Two sources close to the Congressional Black Caucus said that Jackson is viewed as a favorite. } She is also a former assistant federal public defender in D.C. and clerked for several jurists including Breyer. That dream was deferred in 1989, when Gardner was arrested for a brutal crime he didnt commit. There are comparatively few Black women in the highest reaches of the federal judiciary, though Biden has been active in bolstering those numbers as part of a broader emphasis on diversifying the courts, both in terms of demographics and professional background. Gardner is the daughter of the Reverend Carolyn and the Reverend Robert Abrams, originally of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

float:right; Im very familiar with laws, and I got talking with Leslie; we were discussing for hours about judicial laws and different processes.. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was an Assistant United States Attorney. [15] The Senate Judiciary Committee reported Abrams to the full Senate on June 19, 2014, on a voice vote. In 2012, he filed his own petition for relief in federal court, knowing full well that it would likely be denied since he technically hadnt exhausted his options in state court. Police believed the two crimes were linked, so they questioned more than 100 tall black men in the area. But if the last few decades have taught him anything its that, while life too often isnt fair and dreams do in fact explode, they also can sometimes be put together again. It was through this work that he met his wife, Leslie Abrams Gardner, who became the first Black woman appointed as a federal judge in Georgia in 2014 and is sister to voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.  Contrary to Collins' claim, Abrams was not a "party" to the Majority Forward litigation on which her sister ruled in December 2020. }  But that information wasnt shared with Gardners defense team or presented to the jury during his trial. [4][5] NBC News had previously reported the retirement on January 26. At one particular gathering of black judges, he met Leslie Gardner. 'Leslie is brilliant, and that's an understatement,' said Gardner, who added that professionally and at home, everyone has accepted his and Leslie's relationship. They said his fingerprint matched one found on a vase in the first victims home. Its a great opportunity to have two minds come together and be able to share opinions and just really get to know each other.. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Double murderer Alex Murdaugh is heckled about surviving son Buster as he leaves court to begin life sentence without parole: Judge tells him Maggie and Paul will 'visit you in your sleep' - as his lawyers plan appeal in ten days, Don Jr. calls Fetterman a 'vegetable' who should be a 'bag guy at a grocery store' NOT a Senator - after he was admitted to Walter Reed with clinical depression, Would YOU move to another state if you were paid? 	margin-bottom: 1px; In her most prominent case, she ruled in 2019 that former White House counsel Don McGahn had to testify at a House impeachment hearing. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams, and ruled on a voter-registration case that was very similar to another case before a different district court in Georgia, which involved Abrams' voting rights organization Fair Fight. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. I felt like I was 13 years old. Her work has triggered FBI investigations, landed her appearances on national TV and radio outlets, and helped her win some of the top journalism awards in the western United States. In late December Biden nominated her for a spot on the D.C. Gardner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997 from Brown University. Growing up in Tampa Bay, Florida, he was a natural at sports, from football to basketball, but it was baseball that was destined to be his future. On Sept. 7, 2016, West Virginia prosecutors took the uncommon step of dismissing all charges against Gardner with prejudice, meaning they cant ever be filed again.  He agreed there had been a miscarriage of justice, but it still took 46 months before Gardner was released, and the state wasn't willing to give in, and wanted a retrial, even offering him ten years if he admitted his guilt. Justice Leslie Abrams Gardner has served as a federal district court judge in Georgia since 2014.  She can go on to the be the first black female governor in the United States.'. By the fall, he had transferred dozens of hours of credits hed accumulated over the years and was enrolled at Chapman as a senior on a full-ride Presidential Scholarship. [1], On January 27, 2022, United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer officially announced he would retire at the start of the court's summer recess, which typically took place in late June or early July. I have a pretty unrelenting view of justice, she said in a 2013 interview with NYU Law Magazine. Collins stated a significant falsehood in claiming otherwise. 'Rough situations - guys getting killed on the softball field, in the yard, in cells on lock down, getting stabbed or beaten to death. Ifill has also been a frequent presence on cable news and in op-ed pages, particularly on issues surrounding voting rights and the crimin system. Police interviewed all of the black players on the Charleston Wheelers, including Gardner, as part of their investigation. Leslie Abrams Gardner husband: Who is Jimmie Gardner? Gardner attended the event. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak.  } 	text-align: center; A three-year-old Stacey can be seen right alongside a two-year-old Leslie center, and their older sister Andrea Abrams, aged six at the time. But no one's story can be quite as astonishing as Gardner's. 	display: inline-block; Zain was fired in 1993 and indicted for fraud, according to the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played for a West Virginia farm team, the Charleston Wheelers, in the Minor League. Two months later, another woman was sexually assaulted.  