Cornelia T. L. Pillard
Cornelia T. L. "Nina" Pillard is afederal judge for theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Prior to her appointment, she was a professor at Georgetown University Law Center.[1] In June of 2013,President Obama nominated Pillard for a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[2] Pillard was confirmed to the court by theSenate on December 12, 2013.[3]
Pillard in 2014 wrote a majority opinion affirming a district court's ruling on charges of false arrest and negligent supervision on the part of the District of Columbia and several police officers. Read morebelow.
Early life and education
Pillard earned her B.A. from Yale College, graduatingmagna cum laude in 1983. She went on to earn herJ.D. from Harvard Law in 1987, again graduatingmagna cum laude. She worked as the editor of theHarvard Law Review from 1985 to 1986.[4]
Professional career
- 2013-Present: Judge,United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- 1997-2013: Law Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
- 2008-2009: Academic Co-Director and Professor, Center for Transnational Legal Studies
- 2006: Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies
- 1998-2000: Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
- 1994-1997: Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice
- 1989-1994: Assistant Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
- 1988-1989: Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow,American Civil Liberties Union
- 1987-1988: Clerk to the HonorableLouis Pollak,Eastern District of Pennsylvania[4]
Judicial career
Possible 2016 SCOTUS nominee
Prior to PresidentBarack Obama's nomination ofMerrick Garland, Pillard was mentioned as apossible nominee to replace formerUnited States Supreme Court JusticeAntonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016.[5]
DC Circuit
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Cornelia T. L. Pillard |
| Court:District of Columbia Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 191 days after nomination. |
 ANominated: June 4, 2013 |
| AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified |
| Questionnaire:Questionnaire |
| AHearing: July 24, 2013 |
| QFRs:QFRs(Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| AReported: September 19, 2013 |
| AConfirmed: December 12, 2013 |
| AVote: 51-44 |
On June 4, 2013, PresidentBarack Obama nominated Cornelia T. L. Pillard to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to fill the vacancy left byDouglas Ginsburg upon his retirement.[6] Obama commented on the nomination, stating:
| “ | So these three individuals are highly qualified to serve on the D.C. Circuit. They have broad bipartisan support from across the legal community. The nonpartisan American Bar Association have [sic] given them -- each of them -- its highest rating. These are no slouches. These are no hacks. There are incredibly accomplished lawyers by all accounts. And there are members of Congress here today who are ready to move forward with these nominations, including the Chairman, Patrick Leahy. So there’s no reason -- aside from politics -- for Republicans to block these individuals from getting an up or down vote.[7][8] | ” |
Pillard was rated "Unanimously Well Qualified" by theAmerican Bar Association. Hercommittee questionnaire is available here.[9]
Confirmation hearing
Pillard faced opposition from Republicans during her confirmation hearing on July 23, 2013. SenatorTed Cruz summarized those concerns by saying, "I have concerns about your nomination. The primary source we have are your academic writings, and those writings to me suggest that your views may well be considerably out of the mainstream."[10] Pertaining to the articles she was questioned about, Pillard said, "Academics are paid to test the boundaries and look at the implications of things. As a judge, I would apply established law of the U.S. Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit."[10]
Senators Cruz,Mike Lee,Jeff Flake andChuck Grassley focused on Pillard's opposition to abstinence-only sex education, her interpretation of a religious freedom ruling and an article in which Pillard referred to abortion opponent protesters as "militant." In addition, Grassley reiterated his support for abolishing the three vacant seats on the D.C. Circuit. During the hearing, Grassley read aloud anonymous statements from current judges of the court who favored eliminating the seats.[10]
Senate Judiciary Committee vote
On September 19, 2013, Pillard's nomination was confirmed by theSenate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote of 10-8.[11]
Senate filibuster
On November 13, 2013, the U.S.Senate filibustered Pillard's confirmation. The 56-41 cloture vote wasn't enough to end debate on the candidate, effectively blocking the nomination. This was the second of three such filibusters of nominees to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; the other two happened overPatricia Ann Millett's andRobert L. Wilkins' nominations, which spurred Democrats in theSenate to change the filibuster rules to only require a simple majority instead of the 60 percent majority to close debate on a candidate.[12][13]
Confirmation
Cornelia T. L. Pillard was confirmed by theSenate on December 12, 2013, on a vote of 51-44. Her confirmation came after Senate Democrats changed thefilibuster rules to require only a simple majority to end debate on nominees, referred to as the "Nuclear Option."[3]
Noteworthy cases
D.C. police lacked probable cause for arrest, denied immunity (2014)
- See also:D.C. Circuit (Theodore Wesby et al. v. District of Columbia et al., Nos. 12-7127)
- See also:D.C. Circuit (Theodore Wesby et al. v. District of Columbia et al., Nos. 12-7127)
On March 16, 2008, police inWashington, D.C., were notified of potentially illegal activities taking place at a house party. Officers conducted an investigation and determined that while the attendees were invited to the house by an individual who claimed she had a lease agreement with the homeowner, police discovered that the party attendees did not have the permission of the legal homeowner to be in the home. The police arrested the attendees for unlawful entry, but those charges were later changed to disorderly conduct after a police supervisor consulted with the District of Columbia attorney general's office. The police on scene later testified that they did not witness behavior sufficient to justify a disorderly conduct charge. 16 attendees at the party that were arrested brought suit infederal district court against the District of Columbia (District) and the officers for false arrest and negligent supervision. The court grantedsummary judgment in part as to the District's and the officers' liability, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs on the false arrest and negligent supervision charges. The district court ordered civil awards between $35,000 and $50,000 for each attendee in the suit.
On appeal, a divided three-judge circuit panel consisting of JudgesCornelia T. L. Pillard,Janice Rogers Brown, andHarry Edwards upheld the district court's judgment. Writing for herself and Judge Edwards, Judge Pillard rejected the District's and officers' argument that the officers had probable cause to arrest the attendees for unlawful entry and disorderly conduct, holding that the officers lacked an objective basis to establish probable cause for either charge. Judge Pillard further rejected the officers' claim that they were entitled to qualified immunity on both the unlawful entry and disorderly conduct charges. The court alsoaffirmed the district court's grant ofsummary judgment against the District for negligent supervision, asserting that "the undisputed facts in this case demonstrate that ... one of the District’s supervisory officials, directed his subordinates to make an arrest that he should have known was unsupported by probable cause. That is sufficient to entitle the Plaintiffs to judgment as a matter of law on their negligent supervision claim." Judge Brown dissented in the case.
The District appealed the D.C. Circuit's ruling and theU.S. Supreme Court agreed to hearthe case during the court's2017 term.[14][15]
See also
External links
- Whitehouse.gov, "Remarks by the President on the Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," June 4, 2013
- People for the American Way, "DC Circuit Court of Appeals Nominee Nina Pillard: 10 Things You Should Know," September 18, 2013
- Judge Pillard's biography from theFederal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑Business Week, "Obama Prods Republicans With Picks for D.C. Appeals Court," June 4, 2013
- ↑The Blog of Legal Times, "Obama demands action in nominating three for D.C. Circuit," June 4, 2013
- ↑3.03.1Senate.gov, "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 1st Session," accessed December 12, 2013
- ↑4.04.1Georgetown University Law Center, "CORNELIA T.L. PILLARD C.V.," accessed November 9, 2015
- ↑San Antonio-Express News, "Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch," accessed February 13, 2016
- ↑Whitehouse.gov, "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate," June 4, 2013
- ↑Whitehouse.gov, "Remarks by the President on the Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," June 4, 2013
- ↑Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑United States Committee on the Judiciary, "113th Congress Nomination Materials," accessed December 12, 2013
- ↑10.010.110.2The Blog of Legal Times, "D.C. Circuit Nominee Under Fire on Capitol Hill," July 24, 2013
- ↑Washington Post, "Senate Committee approves Obama nominee for D.C. Circuit," September 20, 2013
- ↑Buffalo News, "Senate acted wisely in curtailing the filibuster," November 23, 2013
- ↑New York Times, "Republicans Again Reject Obama Pick for Judiciary," November 12, 2013
- ↑U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,Theodore Wesby et al. v. District of Columbia et al. September 2, 2014
- ↑Supreme Court of the United States,District of Columbia v. Wesby, January 19, 2017
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| Preceded by - | United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 2013-Present | Succeeded by - |
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