Luis Felipe Restrepo (born 1959), known commonly as L. Felipe Restrepo, is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

and former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philad ...

. He is a member of the

United States Sentencing Commission The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for articulating the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the federal courts. The Commission promulgat ...

Biography

Restrepo was born in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and was raised in

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

. He was sworn in as a United States Citizen on September 7, 1993. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1981 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1986 from Tulane Law School. Restrepo began his legal career as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

at the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

National Prison Project. From 1987 to 1990, he served as an Assistant Defender with the

Defender Association of Philadelphia Defender Association of Philadelphia is a non-profit corporation, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that provides defense on a court-appointed basis for criminal and delinquency cases in which the defendants and respondents are indigent adults a ...

. He served as an Assistant Federal Defender in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1993. He was a partner at the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

law firm of Krasner & Restrepo (with fellow civil rights attorney and future Philadelphia District Attorney

Larry Krasner Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first U.S. district attorney candidates to run as a self-described " ...

) from 1993 to 2006. From 2006 to 2013, he served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where he presided over a variety of criminal and civil matters. He has served in a variety of teaching positions; since 1993 he has served as an

Adjunct Professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

teaching Trial Advocacy at

Temple University Beasley School of Law The James E. Beasley School of Law (known as Temple Law) is the law school of Temple University, a public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 650 students. Student body Admission for the ...

. From 1997 to 2009 he served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy at

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

and in the summer of 1992 he served as an adjunct professor teaching a course in Criminal Justice at

Peirce College Peirce College is a private college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It focuses on adult education. History 19th century In 1865, Thomas May Peirce, a Philadelphia educator, founded the Union Business College. The curriculum was ...

Federal judicial service

District court service

On November 27, 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Restrepo to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by Judge Anita B. Brody, who assumed senior status on June 8, 2009. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, Obama renominated Restrepo to the same office. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

confirmed his nomination on June 17, 2013, by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. He received his commission on June 19, 2013. His service as a district court judge was terminated on January 13, 2016, when he was elevated to the court of appeals.

Court of appeals service

On November 12, 2014, President Obama nominated Restrepo to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the

, to the seat vacated by

Anthony Joseph Scirica Anthony Joseph Scirica (born December 16, 1940) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Early life and career Scirica was born on December 16, 1940, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He ...

, who assumed senior status on July 1, 2013. On December 16, 2014, his nomination was returned to the President due to the

sine die Adjournment ''sine die'' (from Latin 'without a date') is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a date to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its pres ...

adjournment of the Senate. On January 7, 2015, President Obama renominated him to the same position. He received a hearing before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

on June 10, 2015. On July 9, 2015, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

. On January 11, 2016, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed him by an 82–6 vote. Judge Restrepo was President

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

's last appellate court judge to be confirmed by the Senate. He received his commission on January 13, 2016.

United States Sentencing Commission

Intent to nominate under Trump

On March 1, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

nominated Restrepo to serve as Commissioner of the

, a seven-member independent body that sets federal sentencing guidelines. Restrepo's nomination was sent to the

. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On August 12, 2020, President

announced his intent to renominate Restrepo to serve as a Commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission.

Nomination under Biden

On May 11, 2022, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

announced his intent to nominate Restrepo to serve as a member of the

. On May 12, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate, he has been nominated to fill the position left vacant by Judge

Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (née Brown; ; born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination, was nominated ...

, whose term expired. On June 8, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

. On July 21, 2022, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote, with 6 Republican senators voting “no” on record. On August 4, 2022, the

confirmed his nomination by

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Restrepo, Luis Felipe 1959 births Living people American politicians of Colombian descent Colombian emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Lawyers from Philadelphia Members of the United States Sentencing Commission People from Medellín People from Virginia Public defenders Tulane University Law School alumni United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama United States magistrate judges University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty Hispanic and Latino American lawyers