Marcia G. Cooke
Marcia Gail Cooke | |
---|---|
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | |
Assumed office July 15, 2022 | |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | |
In office May 18, 2004 – July 15, 2022 | |
Appointed by | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Wilkie D. Ferguson |
Succeeded by | vacant |
Personal details | |
Born | Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. | October 16, 1954
Education | Georgetown University (BSFS) Wayne State University (JD) |
Marcia Gail Cooke (born October 16, 1954) is an American lawyer who serves as a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Early life and education
Cooke was born in 1954 in Sumter, South Carolina. She graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1975 and from Wayne State University Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1977.
Legal career
Cooke was a staff attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services in Michigan from 1978 to 1979 and was a deputy public defender of the Legal Aid and Defender Association in Michigan from 1979-1980. Cooke served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1980 to 1983. From 1983 to 1984 Cooke was in private practice in Michigan with the firm of Miro, Miro and Weiner. Cooke served as a United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1984 to 1992.
In 1992 Cooke served as director of professional development and training at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. From 1992 to 1994 she was the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, before returning to her director of professional development and training from 1994 to 1999. Cooke served as chief inspector general for the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida under Jeb Bush from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2004 she was assistant county attorney in Miami-Dade County.
Federal judicial career
President George W. Bush nominated Cooke to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 25, 2003, to the seat vacated by Wilkie D. Ferguson. She was confirmed by the Senate on May 18, 2004, Cooke received her commission the same day. She is the first black woman federal judge in Florida.[1] She assumed senior status on July 15, 2022.[2]
Cooke presided over the trial of José Padilla in 2007.[citation needed]
Personal life
See also
References
- ^ "USATODAY.com - First black woman federal judge in Florida sworn in". USA Today.
- ^ Marcia G. Cooke at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "'No matter who you are, you deserve to be heard'". www.miamiarch.org. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
Sources
- Marcia G. Cooke at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- 1954 births
- Living people
- African-American judges
- African-American women lawyers
- American women lawyers
- African-American lawyers
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- Michigan lawyers
- People from Sumter, South Carolina
- Public defenders
- United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush
- 21st-century American judges
- United States magistrate judges
- Wayne State University Law School alumni
- 21st-century American women judges
- African-American Catholics