Dolores Korman Sloviter | |
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| Senior Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office June 21, 2013 – October 12, 2022 | |
| Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office February 1, 1991 – January 31, 1998 | |
| Preceded by | A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Edward R. Becker |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office June 21, 1979 – June 21, 2013 | |
| Appointed by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629 |
| Succeeded by | Cheryl Ann Krause |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1932-09-05)September 5, 1932 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 2022(2022-10-12) (aged 90) Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Temple University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (LLB) |
Dolores Korman Sloviter (September 5, 1932 – October 12, 2022) was aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.[1]
Born to a Jewish-American family in 1932 inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, Sloviter attendedPhiladelphia High School for Girls. She graduated fromTemple University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree and received herBachelor of Laws in 1956 from theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served as a Comments Editor of theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law Review. She was alaw clerk for the City of Philadelphia Law Department in 1955. Sloviter was in private law practice in Philadelphia until she became an associate professor of law atTemple University Beasley School of Law in 1972 and a professor of law at Temple in 1974, serving until 1979.[2]
Sloviter was nominated by PresidentJimmy Carter on April 4, 1979, to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on June 19, 1979, and received her commission on June 21, 1979, becoming the first woman to serve on the Third Circuit and the fourth woman to serve on a United States Court of Appeals.[2] She served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1998.[2] Sloviter assumedsenior status on June 21, 2013, the 34th anniversary of her appointment to the bench.[2][3] Although Sloviter had been eligible to take senior status for some time, she long opted not to do so, preferring instead to remain an "active" judge, with a full caseload and full voting rights. On April 4, 2016, then-Chief JudgeTheodore McKee announced that Judge Sloviter would assume "inactive status" and stop hearing cases due to a serious medical condition, but she would remain active within the court's committees.[4] Sloviter died on October 12, 2022, at the age of 90.[2][5]
In 1996, Sloviter was a member of a three-judge panel of theEastern District of Pennsylvania which heard a challenge to theCommunications Decency Act, Title V of theTelecommunications Act of 1996, on grounds that it abridged the free speech provisions of theFirst Amendment. On June 12, 1996, their decision blocked enforcement of the act, ruling that it was unconstitutional, in addition to being unworkable and impractical from a technical standpoint. The "Findings of Fact" document — written for the case by Judges Sloviter,Ronald L. Buckwalter, andStewart Dalzell — was posted on the Internet and cited as a lucid introduction to the Internet and related software. TheU.S. Supreme Court upheld their ruling on June 18, 1997, inReno v. ACLU.
In 2007, one of her former clerks,Saira Rao, published a book commonly assumed to be based on the author's experience working for Sloviter.[6][7]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629 | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 1979–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 1991–1998 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