Prior to her confirmation last summer, Jackson served as a federal district court judge from 2013 through 2021. The legal wranglings were complex but the gist was simple: While he didnt actually look like the suspect, he fit the vague description of a tall black male. While hes been completing his courses remotely from Georgia due to the pandemic, Gardner hopes to move to Orange County to attend his last semester in person. He was 49 years old when he returned home and started getting to know his daughter, who was then 31 years old. Ifill, 59, would be a bold choice and send a strong statement about Bidens prioritization of civil rights. A state judge denied his petition. Although the White House has been tight-lipped about its short list, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger are the consensus front-runners among Bidens progressive allies. [10] She received her judicial commission on November 20, 2014.[5]. But hes been impressed with the concrete steps the university is taking to improve its diversity and said he wants to support those efforts. Kruger graduated from Harvard and received her J.D.  I wanted to keep busy. Georgia federal Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, 47, the sister of two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, are also. 'The victims said the perpetrator had a light complexion, Afro-American and 6ft tall,' Gardner said.  	clear: both; 'You have to work out your body in mind and physically, every day you have to be positive, so many people had given up, they were zombies, it was like there was death in the air. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Abrams is the leader of Fair Fight Action, . Prior to her confirmation to the court, she was an assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. Gardner spent the next 27 years in the West Virginia prison system fighting for his freedom. Two sources close to the Congressional Black Caucus said that Jackson is viewed as a favorite and has long been on the group of influential lawmakers shortlist for future openings. Black Women Had Some Major Firsts In Last Week's Midterm Elections, Black Musicians Are Not A Monolith: An Interview with Bartees Strange, Stacey Abrams: Here's How Voter Suppression Can Occur. 'I was stuck for 23 years in state court. Some people you think will be uneasy, maybe her parents won't accept me, but they did. But Ive had a pleasant experience and I look forward to attracting more individuals that look like me to come to Chapman.. In addition to working in the appeals unit of Washington, D.C.s federal public defender office, she served on the U.S. sentencing commission and worked for multiple large law firms. Like other potential candidates, she has an Ivy League background. Childs, 55, may have been considered a long shot given that no federal district judge has been directly elevated to the Supreme Court since 1923. School districts | Cities |  Her freetime is filled with traveling, hiking, reading, crafting and scheming about new ways to make the world a more informed, just and joyful place. He also formed the nonprofit Gardner House to help get people out of prison and transition back into society. A feud could start out of nowhere. Justice Stephen Breyers retirement announcement gives President Joe Biden the chance to fulfill his campaign promise to put the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her sister Stacey Abrams is the former House Minority Leader in the Georgia General Assembly, and the Democratic nominee for governor in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election[2][3] and 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner A federal judge on Monday evening sided with a voting rights organization seeking to prevent two counties from purging thousands of "targeted voters" from their voting rolls less than two weeks ahead of the state's highly consequential Senate runoff elections. Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, found that the counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to. .widget-row { [4][5], On March 11, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gardner to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, to the seat being vacated by Judge W. Louis Sands, who assumed senior status on April 12, 2014. .widget-row.Republican { Childs has been a federal judge in South Carolina since 2010 when she was appointed by Obama. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, who is the sister of Democratic voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, handed down the ruling after rebuffing a request that she recuse herself from the case. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Leslie Abrams Gardner are indeed sisters. 	margin-top: 1px; The judge released him April 1, 2016 on a $10,000 bond. Gardner recalled: 'My mother told me on a Sunday that she'd gone out to pray and God had said that you can pack up and you're coming home. Laura Barrn-Lpez contributed to this report. The judge said I had been held in legal purgatory for 23 years in state court and it was a complete miscarriage of justice, Gardner recalled.  Now the 51-year-old has found love with Georgia District Judge Leslie Abrams, and the pair plan to marry later this year. This is an obvious case for recusal. On Feb. 1, 1990, a jury acquitted Gardner on charges of attacking the second victim, but convicted him of assaulting and robbing the first two women. Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP. During the investigation, 23-year-old Jimmie Gardner was in Kanawha City playing for a minor league baseball team after being drafted by the Chicago Cubs. Leslie Abrams Gardner. United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, .infobox { Her sister, Stacey, could possibly upset the. from Brown University in 1997 and her J.D. Her age -- she is the youngest of Bidens potential picks -- means she could easily serve for three decades or more on the high court. Play it now! Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, has been widely considered the early frontrunner for any Supreme Court vacancy under Biden.  My case lingered throughout the system for 23 years without me getting the opportunity to get a review in court.. She would be the oldest new justice since Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed at age 60 in 1993. A former prosecutor nominated by Obama in 2014, she became the first Black female federal judge in Georgia, winning confirmation 100-0. The Big Bear native got her start teaching high school English and journalism in Riverside County but left in 2006 to be a student again herself, earning a masters degree in journalism from New York University. She studied at Vassar College and earned her law degree from New York University. In 2013, Gardner's case was picked up by federal judge Joseph Goodwin, who listened to Gardner's written arguments and agreed to review the appeal despite it not being heard at state court. Leslie J. Abrams was a U.S. attorney until she was nominated by President Barack Obama for a federal judgeship in Georgia's Middle District. 'I give fingerprints again, pubic hairs, saliva, blood samples, I mean, what have I got to hide? According to Abrams Gardner's Dec. 28 ruling, the basic facts of the case were as follows. That court is regarded as the second-most influential federal court, behind only the Supreme Court. | On March 25, 2016, the judge ruled in his favor.  Apply today! 'I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be with such an awesome individual. For this reason, Judge Gardners impartiality might reasonably be questioned were this case to proceed before her. 'Baseball was going to be my future, God willing. 	display: block; .widget-row.value-only.white { .widget-key { He said: 'When I went in in the late eighties, there were skinheads, the Ayran Brotherhood, biker gangs, there were different hits on people, lots of murders, that was the norm. Jackson received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University.. 	background-color: grey; Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. Gardner, pictured with Georgia Governor candidate Stacey Abrams, said he and Leslie's relationship has the support of their families, In 2015, when Leslie Abrams was being sworn in as a US District Judge in Georgia, her older sister Stacey posted a throwback photo of them together. Majority Forward is a non-profit voter registration organization, and Turner is a resident of Muscogee County, Georgia. I dont want to discount anyone elses experience, he said. 'I've seen 18-year-olds come in and get a hit put on them and get killed.  The pair got married in November 2018, and he said, Its just been wonderful ever since. width: 250px; 'If you've been wrongfully convicted, then keep on fighting, don't give up, and if you're in rightfully, and been given too much time - which the majority have - then also don't give up. I still haven't found a case like mine to this day,' he said. How much damage does wrongful incarcerations have on mothers and fathers? | Jimmie Gardner was released from a West Virginia prison in 2016, 26 years after being wrongly convicted of sexual assault, robbery and unlawful entry related to break-ins that occurred in the 1980s. Donald Trump Jr. wrote "Nothing shady here", Doug Collins, the outgoing Republican congressman who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2020, said Abrams Gardner should recuse herself from the case because "her own sister is a party!". 	background-color: #f9f9f9; Millions of men out of work and lonely. 'I then wrote to the Innocence Projects all over the US and even Germany. margin-bottom:0px; An additional 150 were from Ben Hill County, which Trump won by a wide margin. Before becoming a federal judge, Childs was a South Carolina state judge, a commissioner on the state workers compensation commission, and an official in the South Carolina labor department. 	font-weight: bold; }  During his trial, both victims said that Gardner was not the man who raped them. Leslie Joyce Abrams was nominated by President Barack Obama to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia on March 11, 2014. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president certainly stands by his campaign commitment. 	width: 57%; She would stand out as the first justice nominated in three decades with experience as a state supreme court justice.  Six months later, as university President Daniele Struppa committed to new diversity initiatives aimed at better supporting students of color on campus in the wake of George Floyds death, Gardner was invited to share his experience during a virtual town hall. Kruger has written a decision that overturned a precedent and required a warrant for vehicle searches. Biden could also heed calls from his liberal base to add professional diversity to a court without any former public defenders or civil rights lawyers. It will mean a long distance relationship with his wife for a few months, though he suspects shell visit often. 'These individuals need hope. | Gardner later learned that lab results actually showed the attacker had Type O blood, while he had Type A blood.  I encourage them to stay on the good path, don't succumb to the environment they're in. Jimmie Gardner was released from a prison in West Virginia in 2016, 26 years after being wrongly convicted of sexual assault, robbery and unlawful entry related to break-ins in the 1980s. Everything I went through was for me to become a better person and to help other people.'. Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Three years into his sentence, other agencies started questioning the reliability of Fred Zains DNA evidence. Another name that stands out is Ketanji Brown Jackson, 49, a judge in Washington who was . If that happens, Bidens pick would be the third Black justice and the sixth woman in the courts history of more than 230 years. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie A. Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams. Justice Stephen Breyers retirement plans have quickly created an expectation that President Biden will nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, as he promised during his campaign. Circuit Court of Appeals. On the night of Stacey Abram's victory against Stacey Evans, Gardner and the candidate's younger sister Leslie were right by her side in Atlanta, While working alongside schools and prisons in Georgia, Gardner (right) met his future wife Leslie (left) at a gathering of black female judges, Gardner and Leslie, pictured with a friend at the 2018 Innocence Project Gala in May, plan to get married later this year. | Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images. The federal judge denied Gardners initial petition but assigned him a federal defender and agreed to let them present his case in court. Both women described their assaulters as a light-skinned black man with a narrow nose who was about 6 feet tall. [7], President Joe Biden (D) did not announce a list of nominees he was considering. During Jacksons district court confirmation hearing, Breyer was quoted as having raved about her intellect and thoughtfulness. Sleek spring sweatersThese dupes are the price of the iconic sweater, but still as sleek as a slicked-back bun and hoops. Gardner had put the incident behind him and was back in Florida two years later, attending college for business management, when police arrested him. Jackson was nominated by Biden and confirmed last year by the Senate to the powerful D.C. Postal Service's National Change of Address database, Roberts contended that those voters had moved out of the state and were therefore no longer eligible to vote in Ben Hill County. 'It's depicted in the Hollywood film as it is, it's not fun, it's not blown out of proportion, it's just like that. She graduated from Brown University and Yale Law School and, as a private attorney, represented big corporations including Alphabet Inc.s Google and Bank of America Corp. Whether that connection, in combination with her familial relationship with Abrams Gardner, should constitute grounds for recusal, is ultimately a matter of subjective interpretation. Gardner, 47, is another judge who would be making an unlikely leap from serving on a federal district court. State executives | Thats how long some people thought it would take before a black woman even came close to the governorship in notoriously conservative Georgia. In December 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner ruled on a case to which her sister, Stacey Abrams, was a party. Gardner claimed he has seen a dozen murders and hundreds other die from inhuman conditions during his time in correctional facilities. 	font-weight: bold; One name being discussed nationally is the sister of Georgia politician Stacey Abrams. | He beat her, raped her 60-year-old daughter, then stole $90 and a cassette player. } However her prospects are complicated by being the sister of Democratic voting rights activist and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. And on September 7, 2016, the prosecution dismissed the charges.'. Kruger has held several high-ranking posts at the Department of Justice, She also has experience working at the Supreme Court as a clerk to former Justice John Paul Stevens.   It can happen at any time. 	font-weight: bold; I was the only male there. 'All the computer classes, I got three degrees inside, learned whatever I could, like how to strip floors, carpentry, restaurant management, air conditioning/heating, plumbing, staying abreast with the Internet and mobiles, car mechanics, anything to keep my mind active. Gardner is several inches taller than the attacker, at 6 foot 3 inches, and points to his dark complexion. Kruger, 45, offers a mix of strengths that make her one of the odds-on favorites. Growing up in Tampa Bay, Florida, Gardner was a natural at sport, from football to basketball, but it was baseball that was destined to be his future - until he was wrongly convicted, In May 1987, a mother and her daughter were robbed, beaten, and the latter raped at their home in Charleston. Biden in April selected Ifill to serve on a panel convened to study potential changes to the high court. These dupes are the price of the iconic sweater, but still as sleek as a slicked-back bun and hoops. Abrams Gardner's reasoning can be examined in the ruling itself. Shes written for dozens of newspapers and magazines across the country, with projects that have taken her from a zero gravity flight over Queens to a fishing village in Ghana. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner's ruling Wednesday came amid efforts by the Texas-based conservative group True The Vote to coordinate challenges to the registration of more than . He's still a friend today. It was through this work that he met his wife, Leslie Abrams Gardner, who became the first Black woman appointed as a federal judge in Georgia in 2014 and is sister to voting rights activist. Ifill, who spent part of her career at the American Civil Liberties Union, has an undergraduate degree from Vassar College and a law degree from New York University School of Law. Gardner was one of eight kids born in Georgia to a dad who built houses and a mom who worked for a sewing thread manufacturer. 	font-weight: bold; .top_disclaimer { border:1px solid #FFB81F; REVEALED: 'Fragile' Justin Bieber was 'FORCED to cancel his tour' by doctors amid fears for his health after Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis: 'Hailey and his family have been so worried', New York Times reporter was SPAT on after 'being recognized in public' after paper's own reporters and woke Hollywood A-listers criticized its trans coverage, Meet the band! Do not sell or share my personal information. 'But I've also met some of the most ingenious guys, phenomenal dudes, scientists, woodsmen, some very sharp individuals. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she was an Assistant United States Attorney.