Liam O'Grady

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Liam O'Grady
Judge of the
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
In office
May 1, 2020 – August 18, 2023
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
In office
July 11, 2007 – May 1, 2020
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byClaude M. Hilton
Succeeded byPatricia Tolliver Giles
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
In office
2003–2007
Personal details
Born1950 (age 73–74)
George Mason University (JD
)

Liam O'Grady (born 1950) is a former

Alien Terrorist Removal Court
. He retired in August 2023.

Early life and education

Born in

George Mason University School of Law
in 1977.

Career

O'Grady was in private practice in

assistant United States attorney
of the Eastern District of Virginia from 1986 to 1992.

Federal judicial service

O'Grady was a

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.[2] He retired from active service on August 18, 2023.[1]

Megaupload case

Main article: Megaupload legal case

O'Grady was the presiding judge in extradition proceedings against Kim Dotcom relating to the Megaupload file storage service. During April 2012 he stated: "I frankly don't know that we are ever going to have a trial in this matter," when he found that the company had never been formally served with criminal papers by the US.[3]

In April 2022 O’Grady was replaced as a judge in the RIAA and MPA civil cases against Megaupload[4]

On May 21, 2022 O’Grady was replaced as a judge in both the criminal case against

Disney.[5]

Daniel Hale case

O'Grady was the presiding judge in the case against

whistleblower who leaked approximately 150 documents to a reporter on U.S. drone operations in the Middle East. The documents detailed how the policy of selecting targets was presumptuous rather than thorough; and the targeting was far from precise. In March 2021 Hale pleaded guilty to one count of providing classified information to a reporter.[6]

During sentencing, defense attorneys argued the government had no evidence showing that actual harm had arisen from the leaks, and the fact should be taken into account. In July 2021 O'Grady sentenced Hale to 45 months in prison. It was the second harshest sentence for a whistleblower (the harshest was Reality Winner's sentence of 5 years in prison for whistleblowing).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Liam O'Grady at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. ^ "FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT OF REVIEW | Current and Past Members | April 2023" (PDF). April 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  3. ^ Fisher, David (21 April 2012). "Dotcom trial may not occur - Judge". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  4. ^ Van der Sar, Ernesto (17 April 2022). "Delayed Megaupload Lawsuits Get Assigned to Ninjavideo Judge". Torrentfreak. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ Van der Sar, Ernesto (20 May 2022). "U.S. Megaupload Judge Was Replaced Due to Disney Stake, Dotcom Says". Torrentfreak. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b Kampmark, Binoy (July 28, 2021). "Papers Instead of Human Lives: The Sentencing of Daniel Hale". International Policy Digest. Retrieved July 30, 2021.

Sources

Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
2007–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
2020–2023 		Succeeded by
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