing for an emergency temporary lifting of the injunction in the case that had forbidden the research. The appeals court agreed to temporarily lift the injunction to consider the merits of allowing a more permanent lifting of the injunction that would, if instituted, be in place until Judge Lamberth issues his ruling and the ruling is appealed to the same appeals court. The court of appeals gave both sides until Monday, September 20, 2010 to file argument briefs, when it will decide whether to grant a more permanent version of the injunction, or reverse itself and order an end to the research in agreement with the judge.
In July 2011, Judge Lamberth ordered the release of Richard Nixon's testimony concerning the Watergate scandal. The Justice Department reviewed the decision after an objection from the presidential administration insisting on the continued need for privacy of those involved.[10]
Notes
- ^ "Official Congressional Directory, 2005-2006: 109th Congress". Government Printing Office. 2005. p. 843. ISBN 9780160724671. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ^ "Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ^ FOX News "Disputes Continue Over Royalties Owed to American Indians". Fox News. 2006-05-06. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ^ Matt Apuzzo (September 7, 2007). "Iran is fined $2.65 billion in Marine deaths". Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- ^ James Vicini (2008-06-18). "U.S. judge meets lawyers to discuss Guantanamo cases". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ^ James Vicini (2008-07-02). "Judges assigned to decide Guantanamo cases". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ^ Harris, Gardiner (August 23, 2010). "U.S. Judge Rules Against Obama’s Stem Cell Policy". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
- ^ Rob Stein and Spencer S. Hsu (August 24, 2010). "NIH cannot fund embryonic stem cell research, judge rules". Washington Post.
- ^ The Washington Post http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/one_judge_and_christian_right_throw_stem_cell_research_into_chaos.html
|url=missing title (help). - ^ John Schwartz (2011-07-29). "Judge Orders Release of Nixon’s Watergate Testimony". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- Royce C. Lamberth at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
