Amy Totenberg

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Amy Totenberg
Totenberg speaks at the InGIRLS Leadership Symposium in 2015
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Assumed office
April 3, 2021
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
In office
March 1, 2011 – April 3, 2021
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byJack Tarpley Camp Jr.
Succeeded bySarah Geraghty
Personal details
Born (1950-12-29) December 29, 1950 (age 73)
New York City, New York, U.S.
RelativesRoman Totenberg (father), Nina Totenberg (sister)
EducationHarvard University (A.B.)
Harvard Law School (J.D.)

Amy Mil Totenberg (born December 29, 1950) is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. She previously worked in private practice in Atlanta and also formerly served as a Special Master for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Early life and education

From left, Jill, Nina, and Amy Totenberg celebrate the return of their father’s Stradivarius violin in 2015.

Amy Totenberg was born in New York City, the daughter of Melanie Francis (Eisenberg),[1] a real estate broker, and violinist Roman Totenberg.[2] Her father was a Polish Jewish immigrant, who lost many of his family members in the Holocaust.[1] Her mother was of German Jewish and Polish Jewish descent from an upper-class family that had lived in San Francisco and New York.[1] Her eldest sister, Nina Totenberg, is a Supreme Court correspondent for NPR.[3] Another sister, Jill Totenberg, is a businesswoman.[4]

Totenberg earned an Artium Baccalaureus, magna cum laude, in 1974 from Harvard-Radcliffe College and a Juris Doctor in 1977 from Harvard Law School.[5][6]

Legal career

Upon graduating from Harvard-Radcliffe, Totenberg worked as a summer intern at the law firm of James M. Haviland in Charleston, West Virginia. In 1975 she was a legal assistant for Education/Instrucción in Roxbury, Massachusetts and held this position into 1977.[7] After graduating from law school, she served as a partner for The Law Project in Atlanta from 1977 until 1982 and served as a sole legal practitioner in Atlanta from 1982 until 1994. Between 1988 and 1993, Totenberg worked part-time for the city of Atlanta as a pro tem Municipal Court Judge.[7] From 1994 until 1998, Totenberg served as the first-ever general counsel for Atlanta's school system.[5] From 1998 until becoming a federal judge in 2011, Totenberg had served as a sole legal practitioner and arbitrator in Atlanta, working part-time as a special master and court monitor for several United States district courts.[5] She also worked from 2004 until 2007 as an adjunct professor at the Emory University School of Law.[7][6]

Federal judicial career

In February 2009, Totenberg submitted a resume and letter of interest for a United States district judgeship vacancy. After an interview by a committee appointed by the Georgia Democratic Congressional delegation, Totenberg was among the applicants whose names were submitted to the White House. On March 17, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Totenberg to fill the judicial vacancy on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia that had been created by the decision by Judge Jack Tarpley Camp Jr. to assume senior status at the end of 2008.[5] Totenberg was unanimously approved on December 1, 2010 by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary with a voice vote.[8][9] Senators returned Totenberg's nomination to President Obama at the end of the 111th Congress, however, and he resubmitted the nomination on January 5, 2011. The Senate confirmed Totenberg in a voice vote on February 28, 2011. She received her commission March 1, 2011.[6] She assumed senior status on April 3, 2021.

Controversy

An April 18, 2022 ruling by Totenberg,[10] which permitted a challenge to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s right to run for Congress, gave rise to controversy.[11] Law professor Jonathan Turley, explained that Totenberg “gave a green light to these constitutional claims despite both the constitutional text and history showing that the claims are meritless”,[11] that “the growing calls for disqualification represent a serious threat to our democracy,”[11] and that disqualification of candidates for political reasons was something done in ”[C]ountries like Iran.”[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Stated on Finding Your Roots, January 27, 2021
  2. ^ Weber, Bruce (May 9, 2012). "Roman Totenberg, Violinist and Teacher, Dies at 101". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "Nina Totenberg; NPR Biography". National Public Radio. September 25, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  4. ^ Allen, Jenny (April 21, 2002). "WEDDINGS: VOWS; Jill Totenberg and Brian Foreman". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "President Obama Nominates Judge Leonard Stark and Amy Totenberg to the United States District Court". whitehouse.gov. March 17, 2010. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16. Retrieved September 17, 2010 – via National Archives.
  6. ^ a b c "Totenberg, Amy Mil – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  7. ^ a b c "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The United States Senate. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  8. ^ Rankin, Bill (2011-02-28). "Senate approves Totenberg, Jones to federal bench in Atlanta". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Media Group.
  9. ^ "Judicial Nominations and Confirmations: 112th Congress". judiciary.senate.gov. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011.
  10. ^ Legal ruling by Totenberg at documentcloud.org. Retrieved April 23, 2022
  11. ^ a b c d "Destroying Democracy to Save it? Court Advances Effort to Block GOP Candidates from Ballots". JonathanTurley.org. 2022-04-23. Retrieved April 23, 2022.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
2011–2021 		Succeeded by
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