Aubrey Eugene Robinson Jr. (March 30, 1922 – February 27, 2000) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

Education and career

Born in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Robinson 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 years ...

degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1943, where he became a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. Robinson then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

until 1946, receiving a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

in 1947. He was in private practice in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1948 to 1965, and was then an associate judge of the Juvenile Court of the District of Columbia from 1965 to 1966. He was an adjunct professor at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

from 1975 to 1983.

Federal judicial service

On October 6, 1966, Robinson was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Matthew Francis McGuire Matthew Francis McGuire (May 30, 1898 – January 24, 1986) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in St. John's, Newfoundland,Newfoundland would not beco ...

. Robinson 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 October 20, 1966, and received his commission on November 3, 1966. He served as Chief Judge from 1982 to 1992, and assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 1, 1992. He served in that capacity until his death.

Notable cases

Robinson awarded punitive damages to the families of victims of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, though the decision was overturned by a higher court. He sentenced

Jonathan Pollard Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is a former intelligence analyst for the United States government. In 1987, as part of a plea agreement, Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret classified information to Israel. H ...

to life in prison in 1987, citing information provided from Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger that Pollard's spying on behalf of Israel had caused significant damage to American security interests. Pollard had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government and had agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in exchange for a lesser sentence than the maximum provided under law.

Death

Robinson died at the age of 77 on February 27, 2000, due to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

suffered at his home in

Pace, Eric
"Aubrey E. Robinson Jr., 77, Judge in Jonathan Pollard Spy Case"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 1, 2000. Accessed March 11, 2011.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Aubrey Eugene Jr. 1922 births 2000 deaths African-American judges United States Army personnel of World War II Cornell University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia People from Madison, New Jersey United States Army soldiers United States district court judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia