Pamela Harris | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Harris in 2022 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit | |
| Assumed office July 29, 2014 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Andre M. Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-09-23)September 23, 1962 (age 63) Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Yale University (BA,JD) |
Pamela Ann Harris (born September 23, 1962) is aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench, she was anassociate professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, and visiting professor at theGeorgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.
Harris graduated fromWalt Whitman High School inBethesda,Maryland. She received aBachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1985 fromYale College. She received aJuris Doctor in 1990 fromYale Law School. She served as alaw clerk to JudgeHarry T. Edwards of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, from 1990 to 1991. She worked as an associate at the law firm of Shea & Gardner (nowGoodwin Procter LLP) inWashington, D.C. from 1991 to 1992. She served as a law clerk to JusticeJohn Paul Stevens of theUnited States Supreme Court, from 1992 to 1993.[1]
Harris served as an attorney-advisor in theUnited States Department of Justice'sOffice of Legal Counsel, from 1993 to 1996. From 1996 to 1999, she was an associate professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, earning the Harvey Levin Memorial Teaching Award. She previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Policy at theUnited States Department of Justice. She joinedO'Melveny & Myers LLP as counsel in 1999, where she specialized in appellate and Supreme Court litigation, becoming partner in 2005. Beginning in 2007, concurrently with her private practice, she co-directedHarvard Law School's Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Clinic and was a visiting professor atGeorgetown University Law Center. In 2009, she was named the Executive Director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown, serving in that position until 2010, when she joined theOffice of Legal Policy. She returned to Georgetown in 2012 and served in that capacity until her appointment as a federal judge in 2014.[1]
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On May 8, 2014, PresidentBarack Obama nominated Harris to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, to the seat vacated by JudgeAndre M. Davis, who assumedsenior status on February 28, 2014.[2] She received a hearing on her nomination on Tuesday, June 24, 2014.[3] On July 17, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 10–8 vote.[4] On July 22, 2014, U.S. Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid filed for cloture on Harris's nomination. On July 24, 2014, theUnited States Senate invokedcloture on her nomination by a 54–41 vote.[5] On July 28, 2014, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–43 vote.[6] She received her judicial commission the next day.[7]
In 2024, Judge Harris wrote theFourth Circuit's majority opinion inBillard v. Charlotte Catholic High School, where she held that a parochial school could fire a secondary English and drama teacher for being gay.[8] Harris, who was joined by Circuit JudgePaul V. Niemeyer, held that religious schools have a constitutional right to select their own "ministers" who adhere to Catholic teachings.[9] In upholding the English and drama teacher's dismissal, Harris wrote that he "may have been teaching Romeo and Juliet, but he was doing so after consultation with religious teachers to ensure that he was teaching through a faith-based lens."[10]
Harris is married to Austin Schlick,[11] Executive Director of theU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission[12] and formerFederal Communications Commission general counsel.[13]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 2014–present | Incumbent |