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Helene White

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Helene White
United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Tenure
2022 - Present
Years in position
3
Prior offices:
United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Years in office: 2008 - 2022
Successor:Stephanie Dawkins Davis (Nonpartisan)
Education
Bachelor's
Barnard College, 1975
Law
University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1978
Personal
Birthplace
New York

Helene N. White is afederal judge onsenior status with theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. She joined the court on August 8, 2008, after being nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush (R). She assumed senior status on June 13, 2022.[1]

On November 22, 2021, White announced that she would assumesenior status upon the confirmation of her successor.[2]

Biography

Education

A native of Jackson Heights,New York, White earned her bachelor's degree from Barnard College in 1975 and herJ.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1978.[1]

Professional career

Judicial career

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Helene N. White
Court:United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 70 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: April 15, 2008
ApprovedAABA Rating:Majority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: May 7, 2008
Hearing Transcript:Hearing Transcript
QFRs:(Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: June 12, 2008 
ApprovedAConfirmed: June 24, 2008
ApprovedAVote: 63-32

White was nominated to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit by PresidentGeorge W. Bush to a seat vacated by JudgeSusan Neilson. TheAmerican Bar Association rated WhiteMajority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified for the nomination.[3] Hearings on White's nomination were held before theUnited States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on May 7, 2008, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen.Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on June 12, 2008. White was confirmed on a recorded 63-32 vote of theU.S. Senate on June 24, 2008, and she received her commission on August 8, 2008.[1][4]

Prior to her 2008 confirmation, White was nominated by PresidentBill Clinton during the 105th, 106th, and 107th Congresses to succeed JudgeDamon Keith on theSixth Circuit Court of Appeals. TheSenate Judiciary Committee never considered White's nomination. Judge Keith was succeeded by JudgeRichard Griffin.[5][6][7]

Noteworthy cases

Sixth Circuit narrows applications ofChevron deference in criminal contexts (2021)

A divided three-judge panel of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on March 25, 2021, limited applicationsChevron deference in the criminal context in itsGun Owners of America v. Garland decision, which invalidated the Trump administration’s bump stock ban.[8][9]

The court declined to applyChevron deference to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm's statutory interpretation supporting the agency’s rule that allowed bump stocks to be classified as machine guns. The court held thatChevron deference did not apply because the law in question was a criminal statute. The court also found that the district court should have permitted the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction to block the rule.[8][9]

“Consistent with our precedent and mandated by separation-of-powers and fair-notice concerns,” wrote JudgeAlice Batchelder in the opinion, “we hold that an administering agency's interpretation of a criminal statute is not entitled to Chevron deference.”[8][9]

JudgeEric Murphy joined Judge Batchelder in the opinion. Judge Helene White dissented.[9]

Judge White disagreed with the court’s limitation onChevron deference. “The Supreme Court has appliedChevron in the criminal context in three binding decisions—Chevron itself,Babbitt, andO'Hagan—and has never purported to overrule those cases,” she wrote.[8][9]

The court remanded the case to the district court and eliminated the possibility of a nationwide injunction by limiting any subsequent injunctions to the four states within the Sixth Circuit.[8][9]

SCOTUS reverses Sixth Circuit panel in First Amendment employment discrimination claim (2012)

See also:United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC)

On January 11, 2012, theU.S. Supreme Courtreversed the judgment of a three-judge panel of theSixth Circuit. JudgeHelene White issued a concurring opinion in the case.

After being dismissed by her employer, aMichigan-based evangelical church and school, Cheryl Perich filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which authorized a lawsuit. Perich filed a suit against the school in a federal district court. The school moved to dismiss Perich's lawsuit, arguing that the First Amendment provided a ministerial exception for the school's termination decision. The exception permits religious institutions greater latitude over employment actions. The district court grantedsummary judgment in favor of the school. A three-judge panel of theSixth Circuit, in an opinion by JudgeEric Clay,vacated the lower court judgment and ordered the district court to proceed to a merits trial. The circuit panel concluded that Perich did not qualify as a minister under the exception, noting that her duties were akin to those of lay teacher.