[1]. Sherrilyn Ifill is the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and another person who has support from some members of the CBC. He was given an hour a day for recreation or education, during which he studied law and found an unlikely teacher in fellow inmate Marcus Cochran. He fought his conviction through numerous delays, even writing President Barack Obama, who could not pardon people convicted in state courts. To contact the reporters on this story:Kimberly Robinson in Arlington at krobinson103@bloomberg.net;Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net;Madi Alder in Arlington at malder5@bloomberg.net, To contact the editors responsible for this story:Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net;Seth Stern at sstern22@bloomberg.net. State and local courts | 'We got together, it clicked, we know that God brought us together for a purpose. She also previously worked for the U.S. It's traumatic for the parents. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner's ruling comes after two counties voted to remove a tranche of voters' names from their rosters after two separate complaints alleged that publicly . A federal district court judge in Georgia, Leslie Abrams Gardner was appointed to the bench by Obama in 2014. To make a donation to Gardner's House, please email admin@jcgardnerspeaks.com. Between seasons, he enrolled in his first college classes, imagining the day when hed walk across a stage, flip his tassel, and take home a degree in business management. .widget-row.value-only.black { Two years later, in Miami, Gardner was arrested for gun possession and the police ran his fingerprints through the system. She challenges me from a great position and I challenge her from a good position, he said. 'She's very experienced - numerous years in political spectrum,' Gardner said. She received her bachelors degree from the University of South Florida and received both a business and law degree from the University of South Carolina. Brooke joined the Orange County Register in January 2013, covering local communities, cannabis and politics before starting on the environment beat for SCNG in July 2022. But he never got the chance,' Gardner said. He grew up in Tampa, Fl., where he earned good grades and was a standout on his high school baseball team. 'The police gathered a hundred or so black men off the street. Abrams Gardner added that "an order detailing the court's reasoning" was forthcoming. The two met at an event for the Georgias Black Women Lawyers Association. Elections in 2023 | She also spent several years working in the private sector, mostly for the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and was a federal law clerk in Maryland early in her career. [6] On February 15, Biden announced he would nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson. From October 2016 to October 2017, with support from family and advocates, he volunteered to share his story and to advocate for social justice reform everywhere he could. [9][10] Click here to read more about the vacancy and nomination process. Now the 51-year-old has found love with Georgia District Judge Leslie Abrams (left), Leslie, 43, is the sister of Stacey Abrams (pictured), who became the first black female governor nominee ever in the United States when she won the Democratic primary in Georgia on Tuesday. In January, 2020, he sat in the audience as his wife gave the keynote speech during the Fowler School of Laws annual Law Review Symposium. A couple months later, another Charleston woman was assaulted in her home by a man with a similar description. Jimmie and Leslie Gardner met and were married after his release. 	width: 250px; While the polls in Georgia officially closed at 7 p.m., the window of opportunity for Stacey. 'I left when I was 23 and 50 when I returned, but in her mind I was 13, it was a psychological thing. Public policy. Justice Leslie Abrams Gardner, a federal prosecutor turned federal district court judge, has had her name appear on lists in such publications as the Washington Post, Politico, and Bloomberg of . Before that she worked as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's . Turner was one of those targeted voters. 	color: white; U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner attracted considerable criticism when she declined to recuse herself from a challenge over voter eligibility. Leslie Abrams Gardner (ne Leslie Joyce Abrams; born December 6, 1974) is a U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Over the years, Abrams has repeatedly confirmed as much, including when she congratulated Abrams Gardner on her U.S. Senate confirmation and appointment as U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Georgia, in 2014 and 2015. Ifill, 59, came back to helm the LDF in 2013 after two decades teaching at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore.  Even though Gardners defense team was not allowed to view the lab results showing that the person who committed the rapes had a different blood type from Gardners, and even though the states stance was that the same person had committed both rapes, he was acquitted of the charges related to Ruckman (pdf) but convicted of rape (of Galati), assault (of Ferrell), battery, robbery and burglary because Zain said that Gardner was one of the few people on the planet who matched the DNA. He died while awaiting trial. } His team insists the state of West Virginia knew as early as 1985 that Zain wasnt qualified as a DNA or bodily fluids expert but still let the man testify in his 1990 trial, which hinged on exactly such evidence. .widget-row.value-only { After he was released, Gardner began working with Georgia schools, prisons and organizations as a motivational speaker and criminal-justice advocate. None of the victims identified him as their attacker. MEGHAN MCCAIN: Ohio in a poisonous soup. Also, genetic markers did not in fact rule out the other suspect.  acquitted of the charges related to Ruckman. She is also a former assistant federal public defender in D.C. and clerked for several jurists  including Breyer.