| 150th | Top Barnard College people |
| Nancy Gertner | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office February 14, 1994 |
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| Nominated by | Bill Clinton |
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| Preceded by | A. David Mazzone |
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| Born | 1946 New York City, New York |
Nancy Gertner, born in 1946 in New York City, New York, is a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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Gertner received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College in 1967. She received an M.A. and a J.D. from Yale University in 1971.
She was nominated to the seat by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1993 and was confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 1994. Prior to her appointment, she was in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts, and was perhaps most well known for her work as a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer. As both a judge and a private attorney, her career has been marked by controversial cases including abortion,[1] race as a factor in jury selection,[2] and the constitutionality of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines[3].
In a case regarding the admissibility of expert testimony, she ruled in U.S. v. Hines, 55 F.Supp. 2d 62 (D.Mass. 1999) that (i) a handwriting expert could testify to similarities between handwriting samples but not state an opinion about whether the same person wrote both notes, and (ii) that expert witness testimony regarding the reliability of eyewitness testimony, including problems of cross-racial identification, was admissible. The case interpreted new admissibility standards for expert testimony set forth by the Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999).On July 26, 2007, she ordered the federal government to pay a record $101.7 million for withholding evidence that could have exculpated four men wrongfully convicted of murder.[4] The award of $101.7 million is presently being appealled by the Department of Justice at the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. [Limone, et al. v. U.S., et al., Docket No.: 08-1327, 08-1328]. The award has been accruing approximately $100,000 a week in interest that the government will have to pay if it loses the appeal.[5]
Gertner is to date the only Massachusetts judge to post to a personal blog. Though this has resulted in some criticism, Gertner maintains that judges are often too silent on issues they should publicly address.[1]
  | Listing at fjc.gov - Judges of the United States Courts |
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