In a concurring opinion, JudgeHelene White ultimately sided with the panel, but noted that the case law on which the panel relied lead Judge White to note, "Perich's daily duties resemble to some extent those of the plaintiffs in each of these cases, including those in which the courts found the plaintiffs' 'primary duties' to be ministerial in nature." White agreed, however, that the exception did not apply in this case.[10]

Writing for a unanimousU.S. Supreme Court,Chief JusticeJohn G. Robertsreversed the circuit panel, holding that "the interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important. But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith, and carry out their mission. When a minister who has been fired sues her church alleging that her termination was discriminatory, the First Amendment has struck the balance for us. The church must be free to choose those who will guide it on its way."[11][12]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑1.01.11.21.3Federal Judicial Center, "White, Helene N.," accessed December 14, 2021
  2. ↑U.S. Courts, "Future Judicial Vacancies," accessed December 14, 2021
  3. ↑American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 110th Congress," accessed November 30, 2016
  4. ↑United States Congress, "PN1560 — Helene N. White — The Judiciary," accessed November 30, 2016
  5. ↑United States Congress, "PN 26 — Helene N. White — The Judiciary," accessed November 30, 2016
  6. ↑United States Congress, "PN 48 — Helene N. White — The Judiciary," accessed November 30, 2016
  7. ↑United States Congress, "PN 8 — Helene N. White — The Judiciary," accessed November 30, 2016
  8. ↑8.08.18.28.38.4Reason, "Divided Sixth Circuit Panel Rejects Chevron Deference for Interpretation of Criminal Statute," March 25, 2021
  9. ↑9.09.19.29.39.49.5United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, "Gun Owners of America v. Garland," March 25, 2021
  10. ↑U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit,EEOC v. Hosanna Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, March 9, 2010
  11. ↑Supreme Court of the United States,Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, January 11, 2012
  12. ↑Oyez.org, "Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC," accessed October 13, 2017

Political offices
Preceded by
-		United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
2008-2022		Succeeded by
Stephanie Dawkins Davis
US-CourtOfAppeals-6thCircuit-Seal.png
v • e
Federal judges who have served theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Active judges

Chief Judge: Jeffrey Sutton  •  Raymond Kethledge  •  Amul Thapar  •  Eric Clay  •  Richard Griffin  •  Karen Moore  •  Joan Larsen  •  Stephanie Dawkins Davis  •  John K. Bush  •  John Nalbandian  •  Eric Murphy  •  Chad Readler  •  Andre Mathis  •  Rachel Bloomekatz  •  Kevin Ritz

Senior judges

Helene White  •  Alice Batchelder  •  Ralph Guy  •  James L. Ryan  •  Alan Norris  •  Richard Suhrheinrich  •  Martha Daughtrey  •  David McKeague  •  Deborah Cook  •  Julia Gibbons  •  John M. Rogers (Sixth Circuit)  •  Ronald Gilman  •  Danny Boggs  •  R. Guy Cole  •  Eugene Siler  •  Jane Stranch  •  

Former judgesDamon Keith  •  Bernice Donald  •  Gilbert Merritt  •  Cornelia Kennedy  •  Boyce Martin  •  Julian William Mack  •  Harry Wellford  •  Robert Krupansky  •  Leroy Contie  •  Herbert Milburn  •  Albert Engel  •  Pierce Lively  •  Halmer Hull Emmons  •  John Baxter  •  William E. Miller  •  Howell Edmunds Jackson  •  William Howard Taft  •  Horace Harmon Lurton  •  Henry Franklin Severens  •  William Rufus Day  •  Loyal Edwin Knappen  •  John Kelvey Richards  •  Arthur Carter Denison  •  John Wesley Warrington  •  Maurice Donahue  •  John Weld Peck  •  Smith Hickenlooper  •  Xenophon Hicks  •  Charles Casper Simons  •  Charles Harwood Moorman  •  Florence Ellinwood Allen  •  Elwood Hamilton  •  John Donelson Martin (Federal appeals court judge)  •  Herschel Arant  •  Shackelford Miller  •  Wade Hampton McCree, Jr.  •  Henry Brooks  •  Clifford O'Sullivan  •  Paul Weick  •  Lester Cecil  •  John Peck II  •  Bailey Brown  •  Anthony Celebrezze  •  Bertram Combs  •  George Edwards (Sixth Circuit)  •  Thomas McAllister  •  Nathaniel Jones (federal judge)  •  Susan Neilson  •  Harry Phillips  •  David Aldrich Nelson  •  
Former Chief judges

Alice Batchelder  •  Gilbert Merritt  •  Boyce Martin  •  Danny Boggs  •  Albert Engel  •  Pierce Lively  •  R. Guy Cole  •  Xenophon Hicks  •  Charles Casper Simons  •  Florence Ellinwood Allen  •  John Donelson Martin (Federal appeals court judge)  •  Shackelford Miller  •  Paul Weick  •  Lester Cecil  •  George Edwards (Sixth Circuit)  •  Thomas McAllister  •  Harry Phillips  •  


George W. Bush
v • e
Federal judges nominated byGeorge W. Bush
2001

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2003

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Yeakel
2004

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2005

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2006

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2007

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2008

Agee •Anello •Arguello •Brimmer •Gardephe •Goldberg •Jones •Kethledge •Lawrence •Matsumoto •Melgren •Murphy •Scriven •Seibel •Slomsky •Trenga •Waddoups •White