Richard D. Bennett

Richard D. Bennett
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office April 10, 2003
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Frederic N. Smalkin
Personal details
Born	(1947-08-12) August 12, 1947 Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Pennsylvania (BA) University of Maryland School of Law (JD)

Richard D. Bennett (born August 12, 1947) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Education and career

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Bennett received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1973. He was in the United States Army Reserve from 1969 to 1975, and in the Maryland Army National Guard from 1983 to 1997. He was in private practice in Maryland from 1973–1976, 1981–1991, and 1993–2003, serving in the interim periods as an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of Maryland from 1976 to 1980, and as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 1991 to 1993. He served as Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party from 1998-2000.

District court service

On January 29, 2003, Bennett was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland vacated by Frederic N. Smalkin. Bennett was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 9, 2003, and received his commission on April 10, 2003.

Notable cases

In 2011 he presided in the case of NSA Whistleblower Thomas Andrews Drake. He was also the trial judge in Snyder v. Phelps, in which case he was reversed by the Fourth Circuit, and ultimately by the Supreme Court.

Sources

• Richard D. Bennett at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.