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Ann Williams

Prior offices:

United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Years in office: 2017 - 2018

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Years in office: 1999 - 2017

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United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Years in office: 1985 - 1999

Education

Bachelor's

Wayne State University, 1970

Law

University of Notre Dame Law School, 1975

Graduate

University of Michigan, 1972

Personal

Birthplace

Detroit, MI

Ann Williams was afederal judge onsenior status with theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. She joined the court in 1999 after being nominated by PresidentBill Clinton. Prior to joining the Seventh Circuit, Williams served on theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[1] Williams retired from senior status on January 16, 2018.

Early life and education

A native ofDetroit, Michigan, Williams graduated from Wayne State University with her bachelor's degree in 1970 and from the University of Michigan with her master's degree in 1972. Williams earned herJ.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1975.^[1]

Professional career

• 1999 - 2017:United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

• 2017 - 2018: Senior judge
• 1999-2017: Judge

• 1985-1999: Judge,United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• 1979 - Present: Adjunct professor and lecturer, John Marshall Law School,Chicago, Ill.
• 1979 - Present: Adjunct professor and lecturer, Northwestern University Law School, Evanston,Ill.
• 1976-1985:Assistant U.S. Attorney,Northern District of Illinois

• 1980-1983: Deputy chief, Criminal receiving and appellate division
• 1983-1985: Chief, Organized crime drug enforcement task force, Northern Central region

• 1975-1976: Law clerk, Hon.Robert Sprecher,United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit^[1]

Judicial nominations and appointments

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Ann C. Williams
Court:United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 97 days after nomination.
ANominated: August 5, 1999
AABA Rating:Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: October 26, 1999
QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: November 4, 1999
AConfirmed: November 10, 1999
AVote: Voice vote

Williams was nominated to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit by PresidentBill Clinton on August 5, 1999, to a seat vacated by JudgeWalter J. Cummings Jr. TheAmerican Bar Association rated WilliamsUnanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.^[2] Hearings on Williams' nomination were held before theUnited States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on October 26, 1999, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen.Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on November 4, 1999. Williams was confirmed by the Senate on November 10, 1999, on a voice vote and she received her commission on November 15, 1999. Williams elected to takesenior status beginning on June 5, 2017.^[1][3] Williams retired from senior status on January 16, 2018.

Northern District of Illinois

Williams was first nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by PresidentRonald Reagan on October 5, 1984, to a new judgeship created by 98 Stat. 353. Under Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the standing rules of the Senate, her nomination was returned to President Reagan on October 18, 1984. President Reagan resubmitted her nomination on March 13, 1985. Hearings on her nomination were held before theSenate Judiciary Committee on March 26, 1985, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) on April 3, 1985; she was confirmed by the Senate the same day. Judge Williams received her commission on April 4, 1985, and she served on the district court until November 17, 1999, when she resigned upon her elevation to the Seventh Circuit. Williams was succeeded in this position by JudgeJoan Lefkow.^[1][4][5]

Pathways to the bench

Judge Hopkins was featured in the U.S. Courts "Pathways to the Bench" education program.

Potential Supreme Court nominee

It was reported in the April 21, 2010, edition ofThe Los Angeles Times that Judge Williams was on a list of ten potential candidates who could succeed Supreme Court JusticeJohn Paul Stevens. Judge Williams was the first African-American to ever be confirmed to be a District Judge in theSeventh Circuit after PresidentRonald Reagan nominated her to theNorthern District of Illinois in 1985.

Also, Williams earned the distinction as the first African-American to be elevated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1993 when PresidentBill Clinton nominated Williams.^[6]

Awards and associations

• 2009: Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, American Judicature Society^[7]

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

External links

• Judge Williams' biography from theFederal Judicial Center

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Active judges	•  Amy St. Eve  •  Frank Easterbrook  •  John Z. Lee (United States Court of Appeals judge)  •  Michael B. Brennan (Wisconsin)  •  Michael Scudder  •  Joshua Kolar  •  Doris Pryor  •  Thomas Kirsch  •  Candace Jackson-Akiwumi  •  Nancy Maldonado  •  Rebecca Taibleson
Senior judges	Diane Sykes  •  Diane Wood  •  Daniel Manion  •  Ilana Rovner  •  David Hamilton (Seventh Circuit)  •  Kenneth Ripple  •
Former judges	John Paul Stevens  •  Ann Williams (Federal judge)  •  Julian William Mack  •  Terence Evans  •  Joel Flaum  •  Michael Kanne  •  Richard Posner  •  John Coffey (Seventh Circuit)  •  Jesse Eschbach  •  Walter Quintin Gresham  •  William Bauer  •  Richard Cudahy  •  Thomas Fairchild  •  Philip Tone  •  William Allen Woods  •  James Graham Jenkins (Wisconsin)  •  William Henry Seaman  •  John William Showalter  •  Peter Stenger Grosscup  •  Christian Cecil Kohlsaat  •  Albert Barnes Anderson (federal judge)  •  Francis Elisha Baker  •  Samuel Alschuler  •  Evan Alfred Evans  •  Louis FitzHenry  •  George True Page  •  Walter Lindley  •  William Morris Sparks  •  James Earl Major  •  Walter Treanor  •  Francis Duffy  •  Otto Kerner, Sr.  •  Otto Kerner, Jr.  •  Harlington Wood  •  Winfred Knoch  •  William Parkinson (Indiana)  •  Luther Swygert  •  Sherman Minton  •  Latham Castle  •  Walter Cummings  •  Philip Finnegan  •  John Hastings  •  Roger Kiley  •  Wilbur Pell  •  Elmer Schnackenberg  •  Robert Sprecher  •  Hardress Swaim  •  Amy Coney Barrett  •
Former Chief judges	Diane Sykes  •  Diane Wood  •  Joel Flaum  •  Richard Posner  •  William Bauer  •  Thomas Fairchild  •  William Morris Sparks  •  James Earl Major  •  Francis Duffy  •  Luther Swygert  •  Latham Castle  •  Walter Cummings  •  John Hastings  •

