Barbara Brandriff Crabb

Barbara Brandriff Crabb
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
Incumbent
Assumed office March 24, 2010
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
In office 2001–2010
Preceded by	John C. Shabaz
Succeeded by	William M. Conley
In office 1980–1996
Preceded by	James Edward Doyle
Succeeded by	John C. Shabaz
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
In office November 2, 1979 – March 24, 2010
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Succeeded by	William M. Conley
Personal details
Born	1939 (age 84–85) Green Bay, Wisconsin
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison (B.A.) University of Wisconsin Law School (LL.B.)

Barbara Brandriff Crabb (born March 17, 1939) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Education and career

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Crabb received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1960 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1962. She was in private practice in Madison, Wisconsin from 1962 to 1968. She was a research assistant to George Bunn of the University of Wisconsin Law School from 1968 to 1969, and for the American Bar Association Project on Minimum Standards of Criminal Justice from 1970 to 1971. She served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

On July 21, 1979, Crabb was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received her commission on November 2, 1979. She served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2010. On March 24, 2010, Crabb took senior status when her successor, Judge William M. Conley, was confirmed as federal judge.

Notable rulings

In 2010, Crabb ruled in a suit that the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed in 2008 against the Obama administration that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. This ruling was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2011, which found that the plaintiffs in the suit lacked standing to sue.

In 2013, Crabb ruled in another suit the exemption of a housing allowance from the income of clergy was unconstitutional.

In 2014, Crabb ruled in the case Wolf v. Walker that Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage (in its state constitution and statutes) was an unconstitutional violation of due process and equal protection. This ruling was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit.

In 2016, Crabb joined Circuit Judge Kenneth Francis Ripple in finding that the high number of wasted votes created by the 2011 Wisconsin State Assembly redistricting was unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering, over dissent by District Judge William C. Griesbach.

External links

• Barbara Brandriff Crabb at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Barbara Crabb at Ballotpedia