Patricia Jean Boyle ( Ehrhardt, later Pernick; March 31, 1937 – January 13, 2014) was a

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, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State of Michigan. The Court is based ...

Education and career

Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

as Patricia Jean Ehrhardt, Boyle received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

and a Juris Doctor from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 1963. She was a law clerk to Kenneth Davies, a Detroit attorney from 1963 to 1964, and to Judge Thaddeus M. Machrowicz of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1964 to 1965. She was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit from 1965 to 1970. She was an assistant prosecuting attorney of Wayne County, Michigan from 1970 to 1976. She was a judge of the

Recorder's Court A recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions. England and Wales In the courts of England and Wales, the term ''recorder'' has two distinct meanings. The senior circuit judge of a borough or city i ...

of the City of Detroit from 1976 to 1978.

Federal judicial service

On July 25, 1978, Boyle was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Damon Keith Damon Jerome Keith (July 4, 1922 – April 28, 2019) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern Distr ...

. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on September 22, 1978, and received her commission the following day. She resigned on April 20, 1983, to be appointed as an associate justice of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...

. She was elected to the Court in 1986, and re-elected to an eight-year term beginning in 1990. Her service on the Michigan Supreme Court ended in 1998.

Death

Boyle died on January 13, 2014, of

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

at the age of 76, in

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

References

External links

*
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society page on Patricia Boyle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Patricia Jean Ehrhardt Pernick 1937 births 2014 deaths Assistant United States Attorneys Deaths from respiratory failure Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Michigan state court judges Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Lawyers from Detroit Wayne State University alumni Wayne State University Law School alumni United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges