I've met her sisters, mother, father, her family are extraordinary, remarkable, her parents are ministers in Mississippi and I got their approval. It can happen at any time. [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. Since that time period covered the Jan. 5, 2021, elections, the targeted voters were therefore allowed to vote as normal in the U.S. Senate run-off elections. 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. Contrary to Collins' claim, Abrams was not a "party" to the Majority Forward litigation on which her sister ruled in December 2020. Both are supportive of Stacey Abrams candidacy and were right by her side when she won the Georgia Democratic nomination for governor after Tuesdays primary. Biden says he's done 'deep dive' on 'about 4' Supreme Court candidates It's traumatic for the parents. The defendants wrote: In addition, any relief rendered in the instant case as it relates to the NCOAR [National Change of Address Registry] would likely be cited as persuasive authority in the Fair Fight Litigation. The bulk of the registrations that the counties sought to rescind, more than 4,000, were in Muscogee County, which Biden won handily in November. She would stand out as the first justice nominated in three decades with experience as a state supreme court justice. Leslie, 43, is the sister of Stacey Abrams, 44, who became the first black female gubernatorial nominee ever in the United States when she won the Democratic primary in Georgia on Tuesday and. Based on his own cross-referencing of the U.S. 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. Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams who has led the effort to register voters in the state. 'In the beginning she wouldn't give me a key and took the door off my room, saying: 'I don't want you bringing girls into the house'. Kruger graduated from Harvard and received her J.D. 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 . Police interviewed all of the black players on the Charleston Wheelers, including Gardner, as part of their investigation. margin-bottom:0px; She is also a former assistant federal public defender in D.C. and clerked for several jurists including Breyer. The D.C. [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. Gardner claimed he has seen a dozen murders and hundreds other die from inhuman conditions during his time in correctional facilities. The judge released him April 1, 2016 on a $10,000 bond. 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Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. Three years later, Gardner learned that all of Zain's cases involving DNA were being reviewed after it was discovered that he had lied in hundreds of murder and rape cases and locked up innocent men by falsifying evidence and tampering with forensic work. width: 150px; Leslie Abrams Gardner husband: Who is Jimmie Gardner? Leslie Abrams Gardner The sister of voting rights activist and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner is 47 years old and currently presides over a federal court in Atlanta, having been nominated by President Obama in 2014. Although her resume may not excite progressives seeking more professional diversity on the federal bench, Gardner understands the criminal justice system in a way few justices have. 'I've seen 18-year-olds come in and get a hit put on them and get killed. Two months later, another woman was sexually assaulted. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Gardner said it was likely 'dangerous' for Cochran to be helping him due to his connection to the white supremacist group, but they had 'respect for each other'. Circuit. A century and a decade. Gardner, 47, is another judge who would be making an unlikely leap from serving on a federal district court. However her prospects are complicated by being the sister of Democratic voting rights activist and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. 'I left when I was 23 and 50 when I returned, but in her mind I was 13, it was a psychological thing. Justice Leslie Abrams Gardner, a federal prosecutor turned federal district court judge, has had her name . Childs is a favorite of top Black Caucus members including Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), according to two senior Democratic aides. 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. 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. In Muscogee County, a man named Ralph Russell brought a similar challenge, claiming to have found 4,033 registered voters in Muscogee County who, according to the National Change of Address database, had moved out of state. width: 43%; Zain was fired in 1993 and indicted for fraud, according to the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan. Leslie Abrams Gardner - Wikipedia Ifill, 59, would be a bold choice and send a strong statement about Bidens prioritization of civil rights. Stacey Abrams' sister, federal judge on Biden's Supreme Court shortlist color: white; --With assistance from Jordan Rubin and Ellen Gilmer. 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. Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties - POLITICO Its a great opportunity to have two minds come together and be able to share opinions and just really get to know each other.. AMA event looks at 'The Color of Justice' - Albany Herald Court Personnel | Middle District of Georgia - United States Courts 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. } How to run for office | Circuit that is due to open up in February when Judge David Tatel assumes senior status. 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. 