Helene White
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Helene White | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
Assumed office June 13, 2022 | |
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
In office August 8, 2008 – June 13, 2022 | |
Appointed by | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Susan Bieke Neilson |
Succeeded by | Stephanie D. Davis |
Personal details | |
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | December 2, 1954
Spouse | Charles Levin (divorced) |
Education | Columbia University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (JD) |
Helene N. White (born December 2, 1954) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, she was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Background
Born in
Federal judicial service
Expired Sixth Circuit nomination under Clinton
On January 7, 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated White to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that was vacated by Judge Damon Keith, who assumed senior status on May 1, 1995. With the United States Senate controlled by Republicans during Clinton's entire second term, White's nomination languished for more than four years, chiefly because of objections from Michigan's Republican senator at the time, Spencer Abraham.
Abraham had been angry with Clinton because Abraham previously had aided the president in getting three Democratic judicial nominees from Michigan approved in the Republican-controlled Senate, allegedly on the condition that Clinton make no more nominations to the federal courts from his state. When Clinton nominated White contrary to the previous agreement, Abraham refused to approve her, keeping White's nomination stalled in the
Despite the delays, being picked to sit on a court just one notch below the U.S. Supreme Court "is like being hit by lightning," White told the
Ultimately, White's nomination was returned to the White House when Clinton's presidency ended. White's four year nomination remains one of the single longest federal appeals-court judicial nominations never given a full Senate vote, exceeded only by the failed nomination of Bush nominee Terrence Boyle from 2001 to 2007.
Renomination to Sixth Circuit under Bush
When President George W. Bush took office in 2001, he quickly submitted Republican nominees to fill the two Michigan vacancies that Abraham had refused to allow Clinton to fill. However, Michigan's two Democratic senators, Carl Levin, who was the cousin of White's husband at the time, and Debbie Stabenow, who had defeated Abraham in the 2000 election, consistently tried to block all of Bush's circuit court nominees from Michigan, citing the fact that White and Lewis, the latter of whom eventually died in October 2007, had never received up-or-down votes from the Senate during Clinton's presidency. The two senators were successful in the filibuster of Bush nominee Henry Saad, who later withdrew. But as part of the Gang of 14 deal in May 2005, they finally allowed the confirmation of stalled Bush nominees David McKeague, Richard A. Griffin and Susan Bieke Neilson.
After Neilson's death in 2006 at the age of 49, there were again two Michigan vacancies on the Sixth Circuit. Bush quickly named Raymond Kethledge and United States Attorney Stephen Murphy III to fill the positions. However, after the Democrats regained control of the Senate in November 2006, Levin and Stabenow once again balked at confirming any further Bush nominees from Michigan to the Sixth Circuit.
On April 15, 2008, as part of a deal with Levin and Stabenow, Bush reluctantly renominated White to the Sixth Circuit, more than eleven years after she was first nominated by Clinton. She replaced Murphy as the nominee to fill Neilson's vacated seat, while Murphy was given a Michigan district court nomination in exchange. In return for White's renomination, Levin and Stabenow agreed to allow Kethledge to be confirmed.
White, along with Kethledge and Murphy, received a hearing before the
She announced that she was going to assume senior status upon confirmation of her successor.[4][5] She assumed senior status on June 13, 2022.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "White, Helene N. Resume". United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on Jun 1, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- ^ Abramowitz, Michael (5 May 2008). "Ye Shall Be Judged -- Not". Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2022 – via The Washington Post.
- ^ "Roll Call Vote 110th Congress - 2nd Session - On the Nomination (Confirmation Helene N. White, of Michigan, to be US Circuit Judge)". U.S. Senate. Archived from the original on Jun 26, 2008.
- ^ Rubin, Jordan S. (December 14, 2021). "Three Appeals Court Seats to Open for Biden Nominations". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ Raymond, Nate (December 14, 2021). "Biden gets three seats to fill on 4th, 6th Circuits as judges take senior status". Reuters. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ Helene White at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
External links
- Helene White at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Michigan Court of Appeals bio
- Bray, Thomas J., "Judges and Grudges: Michigan's Democratic senators seek payback," The Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2001.
- Thomas, Ken, "Bush nominates Michigan appellate judge to 6th Circuit slot," The Associated Press, April 15, 2008.
- Egan, Paul, and Trowbridge, Gordon, "U.S. Attorney in Detroit nominated to federal bench," The Detroit News, April 15, 2008.
- Thomas, Ken, "GOP senators question quick action on judicial nominee," AP Google, May 7, 2008.