Dennis G. Jacobs

Dennis G. Jacobs (born 1944) is Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He became Chief Judge on October 1, 2006.

Born in New York City, Judge Jacobs attended Queens College of the City University of New York, where he obtained bachelor's and masters' degrees, and is a 1973 graduate of the New York University School of Law. Judge Jacobs was a lecturer in the English Department of Queens College from 1967 until 1969. He was in private practice from 1973 with the New York law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, serving as a partner there from 1980 until his judicial appointment.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush nominated Jacobs to serve on the Second Circuit, succeeding Judge Wilfred Feinberg. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 29, 1992, and received his commission on October 2, 1992.

Judge Jacobs is a native of New York City. He is married to Judith Jacobs.

Judge Jacobs delivered a speech titled "The Secret Life Of Judges" as the 2006 John F. Sonnett Memorial Lecture at Fordham University School of Law. On November 19, 2010, he delivered a speech titled "National Security & The Constitution" before a gathering of the Federalist Society at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. In his November 2010 speech, Judge Jacobs criticized what he perceived to be judicial overreaching into national security matters, the organized bar's distrust of the military, and the praise lauded upon lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. Judge Jacobs stated that he would continue to decide national security cases objectively and dispassionately.

However, on September 21, 2011, the New York Times described his comments in an appellate ruling regarding the right of citizens' groups to challenge the government's wiretapping powers case as "barbed":

"The chief judge wrote that 'the only purpose of this litigation is for counsel and plaintiffs to act out their fantasy of persecution, to validate their pretensions to policy expertise, to make themselves consequential rather than marginal, and to raise funds for self-sustaining litigation.' " Glenn Greenwald criticized Judge Jacob's dissenting opinion in the aforementioned appellate ruling as "intemperate" and "obnoxious." Yet others characterized the dissent as "sweet" "dicta."

Recently, the Second Circuit has been criticized for its rejection of immigration appeals, rising as high as 99%. On January 23, 2012, a group of mostly Chinese protesters marched in front of the Court, and presented a petition to Judge Jacobs calling on the Court to consider each case carefully on its merits.