Dolores Korman Sloviter (September 5, 1932 – October 12, 2022) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.[1]
Dolores Korman Sloviter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office June 21, 2013 – October 12, 2022 | |
| Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office February 1, 1991 – January 31, 1998 | |
| Preceded by | A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Edward R. Becker |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office June 21, 1979 – June 21, 2013 | |
| Appointed by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629 |
| Succeeded by | Cheryl Ann Krause |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 5, 1932 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 2022 (aged 90) Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Temple University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (LLB) |
Education and career
editBorn to a Jewish-American family in 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sloviter attended Philadelphia High School for Girls. She graduated from Temple University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree and received her Bachelor of Laws in 1956 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served as a Comments Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. She was a law clerk for the City of Philadelphia Law Department in 1955. Sloviter was in private law practice in Philadelphia until she became an Associate Professor of law at Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1972 and a Professor of Law at Temple in 1974, serving until 1979.[2]
Federal judicial service
editSloviter was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 4, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 19, 1979, and received her commission on June 21, 1979, becoming the first woman to serve on the Third Circuit and the fourth woman to serve on a United States Court of Appeals.[2] She served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1998.[2] Sloviter assumed senior status on June 21, 2013, the 34th anniversary of her appointment to the bench.[2][3] Although Sloviter had been eligible to take senior status for some time, she long opted not to do so, preferring instead to remain an "active" judge, with a full caseload and full voting rights. On April 4, 2016, then-Chief Judge Theodore McKee announced that Judge Sloviter would assume "inactive status" and stop hearing cases due to a serious medical condition, but she would remain active within the court's committees.[4] Sloviter died on October 12, 2022, at the age of 90.[2][5]
Notable case
editIn 1996, Sloviter was a member of a three-judge panel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which heard a challenge to the Communications Decency Act, Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, on grounds that it abridged the free speech provisions of the First Amendment. On June 12, 1996, their decision blocked enforcement of the act, ruling that it was unconstitutional, in addition to being unworkable and impractical from a technical standpoint. The "Findings of Fact" document — written for the case by Judges Sloviter, Ronald L. Buckwalter, and Stewart Dalzell — was posted on the Internet and cited as a lucid introduction to the Internet and related software. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld their ruling on June 18, 1997 in Reno v. ACLU.
Book
editIn 2007, one of her former clerks, Saira Rao, published a book commonly assumed to be based on the author's experience working for Sloviter.[6][7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Judge Sloviter, a "trailblazer" and "true legal giant," assumes inactive status". 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Dolores Korman Sloviter at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "Sloviter, Former Chief Judge of Third Circuit, Is Set to Step Down - The Legal Intelligencer".
- ^ https://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/CTA3-PRESSRELEASE-4-4-16.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Honorable Dolores SLOVITER Obituary (2022) The Philadelphia Inquirer". Legacy.com. October 17, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ "'Chambermaid: Judge Sloviter Speaks". 24 July 2007.
- ^ "Archives - Philly.com". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015.
Sources
edit- Dolores Korman Sloviter at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Lewis, Peter H. "Personal Computers: An Internet Primer by 3 Newbies". The New York Times. June 18, 1996. p. C11.
External links
edit- Dolores Sloviter at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Transcript of Interview with Professor Judge Dolores Sloviter, Catharine Krieps, University of Pennsylvania Law School, April 2, 1999
- Appearances on C-SPAN