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Active judges	Chief Judge: Virginia Kendall  •  Robert Dow  •  Sharon Coleman  •  Edmond E. Chang  •  Jorge L. Alonso  •  Franklin U. Valderrama  •  John Tharp, Jr.  •  Mary Rowland  •  Sara Lee Ellis  •  Andrea R. Wood  •  Manish Shah  •  Iain D. Johnston  •  John Robert Blakey  •  LaShonda A. Hunt  •  Martha Pacold  •  Steven Seeger  •  John Kness  •  Jeffrey Cummings  •  Sunil Harjani  •  Lindsay Jenkins  •  Jeremy Daniel  •  Georgia Alexakis  •  April Perry
Senior judges	Marvin Aspen  •  Elaine Bucklo  •  Suzanne Conlon  •  Robert Gettleman  •  Joan Gottschall  •  Ronald Guzman  •  Frederick Kapala  •  Matthew Kennelly  •  Charles Kocoras  •  Joan Lefkow  •  George Marovich  •  Charles Norgle  •  Rebecca Pallmeyer  •  Philip Reinhard  •  James Zagel  •  Thomas M. Durkin  •
Magistrate judges	Jeffrey Cole  •  Susan Cox  •  Maria Valdez  •  Sheila Finnegan  •  Jeffrey Gilbert  •  Young Kim (Illinois)  •  Daniel G. Martin  •  David Weisman  •  Gabriel Fuentes  •  Lisa Jensen  •  Beth Jantz  •  Heather McShain  •  Margaret Schneider  •
Former Article III judges	James Holderman  •  Wayne Andersen  •  Ruben Castillo  •  David Coar  •  John Darrah  •  Samuel Der-Yeghiayan  •  John F. Grady  •  William Hart  •  William Hibbler  •  Harry Leinenweber  •  George Lindberg  •  Blanche Manning  •  James B. Moran  •  John Nordberg  •  Ann Williams (Federal judge)  •  Paul Plunkett  •  Joel Flaum  •  Brian Duff  •  Ilana Rovner  •  Mark Filip  •  Milton Shadur  •  Thomas Drummond  •  Henry Williams Blodgett  •  William Bauer  •  Philip Tone  •  Peter Stenger Grosscup  •  Christian Cecil Kohlsaat  •  Solomon Hicks Bethea  •  Kenesaw Mountain Landis  •  George Albert Carpenter  •  Adam Cliffe  •  James Herbert Wilkerson  •  John Peter Barnes  •  George Johnson (Illinois)  •  William Harrison Holly  •  Philip Leo Sullivan  •  Michael Igoe  •  William Lynch (Illinois)  •  James Alesia  •  Richard Austin  •  Nicholas Bua  •  William Campbell (Illinois)  •  John Crowley (Illinois)  •  Bernard Decker  •  Susan Getzendanner  •  Julius Hoffman  •  Alfred Kirkland  •  Winfred Knoch  •  Walter LaBuy  •  George Leighton  •  Abraham Marovitz  •  Prentice Marshall  •  Frank McGarr  •  Richard McLaren  •  Thomas McMillen  •  Julius Miner  •  Alexander Napoli  •  James B. Parsons  •  Joseph Perry (Illinois)  •  Edwin Robson  •  Stanley Roszkowski  •  Elwyn Shaw  •  Hubert Will  •  Charles Woodward  •  Gary Feinerman  •  John Z. Lee (Illinois)  •  Nancy Maldonado  •
Former Chief judges	Marvin Aspen  •  Ruben Castillo  •  John F. Grady  •  Charles Kocoras  •  James B. Moran  •  Rebecca Pallmeyer  •  John Peter Barnes  •  Philip Leo Sullivan  •  William Campbell (Illinois)  •  Frank McGarr  •  James B. Parsons  •  Edwin Robson  •

v • e Federal judges nominated byRonald Reagan
1981	Bartlett •Beam •Becker •Bork •Cacheris •Cardamone •Chapman •Coughenour •Cox •Crow •Cyr •Doumar •Eschbach •Forrester •Garwood •Gibson •Glasser •Hall •Hamilton •Head •Jones •Kiser •Krenzler •Lee •Magnuson •McLaughlin •Miner •Moore •Nowlin •O'Connor •Pierce •Posner •Potter •Russell •Ryan •Shabaz •Sprizzo •Stevens •Waters •Wilhoit •Wilkins •Winter
1982	Acker •Acosta •Altimari •Bell •Bissell •Black •Bullock •Caldwell •Coffey •Contie •Coyle •Dowd •Fagg •Fong •Fox •Gadbois •Gibson •Ginsburg •Hart •Higginbotham •Hogan •Irving •Jackson •Jolly •Kanne •Kovachevich •Krupansky •Lynch •Mansmann •McNamara •Mencer •Mentz •Mihm •Moody •Nordberg •Paul •Pieras •Plunkett •Porfilio •Potter •Pratt •Rafeedie •Restani •Roberts •Scalia •Selya •Telesca •Wellford
1983	Baldock •Barbour •Barry •Bowman •Carman •Carter •Curran •Davis •Dorsey •Feldman •Fish •Flaum •Gibbons •Hallanan •Harris •Hinojosa •Hull •Hupp •Katz •Keenan •Kelly •Kram •Laffitte •Limbaugh, Sr. •Limbaugh, Sr. •Milburn •Nesbitt •Nevas •O'Neill •Rymer •Sharp •Starr •Vinson •Vukasin •Wexler • Woods
1984	Barker •Beezer •Biggers •Billings •Bissell •Boyle •Brewster •Browning •DiCarlo •Duhe •Garcia •George •Hall •Hargrove •Higgins •Hill •Holland •Ideman •Jarvis •Keller •Leavy •Lee •Legge •Leisure •Little •Livaudais •Longobardi •McKibben •Milburn •Newman •Norgle •Prado •Rea •Rosenblatt •Rovner •Scirica •Smith, Jr. •Sneeden •Stotler •Suhrheinrich •Torruella •Wiggins •Wilkinson
1985	Alley •Altimari •Anderson •Aquilino •Archer •Arnold •Baldock •Batchelder •Battey •Broomfield •Brown •Brown •Brunetti •Buckley •Cobb •Conmy •Cowen •Davidson •Dimmick •Duff •Easterbrook •Edgar •Farnan •Fernandez •Fitzpatrick •Fuste •Greene •Gunn •Guy •Hall •Hilton •Holderman •Hughes •Johnson •Jones •Korman •Kozinski •La Plata •Leinenweber •Letts •Lovell •Ludwig •Maloney •Mansmann •Marcus •McDonald •Meredith •Miller •Mills •Miner •Motz •Nelson •Noonan •Porfilio •Revercomb •Rhoades •Ripple •Rodriguez •Rosenbaum •Roth •Ryan •Sam •Scott •Sentelle •Silberman •Sporkin •Stanton •Stapleton •Strand •Strom •Tacha •Tevrizian •Thompson •Todd •Tsoucalas •Walker •Walter •Weber •Williams •Wilson •Wingate •Wolf •Wollman •Young •Zloch
1986	Anderson •Boggs •Bryan •Cedarbaum •Cholakis •Conway •Davies •Dearie •Dubina •Duggan •Edmondson •Fawsett •Fitzwater •Gex •Graham •Hackett •Hansen •Henderson •Hittner •Howard •Jensen •Kay •Kleinfeld •Kosik •Lagueux •Lechner •Magill •Mahoney •Manion •McAvoy •McQuade •Norris •O'Scannlain •Rehnquist •Ryskamp •Scalia •Selya •Simpson •Smalkin •Spencer •Stiehl •Wilkins •Williams •Woodlock •Zatkoff
1987	Alesia •Beam •Bell •Conboy •Cowen •Cummings •Daronco •Doty •Dwyer •Ebel •Ellis •Gadola •Gawthrop •Greenberg •Harrington •Howard •Hoyt •Hutchinson •Kanne •Kelly •Larimer •Leavy •Lew •Marsh •Mayer •McKinney •Michel •Mukasey •Musgrave •Niemeyer •Parker •Phillips •Politan •Pro •Raggi •Reasoner •Reed •Scirica •Sentelle • Smith •Smith •Stadtmueller •Standish •Tinder •Torres •Trott •Turner •Van Antwerpen •Voorhees •Webb •Whipple •Wolin •Wolle •Wood •Zagel
1988	Arcara •Babcock •Brorby •Butler •Cambridge •Camp •Conlon •Cox •Dubois •Duhe •Ezra •Forester •Friedman •Garza •Hutton •Jordan •Kennedy •Lake •Lamberth •Lifland •Lozano •Marovich •Nygaard •Patterson •Schell •Smith •Smith •Tilley •Waldman •Zilly

v • e Federal judges nominated byBill Clinton
1993	Adams •Ambrose •Barnes •Brinkema •Bucklew •Chasanow •Coffman •Daughtrey •Ferguson •Ginsburg •Hagen •Jackson •Lancaster •Leval •Lindsay •Messitte •Michael •Piersol •Saris •Schwartz •Seybert •Shanahan •Shaw •Stearns •Trager •Vazquez •Wilken •Wilson
1994	Baer •Barkett •Batts •Beaty •Benavides •Bennett •Berrigan •Biery •Block •Borman •Breyer •Briones •Bryson •Bucklo •Burgess •Burrage •Cabranes •Calabresi •Carr •Casellas •Castillo •Chatigny •Chin •Cindrich •Coar •Collins •Cooper •Cote •Currie •Davis •Dominguez •Downes •Duval •Friedman •Furgeson •Garcia •Gertner •Gettleman •Gillmor •Gilmore •Gleeson •Haggerty •Hamilton •Hannah •Hawkins •Henry •Holmes •Hood •Hull •Hurley •Jack •Jones •Jones •Kaplan •Katz •Kern •Kessler •Koeltl •Lisi •Manning •McKee •McLaughlin •Melancon •Miles-LaGrange •Moore •Motz •Murphy •O'Malley •O'Meara •Oliver •Paez •B. Parker •F. Parker •R. Parker •Perry •Ponsor •Pooler •Porteous •Rendell • Riley •Robertson •Rogers •Ross •Russell •Sands •Sarokin •Scheindlin •Silver •Squatrito •Stewart •Sullivan •Tatel •Thompson •Timlin •Urbina •Vanaskie •Vance •Walls •Wells •Williams
1995	Arterton •Atlas •Black •Blake •Briscoe •Tena Campbell •Todd Campbell •Chesney •Cole •Collier •Daniel •Davis •Dennis •Dlott •Donald •Duffy •Economus •Evans •Fallon •Folsom •Gaughan •Goodwin •Heartfield •Hunt •Illston •Jones •King •Kornmann •Lawson •Lenard •Lucero •Lynch •McKinley •Moody •Moore •Moskowitz •Murphy •Murtha •Nugent •O'Toole •Orlofsky •Pogue •Sessions •C. Smith •O. Smith •Stein •Thornburg •Tunheim •Wallach •Wardlaw •Webber •Whaley •Winmill • Wood
1996	Broadwater •Clevert •Fenner •Gershon •Gottschall •Greenaway •Hinkle •Jones •Kahn •Laughrey •Lemmon •Marten •Miller •Molloy •Montgomery •Pregerson •Rakoff •Sargus •Tashima •Thomas •Zapata
1997	Adelman •Bataillon •Breyer •Caputo •Casey •Chambers •Clay •Damrell •Droney •Friedman •Gajarsa •Garland •Gilman •Gold •Gwin •Hall •Hayden •Hull •Ishii •Jenkins •Kauffman •Kennedy •Kimball •Kollar-Kotelly •Lazzara •Marbley •Marcus •Middlebrooks •Miller •Moon •Pratt •Rendell •Sippel •Siragusa •Snyder •Thrash
1998	Aiken •Barbier •Barzilay •Berman •Buttram •Carter •Collins •Dawson •Dimitrouleas •Fletcher •Fogel •Frank •Graber •Hellerstein •Herndon •James •Johnson •Kane •Kelly •G. King •R. King •Lasnik •Lee •Lemelle •Lindsay •Lipez •Manella •Matz •McCuskey •McKeown •McMahon •Mickle •Mollway •Mordue •Moreno •Morrow •Munley •Murphy •Pallmeyer •Pauley •Polster •Pooler •Rawlinson •Ridgway •R. Roberts •V. Roberts •Sack •Scott •Seitz •Seymour •Shea •Silverman •Sleet •Sotomayor •Steeh •Story •Straub •Tagle •Tarnow •Trauger •Traxler •Tyson •Wardlaw •Whelan •Young
1999	Alsup •Barry •Brown •Buchwald •Cooper •Eaton •Ellison •Feess •Fisher •Gould •Guzman •Haynes •Hibbler •Hochberg •Hurd •Huvelle •Jordan •Katzmann •Kennelly •Linn •Lorenz •Lynn •Marrero •Murguia •Pannell •Pechman •Pepper •Phillips •Schreier •Stewart •Underhill •Ward •Williams •Wilson
2000	Ambro •Antoon •Battani •Berzon •Bolton •Brady •Bye •Cavanaugh •Daniels •Darrah •Dawson •Dyk •Fuentes •Garaufis •Garcia-Gregory •Hamilton •Huck •Hunt •Lawson •Lefkow •Lynch •Martin •McLaughlin •Moody •Murguia •Paez •Pisano •Presnell •Rawlinson •Reagan •Schiller •Singal •Steele •Surrick •Swain •Tallman •Teilborg •Tucker •Whittemore