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Sarah Pitlyk

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Sarah Pitlyk
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byCatherine D. Perry
Personal details
Born
Sarah Elizabeth Martin

1977 (age 46–47)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
EducationBoston College (BA)
Georgetown University (MA)
KU Leuven (MA)
Yale University (JD)

Sarah Elizabeth Martin Pitlyk (born 1977) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Education

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Pitlyk earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Boston College. She received Master of Arts degrees from both Georgetown University and KU Leuven (Belgium), where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar. Pitlyk earned her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.[1]

Career

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Upon graduation from law school, Pitlyk served as a law clerk to Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She worked at Clark & Sauer LLC, a civil litigation firm in St. Louis, Missouri, and was an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. She was special counsel at the Thomas More Society, where her practice focused on constitutional and civil rights litigation.[1]

In 2018, Pitlyk supported Brett Kavanaugh, whom she had clerked for, during his Supreme Court nomination.[2]

Federal judicial service

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On August 14, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Pitlyk to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. On September 9, 2019, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Pitlyk to the seat vacated by Judge Catherine D. Perry, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2018.[3]

On September 24, 2019, the American Bar Association (ABA) rated Pitlyk as "Not Qualified." The ABA said Pitlyk's rating was based on her lack of trial experience, as she had "never tried a case," she had "never examined a witness," she had "not taken a deposition," she had "not argued any motion in a state or federal trial court," she had "never picked a jury," and she had "never participated at any stage of a criminal matter."[4][5] Pitlyk said one reason she had never tried a case and never taken a deposition is that she has been a member of legal teams that have allowed her to arrange her schedule in order to spend more time with her children.[6]

On September 25, 2019, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] At the hearing, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin expressed concerns about Pitlyk's lack of trial experience,[6] and other Democratic Senators including Richard Blumenthal asked her about her anti-abortion views; she responded that her personal views would not affect her work as a judge. As a lawyer, Pitlyk had argued that frozen embryos from in vitro fertilisation should legally be considered human beings, and she wrote an amicus brief stating that "surrogacy has grave effects on society."[8] On October 31, 2019, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[9]

On December 3, 2019, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–43 vote,[10] with Maine senator Susan Collins voting against her nomination.[11] On December 4, 2019, her nomination was confirmed by a 49–44 vote.[12] She received her judicial commission on December 5, 2019,[13] and was sworn into office on December 6, 2019.[14]

Memberships

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She has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2006.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees, United States Attorney Nominees, and United States Marshal Nominees" White House, August 14, 2019 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Thomsen, Jacqueline (August 14, 2019). "Former Alito Clerk Steven Menashi Gets Trump Nod for 2nd Circuit". Law.com. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  3. ^ "Seventeen Nominations and Two Withdrawals Sent to the Senate", White House, September 9, 2019
  4. ^ Updated 11:57 AM ET, Thu October 31, 2019 (2019-10-31). "'Not qualified' rating and accusation from American Bar Association moves Trump nominee to tears - CNNPolitics". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2019-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ William C. Hubbard (2019-09-24). "Re: Nomination of Sarah E. Pitlyk to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri" (PDF). American Bar Association.
  6. ^ a b Ryan, Tim (September 25, 2019). "Democrats Grill Pick for Missouri Court on Anti-Abortion Work". Courthouse News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  7. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for September 25, 2019
  8. ^ Clift, Eleanor (October 1, 2019). "Trump's March of the Hard-Right Judges: The Latest Nominee Opposes In-Vitro Fertilization: Last week brought the confirmation hearing for St. Louis' Sarah Pitlyk, who takes her pro-life views a little further than most". Daily Beast. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 31, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee
  10. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Sarah E. Pitlyk to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri)". United States Senate. December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Trump nominee who is anti-IVF and surrogacy was deemed unqualified. She was just confirmed.", by Reis ThebaultThe Washington Post, December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  12. ^ On the Nomination (Confirmation: Sarah E. Pitlyk, of Missouri, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri)
  13. ^ Sarah Pitlyk at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  14. ^ "SARAH E. PITLYK SWORN IN AS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE". www.moed.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  15. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Sarah Pitlyk
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
2019–present 		Incumbent
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