Patty Shwartz
Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office April 10, 2013
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Maryanne Trump Barry
Personal details
Born	(1961-07-24)July 24, 1961 (age 64) Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Rutgers University, Newark (BA) University of Pennsylvania (JD)

Patty Shwartz (born July 24, 1961) is aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Shwartz was born inPaterson,New Jersey. She grew up inPompton Lakes, New Jersey, where she attendedHebrew school and becamebat mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom. She graduated fromPompton Lakes High School.^[1] Shwartz earned herBachelor of Arts degree fromRutgers University in 1983, with highest honors, and herJuris Doctor fromUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986, where she was a member of theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law Review.^[1]

After graduating from law school, she worked as an associate atPepper, Hamilton & Scheetz.^[2]

Shwartz clerked for JudgeHarold A. Ackerman of theUnited States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 1987 to 1989. She then worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey from 1989 until 2003. During this time she held the following positions: Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division (1995 to 1999), Chief of the Criminal Division (1999 to 2001 and 2002 to 2003) and ExecutiveAssistant United States Attorney (2001 to 2002). Since 2009, Shwartz had taught as an adjunct professor of law atFordham University School of Law andRutgers Law School.^[3][2]

From 2003 to 2013, Shwartz served as aUnited States magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.^[3]

In 2011, as a magistrate judge, Shwartz sentencedrapper Jeffrey Atkins (Ja Rule) to 28 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to failing to filetax returns with theIRS for five tax years, resulted in $1.1 million in tax losses. Ja Rule was also ordered to pay taxes and penalties owed.^[4]

Shwartz was recommended for a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by SenatorFrank Lautenberg. On October 5, 2011 she wasnominated by PresidentBarack Obama to a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.^[3][2] TheAmerican Bar Association'sStanding Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated Shwartz "well qualified" for the post, the committee's highest rating.^[5][6]

In January 2012,The New York Times reported that New Jersey SenatorBob Menendez had not returned hisblue slip for Shwartz's nomination—effectively blocking her nomination, since nominees typically do not go forward without home-state senator support, signified by the return of a blue slip. Menendez gave no public reason why he was blocking the nomination, althoughThe Times noted that Shwartz "has been in a relationship for more than two decades" with the head of the public corruption unit for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, which investigated Menendez in 2006 in an inquiry that Menendez has "long contended was politically motivated."^[7] Some lawyers and judges in New Jersey speculated that Menendez was "acting out of resentment, rather than any concern about Judge Shwartz's qualifications."^[7] Menendez became the first Senate Democrat to block one of President Obama's judicial nominees.^[6] The next day, Menendez said that "substantive" rather than personal or "political" concerns about Shwartz's nomination, questioning her "breadth of knowledge of constitutional law."^[6] Menendez's opposition effectively derailed her nomination at the time.^[6]

On January 13, 2012, after meeting again with Shwartz and having what he characterized as an "in-depth discussion," Menendez announced that he would support Shwartz's nomination and return his blue slip, paving the way for theSenate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on Shwartz.^[8]The Times reported that in response to Menendez's obstruction, the White House had been declining to nominate U.S. Magistrate JudgeMichael A. Shipp, Menendez’s choice, to a vacancy on theDistrict Court for the District of New Jersey.^[8] On February 15, 2012, Shwartz received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On March 8, 2012, the Judiciary Committee reported her nomination to the floor of the Senate by a 10–6 vote. On January 2, 2013, Shwartz's nomination was returned to the President, due to thesine die adjournment of the Senate.^[9] On January 3, 2013, at the beginning ofthe new Congress, Obama renominated Shwartz to the judgeship.^[10][11] Her nomination was reported to the floor by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 14, 2013.^[11] The Senate confirmed Shwartz on April 9, 2013, by a 64–34 vote.^[11][12] She received her commission the following day.^[2]

• In 2018, the Third Circuit upheld, in a 2–1 decision, a New Jersey state lawlimiting most gun magazines to a maximum capacity of 10 rounds of ammunition. The decision, written by Shwartz, rejected a request byNational Rifle Association of America affiliates for a temporary injunction to block the limit from coming into effect. In her decision, Shwartz noted "the significant increase in the frequency and lethality" ofmass shootings andactive shooter incidents in the United States, and wrote that the law did not contravene the Second Amendment, noting that the law "imposes no limit on the number of firearms or magazines or amount of ammunition a person may lawfully possess."^[13] JudgeStephanos Bibas dissented.^[13]

• In 2019, the Third Circuit, in a unanimous panel decision by Shwartz, upheld a district court's issuance of anationwide preliminary injunction that blocked theTrump administration from implementing regulations that would allow additional employers to denyhealth insurance coverage for contraceptives. Shwartz's decision held that theAffordable Care Act'scontraception mandate did not give federal agencies the power to establish such an exemption.^[14][15] In asubsequent decision in 2020, the Supreme Court reversed, upholding the Trump administration regulation.^[15]

• In 2019, in a decision written by Shwartz, the Third Circuit upheld the district court's ruling that thePennsylvania Department of Corrections were not immune from a suit brought by inmateMumia Abu-Jamal challenging, oncruel and unusual punishment grounds, the department's refusal to provide him with two anti-hepatitis drugs used to treatHepatitis C. The Third Circuit remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.^[16]

• In 2019, in a decision written by Shwartz, the Third Circuit held that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's collection of tolls on thePennsylvania Turnpike does not violate theCommerce Clause because Congress permitted state authorities to collect such tolls and to use the proceeds for non-Turnpike purposes. The decision also held that the imposition of tolls did not infringe aconstitutional right to travel "because plaintiffs have not alleged that their right to travel to, from, and within Pennsylvania has been deterred." The decision upheld a district court decision dismissing the suit brought by the Owner–Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trucking lobby group.^[17]

• In July 2020, Shwartz wrote for the unanimous panel when it found that a payday lender owned by theOtoe–Missouria Tribe of Indians could not compel arbitration to defeat aRICO class action lawsuit brought by borrowers because thechoice of law clause in the loans had adopted only the tribe's own law.^[18][19]

Shwartz is the longtime companion of James Nobile, the head of the public corruption unit for New Jersey's federal prosecutor.^[7] She has been a resident ofEast Rutherford, New Jersey.^[1]

• Barack Obama judicial appointment controversies
• List of Jewish American jurists

• Patty Shwartz at theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.
• Patty Shwartz atBallotpedia

• 1961 births
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American women judges
• Assistant United States attorneys
• Fordham University faculty
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Lawyers from Paterson, New Jersey
• Living people
• People from East Rutherford, New Jersey
• People from Pompton Lakes, New Jersey
• Pompton Lakes High School alumni
• Rutgers University alumni
• Rutgers School of Law–Newark faculty
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama
• United States magistrate judges
• University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• FJC Bio template with ID same as Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges