Leonie Brinkema: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|American judge}} |
{{Short description|American judge (born 1944)}} |
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{{Infobox officeholder |
{{Infobox officeholder |
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| term_start = October 20, 1993 |
| term_start = October 20, 1993 |
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| appointer = [[List of federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton]] |
| appointer = [[List of federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton]] |
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| predecessor = [[Albert Vickers Bryan Jr.]] |
| predecessor = [[Albert Vickers Bryan Jr.]] |
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| successor = |
| successor = |
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| office1 = Magistrate Judge of the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] |
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| term_start1 = 1985 |
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| pronunciation = |
| pronunciation = |
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| birth_name = Leonie Helen Milhomme<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000024131360&view=1up&seq=254 Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary.]</ref> |
| birth_name = Leonie Helen Milhomme<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000024131360&view=1up&seq=254 Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary.]</ref> |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|06|26}} |
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|06|26}} |
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| birth_place = [[Teaneck, New Jersey |
| birth_place = [[Teaneck, New Jersey]], U.S. |
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| death_date = |
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| relatives = |
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| residence = |
| residence = |
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| education = [[ |
| education = [[Rutgers University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Library and Information Science|MLS]])<br>[[Cornell Law School|Cornell University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]]) |
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==Early life and education== |
==Early life and education== |
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She was born as Leonie Milhomme in [[Teaneck, New Jersey |
She was born as Leonie Milhomme in [[Teaneck, New Jersey]],<ref>Goldman, Jessica. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/moussaoui-judge-minces-no-words/ "Moussaoui Judge Minces No Words"], ''[[CBS News]]'', March 13, 2006. Accessed May 26, 2010.</ref> and was raised in Teaneck, [[Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood]] and [[Tenafly, New Jersey|Tenafly]],<ref>Dwyer, Timothy. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-leonie-brinkema-of-teaneck-e/159794053/ "Moussaoui judge no mere bench warmer"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', March 20, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2024, via [[Newspapers.com]]. "Right off the bat, Brinkema, who was born in Teaneck and grew up in North Jersey, made it clear to the defense and prosecution how things were going to proceed.... The family lived in Teaneck, Englewood and Tenafly as she grew up, said her brother, Alexander Milhomme, 59, a Closter resident."</ref> where she attended [[Tenafly High School]].<ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/14mbkxUe-HFnzTXyPRCeb-L4Q9hTbkDzP/view#page=7 ''Program for the Thirty-Third Annual Concert''], New Jersey All-State Concert, November 11, 1961. Accessed November 26, 2024. "Soprano I... Milhomme, Leonie - Tenafly"</ref> She received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Rutgers University]] in 1966 and a [[Master of Library and Information Science]] from the same institution in 1970. She earned a [[Juris Doctor]] from [[Cornell Law School]] in 1976.<ref name="FJC">{{FJC Bio|nid=1378271|inline=yes}}</ref> |
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==Career== |
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She worked in the [[United States Department of Justice Criminal Division]]'s [[Public Integrity Section]] 1976–1977, and then the [[United States Attorney]]'s office in the Eastern District of [[Virginia]], Criminal Division 1977 |
She worked in the [[United States Department of Justice Criminal Division]]'s [[Public Integrity Section]] 1976–1977, and then the [[United States Attorney]]'s office in the Eastern District of [[Virginia]], Criminal Division from 1977 to 1983. From 1983 to 1984, she returned to the Criminal Division and worked as a [[sole practitioner]] from 1984 to 1985. |
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==Federal judicial |
===Federal judicial service=== |
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Brinkema was a [[United States Magistrate Judge]] in the Eastern District of Virginia from 1985 to 1993. |
Brinkema was a [[United States Magistrate Judge]] in the Eastern District of Virginia from 1985 to 1993.<ref name="FJC" /> |
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On August 6, 1993, |
On August 6, 1993, President [[Bill Clinton]] nominated Brinkema to a seat on the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] vacated by Judge [[Albert Vickers Bryan Jr.]] She was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on October 18, 1993, and received her commission on October 20, 1993.<ref name="FJC" /> She took up her post on October 23, 1993.{{cn|date=June 2023}} |
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=== Notable rulings === |
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⚫ | Brinkema presided over ''[[Religious Technology Center|RTC]] v. [[Arnaldo Lerma|Lerma]] et al.'' (1995), a case that involved the reproduction of materials owned by the [[Church of Scientology]]. Brinkema found for the defendants in most of the claims, and awarded minimum damages of $2,500 for [[copyright infringement]], citing the "increasingly vitriolic rhetoric" of Religious Technology Center (RTC)'s legal filings. |
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⚫ | * Brinkema presided over ''[[Religious Technology Center|RTC]] v. [[Arnaldo Lerma|Lerma]] et al.'' (1995), a case that involved the reproduction of materials owned by the [[Church of Scientology]]. Brinkema found for the defendants in most of the claims, and awarded minimum damages of $2,500 for [[copyright infringement]], citing the "increasingly vitriolic rhetoric" of [[Religious Technology Center]] (RTC)'s legal filings. |
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⚫ | On October 28, 2003, she sentenced [[al-Qaeda]] operative [[Iyman Faris]] to twenty years imprisonment for providing [[material support]] to the group.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lichtblau |first=Eric |date=2003-10-29 |title=Trucker Sentenced to 20 Years in Plot Against Brooklyn Bridge |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/us/trucker-sentenced-to-20-years-in-plot-against-brooklyn-bridge.html |access-date=2022-09-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |
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⚫ | * On October 28, 2003, she sentenced [[al-Qaeda]] operative [[Iyman Faris]] to twenty years imprisonment for providing [[material support]] to the group.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lichtblau |first=Eric |date=2003-10-29 |title=Trucker Sentenced to 20 Years in Plot Against Brooklyn Bridge |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/us/trucker-sentenced-to-20-years-in-plot-against-brooklyn-bridge.html |access-date=2022-09-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |
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{{cite news |
{{cite news |
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|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4471019.stm |
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4471019.stm |
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</ref> As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a [[supermax]] prison, she told him: "You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet [[T. S. Eliot]], instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. "You will never again get a chance to speak," she said, "and that is an appropriate and fair ending."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/nyregion/06shahzad.html?src=twr&scp=1&sq=Judge%20Leonie%20M.%20Brinkema&st=cse | work=The New York Times | title=Tirade Offers Insight on Would-Be Times Sq. Bomber | first=Benjamin | last=Weiser | date=July 5, 2010}}</ref> |
</ref> As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a [[supermax]] prison, she told him: "You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet [[T. S. Eliot]], instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. "You will never again get a chance to speak," she said, "and that is an appropriate and fair ending."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/nyregion/06shahzad.html?src=twr&scp=1&sq=Judge%20Leonie%20M.%20Brinkema&st=cse | work=The New York Times | title=Tirade Offers Insight on Would-Be Times Sq. Bomber | first=Benjamin | last=Weiser | date=July 5, 2010}}</ref> |
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On April 2, 2009, Brinkema weighed in on the question of whether terrorist detainees at the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] could be prosecuted in the civilian justice system.<ref name=Ap2009-04-02> |
* On April 2, 2009, Brinkema weighed in on the question of whether terrorist detainees at the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] could be prosecuted in the civilian justice system.<ref name=Ap2009-04-02> |
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{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hRuUIt0juYc3OxlGylbMUyYhuJfAD97AI1I80 |
{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hRuUIt0juYc3OxlGylbMUyYhuJfAD97AI1I80 |
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| title=Fed. judge says courts can handle Gitmo cases |
| title=Fed. judge says courts can handle Gitmo cases |
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| author = Matthew Barakat |
| author = Matthew Barakat |
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| date=2009-04-02 |
| date=2009-04-02 |
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| accessdate=2009-04-03}} |
| accessdate=2009-04-03}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} |
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</ref> |
</ref> |
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In 2011, she presided over the fraud trial of Lee Farkas, [[CEO]] of [[Taylor, Bean & Whitaker]]. During his sentencing hearing on June 30, 2011, she said that she did not observe any genuine remorse, and sentenced the 58-year-old Farkas to 30 years in [[federal prison]].<ref name="Protess">{{cite news| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/mortgage-executive-receives-30-year-sentence/ | work=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Protess | title=Mortgage Executive Receives 30-Year Sentence | date=June 30, 2011}}</ref> She ordered Farkas and six others to pay a total of about $US3.5 billion in restitution.<ref>{{cite news | url= |
* In 2011, she presided over the fraud trial of Lee Farkas, [[CEO]] of [[Taylor, Bean & Whitaker]]. During his sentencing hearing on June 30, 2011, she said that she did not observe any genuine remorse, and sentenced the 58-year-old Farkas to 30 years in [[federal prison]].<ref name="Protess">{{cite news| url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/mortgage-executive-receives-30-year-sentence/ | work=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Protess | title=Mortgage Executive Receives 30-Year Sentence | date=June 30, 2011}}</ref> She ordered Farkas and six others to pay a total of about $US3.5 billion in [[restitution]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-mortgage-mogul-lee-farkus-2014-3 | title=The Only CEO Prosecuted For The Mortgage Crisis Is Someone You've Never Heard Of, And Feels Like A 'Zombie' In Prison | work=[[Business Insider Australia]] | date=March 21, 2014 | access-date=June 1, 2015 | author=Macias, Amanda}}</ref> |
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On January 28, 2017, she was the second to order a stay of an [[executive order]] by President [[Donald Trump]], which restricted immigration into the United States and prevented the return of [[Permanent residence (United States)|green-card]] holders and others. Although the order issued was a [[temporary restraining order]], it blocked the removal of any green-card holders being detained at Dulles International Airport for seven days. Brinkema's action also ordered that lawyers have access to those held there because of the president's ban.<ref>{{Cite news|author1=Markon, Jerry |author2=Brown, Emma |author3=Shaver, Katherine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/refugees-detained-at-us-airports-challenge-trumps-executive-order/2017/01/28/e69501a2-e562-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html|title= Judge halts deportations as refugee ban causes worldwide furor|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2017-01-29|access-date=2017-02-14}}</ref> |
* On January 28, 2017, she was the second to order a [[stay of proceedings|stay]] of an [[executive order]] by President [[Donald Trump]], which restricted immigration into the United States and prevented the return of [[Permanent residence (United States)|green-card]] holders and others. Although the order issued was a [[temporary restraining order]], it blocked the removal of any green-card holders being detained at Dulles International Airport for seven days. Brinkema's action also ordered that lawyers have access to those held there because of the president's ban.<ref>{{Cite news|author1=Markon, Jerry |author2=Brown, Emma |author3=Shaver, Katherine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/refugees-detained-at-us-airports-challenge-trumps-executive-order/2017/01/28/e69501a2-e562-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html|title= Judge halts deportations as refugee ban causes worldwide furor|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2017-01-29|access-date=2017-02-14}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Ali al-Tamimi]] |
*[[Ali al-Tamimi]] |
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*[[2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction]] |
*[[2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction]] |
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* [[List of United States federal judges by longevity of service]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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==References== |
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*{{FJC Bio|261|nid=1378271|name=Leonie M. Brinkema<!--(1944–)-->}} <!-- |
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*[https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/brinkema-leonie-m. FJC Bio] |
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--> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Wikisource author}} |
{{Wikisource author}} |
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*{{FJC Bio|261|nid=1378271}} |
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*[http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/ U.S.D.C. Eastern district of Virginia] |
*[http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/ U.S.D.C. Eastern district of Virginia] |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080205210416/http://www.wcl.american.edu/podcast/podcast.cfm Terrorists and Detainees: Do We Need a New National Security Court?] podcast of keynote address by Leonie Brinkema at the [[Washington College of Law]] at [[American University]], February 1, 2008. |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080205210416/http://www.wcl.american.edu/podcast/podcast.cfm Terrorists and Detainees: Do We Need a New National Security Court?] podcast of keynote address by Leonie Brinkema at the [[Washington College of Law]] at [[American University]], February 1, 2008. |
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[[Category:1944 births]] |
[[Category:1944 births]] |
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[[Category:Living people]] |
[[Category:Living people]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American women judges]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American judges]] |
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[[Category:Cornell Law School alumni]] |
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[[Category:Virginia lawyers]] |
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[[Category:New York University alumni]] |
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[[Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] |
[[Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] |
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[[Category:People from Englewood, New Jersey]] |
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[[Category:People from Teaneck, New Jersey]] |
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[[Category:People from Tenafly, New Jersey]] |
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[[Category:Rutgers University School of Communication and Information alumni]] |
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[[Category:United States Department of Justice lawyers]] |
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[[Category:United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton]] |
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Latest revision as of 15:59, 26 November 2024
Leonie Brinkema | |
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Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia | |
Assumed office October 20, 1993 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Albert Vickers Bryan Jr. |
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia | |
In office 1985–1993 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Leonie Helen Milhomme[1] June 26, 1944 Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
Education | Rutgers University (BA, MLS) Cornell University (JD) |
Leonie Helen Milhomme Brinkema (born June 26, 1944) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Early life and education
[edit]She was born as Leonie Milhomme in Teaneck, New Jersey,[2] and was raised in Teaneck, Englewood and Tenafly,[3] where she attended Tenafly High School.[4] She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University in 1966 and a Master of Library and Information Science from the same institution in 1970. She earned a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1976.[5]
Career
[edit]She worked in the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section 1976–1977, and then the United States Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia, Criminal Division from 1977 to 1983. From 1983 to 1984, she returned to the Criminal Division and worked as a sole practitioner from 1984 to 1985.
Federal judicial service
[edit]Brinkema was a United States Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia from 1985 to 1993.[5]
On August 6, 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Brinkema to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia vacated by Judge Albert Vickers Bryan Jr. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 18, 1993, and received her commission on October 20, 1993.[5] She took up her post on October 23, 1993.[citation needed]
Notable rulings
[edit]- Brinkema presided over RTC v. Lerma et al. (1995), a case that involved the reproduction of materials owned by the Church of Scientology. Brinkema found for the defendants in most of the claims, and awarded minimum damages of $2,500 for copyright infringement, citing the "increasingly vitriolic rhetoric" of Religious Technology Center (RTC)'s legal filings.
- On October 28, 2003, she sentenced al-Qaeda operative Iyman Faris to twenty years imprisonment for providing material support to the group.[6]
- In 2006, Brinkema presided over the case of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.[7] When she asked about the videotapes showing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, the government denied their existence.[8] As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a supermax prison, she told him: "You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet T. S. Eliot, instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. "You will never again get a chance to speak," she said, "and that is an appropriate and fair ending."[9]
- On April 2, 2009, Brinkema weighed in on the question of whether terrorist detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could be prosecuted in the civilian justice system.[10]
- In 2011, she presided over the fraud trial of Lee Farkas, CEO of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. During his sentencing hearing on June 30, 2011, she said that she did not observe any genuine remorse, and sentenced the 58-year-old Farkas to 30 years in federal prison.[11] She ordered Farkas and six others to pay a total of about $US3.5 billion in restitution.[12]
- On January 28, 2017, she was the second to order a stay of an executive order by President Donald Trump, which restricted immigration into the United States and prevented the return of green-card holders and others. Although the order issued was a temporary restraining order, it blocked the removal of any green-card holders being detained at Dulles International Airport for seven days. Brinkema's action also ordered that lawyers have access to those held there because of the president's ban.[13]
See also
[edit]- Ali al-Tamimi
- 2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction
- List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
References
[edit]- ^ Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary.
- ^ Goldman, Jessica. "Moussaoui Judge Minces No Words", CBS News, March 13, 2006. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- ^ Dwyer, Timothy. "Moussaoui judge no mere bench warmer", The Record, March 20, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Right off the bat, Brinkema, who was born in Teaneck and grew up in North Jersey, made it clear to the defense and prosecution how things were going to proceed.... The family lived in Teaneck, Englewood and Tenafly as she grew up, said her brother, Alexander Milhomme, 59, a Closter resident."
- ^ Program for the Thirty-Third Annual Concert, New Jersey All-State Concert, November 11, 1961. Accessed November 26, 2024. "Soprano I... Milhomme, Leonie - Tenafly"
- ^ a b c Leonie Brinkema at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ Lichtblau, Eric (2003-10-29). "Trucker Sentenced to 20 Years in Plot Against Brooklyn Bridge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
- ^ "Q&A: Moussaoui trial". BBC News. May 3, 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ Goodman, Amy (December 10, 2007). "Did CIA Destroy Tapes Showing Waterboarding and Involvement of Psychologists in Torture?". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ Weiser, Benjamin (July 5, 2010). "Tirade Offers Insight on Would-Be Times Sq. Bomber". The New York Times.
- ^ Matthew Barakat (2009-04-02). "Fed. judge says courts can handle Gitmo cases". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-04-03.[dead link ]
- ^ Protess, Ben (June 30, 2011). "Mortgage Executive Receives 30-Year Sentence". The New York Times.
- ^ Macias, Amanda (March 21, 2014). "The Only CEO Prosecuted For The Mortgage Crisis Is Someone You've Never Heard Of, And Feels Like A 'Zombie' In Prison". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ Markon, Jerry; Brown, Emma; Shaver, Katherine (2017-01-29). "Judge halts deportations as refugee ban causes worldwide furor". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
External links
[edit]- Leonie Brinkema at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Leonie Brinkema Biography, Tech Law Journal, last updated 1999.
- U.S.D.C. Eastern district of Virginia
- Terrorists and Detainees: Do We Need a New National Security Court? podcast of keynote address by Leonie Brinkema at the Washington College of Law at American University, February 1, 2008.
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- 1944 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American women judges
- 20th-century American judges
- 21st-century American women judges
- 21st-century American judges
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- Cornell Law School alumni
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- People from Englewood, New Jersey
- People from Teaneck, New Jersey
- People from Tenafly, New Jersey
- Rutgers University School of Communication and Information alumni
- Tenafly High School alumni
- United States Department of Justice lawyers
- United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
- United States magistrate judges
- University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni
- Virginia lawyers