Arenda Lauretta Wright Allen (born December 9, 1960) is 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. 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 Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roa ...

. She formerly worked as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

and a

Federal Public Defender In the United States, federal Public defender (United States), public defender organizations are entities in the Federal government of the United States, United States Federal Government, and their staffs are federal employees. Federal public defe ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

Early life and education

Born in

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 ...

, Wright Allen graduated from

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher ...

(then called Kutztown State College) with her

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 1982 and later from

North Carolina Central University School of Law The North Carolina Central University School of Law (also known as NCCU School of Law or NCCU Law) is the law school associated with North Carolina Central University. The school is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the ...

with a

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 1985. In May 2013, Wright Allen was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Career

Wright Allen started her legal career as a

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as an active duty officer between 1985 and 1990 and in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

between 1992 and 2005. She was an

in the

Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roa ...

from 2001 to 2005. Wright Allen joined the

's Office for the

in 2005, where she had served as a Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender until becoming a federal judge in 2011.

Federal judicial service

On the recommendation of Senators

Jim Webb James Henry Webb Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is an American politician and author. He has served as a United States senator from Virginia, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Counsel for the United States ...

and Mark R. Warner, Wright Allen was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by 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 ...

on December 1, 2010, to a seat vacated

Jerome B. Friedman Jerome Barry "Jerry" Friedman (born February 19, 1943) is a former United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Education and career Born in Newark, New Jerse ...

, who assumed senior status on November 30, 2010. The United States Senate confirmed Wright Allen on May 11, 2011, by a 96–0 vote. She received her judicial commission the following day.

Overturning Virginia's same-sex marriage ban

On February 13, 2014, Allen overturned Virginia's statutory

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

ban, finding the ban unconstitutional. In her ruling, Allen inadvertently attributed the principle that "all men are created equal" to the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

, rather than the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

– an error which she corrected in a subsequent amended ruling.

Personal life

Allen is married to

Delroy Allen Delroy Allen (born 6 October 1958) is a retired Jamaican-American soccer goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who played professionally in the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League, American Soccer League ...

, a retired

Jamaican-American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican comm ...

soccer player.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright Allen, Arenda 1960 births Living people 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century African-American lawyers African-American female military personnel African-American judges African-American United States Navy personnel American women lawyers Assistant United States attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni North Carolina Central University alumni Lawyers from Philadelphia People from Norfolk, Virginia Public defenders United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama Female United States Navy officers United States Navy reservists