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. Attorney Admissions; Bill of Costs Guide; CJA Attorney Information; CJA eVoucher . A former prosecutor nominated by Obama in 2014, she became the first Black female federal judge in Georgia, winning confirmation 100-0. According to Abrams Gardner's Dec. 28 ruling, the basic facts of the case were as follows. At one particular gathering of black judges, he met Leslie Gardner. Ballotpedia features 395,577 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. On May 16, 1987, a man broke into the home of 82-year-old Bethel Ferrell and sexually assaulted Ferrells 60-year old daughter, Wilma Galati, in the Kanawha City section of Charleston, W.Va. Two months later, Lillian Ruckman was sexually assaulted in her home in Kanawha City. A top candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court has roots in Miami Julianna Michelle Childs has spent the past decade as a district court judge in South Carolina who was appointed by President Barack Obama. Police interviewed all of the black players on the Charleston Wheelers, including Gardner, as part of their investigation. 'The following Friday, I got the call from my lawyer telling me that my conviction had been vacated and Goodwin had given me an automatic release. My case lingered throughout the system for 23 years without me getting the opportunity to get a review in court.. 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. One hundred ten years. Gardner was mentioned by two or more media outlets as a possible nominee to fill Breyer's seat on the court. Jackson was nominated by Biden and confirmed last year by the Senate to the powerful D.C. That court is regarded as the second-most influential federal court, behind only the Supreme Court. They also argued that Abrams Gardner's ruling in the Majority Forward case could have a bearing on the judge's decision-making in the Fair Fight litigation, which directly involved Abrams, since she is the chairperson of that organization. | Leslie Abrams Gardner. On May 16, 1987, a man described as around 6 feet tall with light black skin broke into an 82-year-old Charleston womans home. During her tenure she argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government, according to her state supreme court bio. Leslie Abrams Gardner - Ballotpedia .widget-row.value-only.black { He said that he and Leslie are rooting for her sister Stacey Abrams in the upcoming Governor race in Georgia. Conservatives would likely focus on her ties to her sister, voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, who ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 and was behind get-out-the-vote efforts that flipped the state blue in 2020. 'These individuals need hope. On Dec. 23, Majority Forward challenged the actions of Muscogee and Ben Hill counties, and filed for a temporary restraining order on Dec. 27. Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Stacey Abrams' sister, blocks Georgia But it would take 23 years for Gardner to finally be released, being denied hearing after hearing, and he spent years writing to advocacy groups and even President Barack Obama looking for help. 'Then fast forward two years, I'm in Florida and Charleston Police say they want to question me about the crimes in 1987. 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. Once he graduates, Gardner hopes he might get a talk show or podcast that will help him bring his message to a bigger audience. color: white; Prior to that Kruger, 45, held several high-ranking posts at the Department of Justice, including as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel which provides legal guidance for the executive branch and as an official in the solicitor generals office. Leslie Abrams Gardner, U.S. District Judge | Middle District of Georgia Gardner was 20 years old, pitching for the Charleston Wheelers in West Virginia in 1987. color: white; Prior to her confirmation to the court, she was an assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. Stacey Abram's sister is marrying a wrongly convicted man Every opportunity I had to take a class or learn a vocation, I took advantage of it, Gardner said. In 2014, she was appointed to . She could become the nation's first Black woman governor", "The fate of the Democrats' future may lie in Georgia", "President Obama Nominates Leslie Joyce Abrams to Serve on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia", "Abrams, Leslie Joyce Federal Judicial Center", "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate", "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Leslie Joyce Abrams, of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge)", "On the Nomination (Confirmation Leslie Joyce Abrams, of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leslie_Abrams_Gardner&oldid=1142113247, Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 15:46. font-size: 1.2em; Brooke lives in the Inland Empire with her husband and their much-loved pets. In late December Biden nominated her for a spot on the D.C. font-weight: bold; Gardner attended the event. She also has an influential backer in Representative Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat whose endorsement of Biden in the 2020 presidential primary helped rescue his flailing campaign. }, Leslie Abrams Gardner is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. | Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images. 2022 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Brooke Staggs covers the environment for Southern California News Groups chain of 11 newspapers. 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. Circuit Court of Appeals. Published: 12:37 EST, 24 May 2018 | Updated: 13:48 EST, 24 May 2018. But no one's story can be quite as astonishing as Gardner's. The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a prominent ally of President-elect Joe Biden who has led voter registration efforts across the state concluded that the counties appeared to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations in the two counties. She will serve the American people with integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice. [8] On November 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on her nomination. 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. U.S. Congress | He played professionally for the next four years, working part-time jobs, taking college classes between seasons and getting to know his newborn daughter. .widget-row.Libertarian { Biden in April selected Ifill to serve on a panel convened to study potential changes to the high court.