Jane Stranch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
| Assumed office July 14, 2025 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
| In office September 15, 2010 – July 14, 2025 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Martha Craig Daughtrey |
| Succeeded by | Whitney Hermandorfer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kathy Jane Branstetter (1953-09-17)September 17, 1953 (age 72) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education | University of Tennessee (attended) Vanderbilt University (BA,JD) |
Kathy Jane Branstetter Stranch (born September 17, 1953) is asenior United States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Born Kathy Jane Branstetter[1] inNashville,Tennessee, Stranch first attended theUniversity of Virginia from 1971 to 1972 and then theUniversity of Tennessee from 1972 to 1973 and earned no degree. In 1973, Stranch enrolled atVanderbilt University earning aBachelor of Arts degree,summa cum laude, in 1975.[2] She then earned aJuris Doctor fromVanderbilt University Law School in 1978,[2] where she was elected to theOrder of the Coif.[3][4]
Stranch started her professional career at the law firm of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC as alaw clerk working summers and part-time 1975 through the summer of 1978.[2] Following the bar exam, Stranch was promoted to an associate in 1978 and became apartner in 1994.[1] From 1981 through 1983 Stranch, taught a general introductory course in labor law atBelmont University.[5] Early in her career Stranch practiced law in both the state and federal courts with a focus in labor employment,Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), personal injury,worker's compensation,wrongful death, and utility law.[1][2][6] During the latter part of the 1990s, Stranch's practice was mainly complex litigation andclass action work throughout the United States. Many of her cases involved representation of plan participants who had lost their individual account pensions due to fiduciary breaches, often concurrent with corporate scandals.[1] Stranch litigated approximately 85% of her cases before the federal courts and 15% in state courts and other administrative agencies. The vast majority (95%) were in civil proceedings.[1][4]
On August 6, 2009, PresidentBarack Obama announced that he had nominated Stranch to a vacancy on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, to the seat vacated by JudgeMartha Craig Daughtrey, who assumedsenior status on January 1, 2009. Stranch was one of several candidates whomNashvillePost.com had reported in April 2009 was being considered for the seat, along with United States District JudgeWilliam Joseph Haynes Jr., United States District JudgeBernice B. Donald, Nashville criminal defense attorney David Raybin andVanderbilt University Law School ProfessorLisa Schultz Bressman.[7] In addition, in the February 8, 2009NashvilleTennessean, Stranch was interviewed by the newspaper about her interest in the vacancy, and she toldThe Tennessean that "I think there's value in a judge having a great deal of federal experience, but also one who's litigated. I would hope to bring to the bench a fair temperament but also an understanding of what it means to be a litigator in the courts."[6] After a more than one-year wait, theUnited States Senate confirmed Stranch on September 13, 2010, by a 71–21 vote.[8] She waited longer than any other Obama nominee to receive a confirmation vote by the Senate.[9] She received her commission on September 15, 2010.[4] On January 29, 2024, she announced her intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor,[10] and later assumedsenior status on July 14, 2025.[4]
InUnited States v. Edward L. Young, the Sixth Circuit considered whether a mandatory 15-year sentence, as required under theArmed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) constituted cruel and unusual punishment for a convicted felon who possessed seven shotgun shells. Young's prior felony offenses, for burglary, had occurred roughly twenty years before he was found with the shells. On September 11, 2014, a three-judge panel, including Judge Stranch, upheld the sentence.[11] But Judge Stranch wrote a concurrence to express her view on mandatory minimum sentencing: "I therefore join the continuous flood of voices expressing concern that the ACCA and other mandatory minimum laws are ineffective in achieving their purpose and damaging to our federal criminal justice system and our nation. I commend this case as another example of the need to reconsider the ACCA and mandatory sentencing in general."[12]
On December 17, 2021, Stranch wrote the majority opinion in a 2–1 decision upholding a Biden administration requirement that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated fromCOVID-19, and corporations with over 100 employees be either vaccinated or tested weekly.[13][14]
Stranch's husband, James G. Stranch III, is a Nashville attorney who is a partner in the law firm of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings.[15] They have four children, two of whom also practice at the firm.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 2010–2025 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
