Mary M. Rowland
Rowland in 2019
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Assumed office
August 20, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byAmy St. Eve
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
In office
October 1, 2012 – August 20, 2019
Succeeded byBeth Jantz
Personal details
Born (1961-10-08) October 8, 1961 (age 62)
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

Mary Margaret Rowland (born October 8, 1961) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and a former United States Magistrate Judge for the same court.

Personal life and education

Rowland was born in Akron, Ohio on October 8, 1961.[1] She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School.[2]

Rowland worked on Carl Levin's 1984 U.S. Senate campaign and served as a legal observer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[3]

Career

Upon graduation from law school, Rowland served as a law clerk to Judge Julian A. Cook of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.[2]

Prior to becoming a federal magistrate judge, she spent twelve years as a partner in the Chicago firm of Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym. Before entering private practice, she served for ten years in the Chicago office of the Federal Public Defender; first as a staff attorney and later as the office's Chief Appellate Attorney.[2]

In 2009, Rowland was first recommended to the Obama Administration to be a Federal judge by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.[4]

Federal judicial service

From 2012 to 2019, Rowland served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. She was officially sworn in on October 1, 2012.[5] At the time of her appointment, she was one of only a few openly gay judges in the country.[6]

On June 7, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rowland to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Her nomination was the result of an agreement between Trump and Illinois' two Democratic U.S. Senators.[3] On June 18, 2018, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Rowland to the seat vacated by Judge Amy St. Eve, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on May 23, 2018.[7] Rowland was President Trump's first openly gay judicial nominee.[8] On August 22, 2018, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[9] On October 11, 2018, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–5 vote.[10]

On January 3, 2019, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[11] On April 8, 2019, President Trump announced the renomination of Rowland to the district court.[12] On May 21, 2019, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[13] On June 20, 2019, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 14–8 vote, with the majority of the Republican Senators on the committee voted “no”.[14] On July 31, 2019, the Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote. She received her judicial commission on August 20, 2019.[15] She was sworn in on August 22, 2019.[16]

Affiliations and memberships

Rowland is a member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "LawyerCentral.com profile". Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "President Donald J. Trump Announces Fourteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Thirteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Eighth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees" White House, May 10, 2018 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b Sweet, Lynn (July 31, 2019). "Senate confirms Mary Rowland for federal judge in Chicago: Pick of Durbin, Duckworth part of 'Illinois deal'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  4. ^ https://vettingroom.org/2018/08/24/judge-mary-rowland/#ftnt5
  5. ^ "Oak Park resident selected as federal magistrate judge". oakpark.com. July 17, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  6. ^ Ring, Trudy (November 16, 2012). "Lesbian Attorney Becomes Federal Magistrate Judge in Illinois". The Advocate. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "Seventeen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate Today", White House, June 18, 2018
  8. ^ Jennifer Bendery (June 7, 2018). "Trump Finally Has An LGBTQ Judicial Nominee". HuffPost. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  9. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for August 22, 2018
  10. ^ Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 11, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  11. ^ Gregory, Patrick (January 23, 2019). "Trump Drops Obama Picks, N.Y., Calif. Names From Judges List". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  12. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominations", White House, April 8, 2019
  13. ^ "Twelve Nominations Sent to the Senate", The White House, May 21, 2019
  14. ^ Results of Executive Business Meeting – June 20, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee
  15. ^ Mary M. Rowland at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  16. ^ "Judge Mary M. Rowland Sworn-in as District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois" (PDF). ilnd.uscourts.gov (Press release). August 22, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2023.

External links

Legal offices Preceded byAmy St. Eve Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2019–present Incumbent
Active district judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
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